"Lyndon, Why Won't You Tell Me How You Became President?"

I've been obsessed with these prints since I first saw them last month. They're in the front window of an art store near my office. If you can't quite make it out the top is a picture of many Democratic presidents and the botton one is of many Republican presidents. Both are gathered around a table playing cards having a great time. The composition and colors are oddly similar in both pictures and for a split-second when I look at them I can't tell which is which. I think that's supposed to be a party convention in the back of each picture.

The Democrats are JFK, Clinton, Woodrow Wilson, LBJ, Truman, Andrew Jackson, FDR and Jimmy Carter. The Republicans are Reagan, Bush 2, Ike, Theodore Roosevelt, Nixon, Ford, Lincoln and Bush 1. There are some nice details like FDR's cigarette holder, Reagan's jelly beans and Truman's Hawaiian shirt. Who doesn't like a guy who comes to a poker game in a Hawaiian shirt? I'm getting him a bourbon. Nixon is in a stiff suit which is a nice touch. Heck, even Ike is in a polo shirt. But why is TR hanging with Nixon? I'm sure he'd rather be with Ike. And why do the oldest presidents in each picture have their backs to the viewer?

I'm curious how the party will change next year. Will the guys be cool that Bill brought his wife? Will Wilson and Andy Jackson play cards with a black guy? Does Huckabee gamble? Will Romney get any of the jokes? Of course, John McCain would fit right in.

Thanks to the Google I've found a link to a story on the painter, Andy Thomas.

Here's a close-up of the Democratic painting, "True Blues". Here's a close-up of "Grand Old Gang".