David Hume Kennerly Blog

Four Days of The Mayaguez

By David Hume Kennerly | May 7, 2021

After word of the ship’s capture reached the president the administration tried to secure the release of the crew through diplomatic channels.  They sent messages through the Chinese who were allies of the Khmer Rouge. There was no reply, however, and some doubt that anyone, including the Chinese, really knew who was running the show […] Read More

50th Anniversary of the “Fight of the Century”

By David Hume Kennerly | Mar 3, 2021

In late 1970 I hounded the bosses at United Press International (UPI) to send me to Vietnam to cover the fighting. The opportunity was slipping away as the U.S. withdrew its troops and transferred the responsibility of conducting the war to the government of South Vietnam. As a young news photographer this was the biggest […] Read More

How To Transition

By David Hume Kennerly | Jan 19, 2021

President Gerald R. Ford held his first meeting with President-elect Jimmy Carter on November 22, 1976, thirteen years to the day after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. It was the first time Carter had been in the White House. The two sat in the Oval Office under the portrait of George Washington that hangs […] Read More

How to Concede

By David Hume Kennerly | Nov 22, 2020

I’m missing President Gerald R. Ford more than ever. His graceful and dignified concession of the 1976 election to Jimmy Carter was an exemplar of how to deal with this overwhelmingly painful moment. Gerald R. Ford was not the first or last president to suffer this fate, and he wasn’t alone in doing it right. […] Read More

My Thirteen Presidential Elections

By David Hume Kennerly | Nov 12, 2020

This 2020 presidential election campaign is my thirteenth.  I’ve covered them all since 1968, except for 1972 when I was in Vietnam photographing the war. (I have the best excuses.)  Due to Covid-19, this year I only caught the early action in February, during the New Hampshire Primary. Thankfully it produced some telling images. Campaigning […] Read More

The Day Hillary Clinton Lost the Election

By David Hume Kennerly | Oct 31, 2020

I’d been covering the 2016 presidential campaign for CNN since the year before, but when I showed up to photograph an appearance by Hillary Clinton at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire, I hadn’t seen her in a couple of months. The first time I photographed her was when she was a young lawyer working […] Read More

John McCain (1936-2018): A Remembrance

By David Hume Kennerly | Oct 14, 2020

A Remembrance Two years ago today, September 2, 2018, Senator John McCain was buried on the grounds of his beloved U.S. Naval Academy.  John’s family asked me to document his last journey from Arizona, to Washington, D.C., and to his final resting place in Annapolis. It was an honor for me to do so. There […] Read More

16 Frames

By David Hume Kennerly | Sep 2, 2020

16 Frames My job is to be there when history is made.  August 9, 1974 was one of the biggest days, an historic twofer — one president quit, and another was sworn in to replace him. I was on the South Lawn of the White House crowded onto a photo stand with the rest of […] Read More

Uncropped: The Story Behind “The Hug” Photo

By David Hume Kennerly | Aug 7, 2020

This is the first time I’ve unveiled my uncropped “The Hug” photo from the dedication of the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in 2016. This version honors the late Rep. John Lewis who died July 17th. Along with First Lady Michelle Obama and former President George W. Bush, former First Lady […] Read More