POTUS: Icons, Artifacts and History That Shaped the American Presidency

My photo book of presidential artifacts is coming November 17, 2026

I’ve got good news! My photographs of artifacts from presidential libraries are coming to your coffee table.

POTUS: Icons, Artifacts and History That Shaped the American Presidency will be published on November 17th by Abrams Books! This 400+ page photo book takes readers inside the archives—and lives—of modern American presidents dating back to the 1929 presidency of Herbert Hoover. For the last five years, I’ve been photographing hundreds of artifacts housed within the network of presidential libraries run by the National Archives. My goal was to explore the processes, personalities, and history that shaped the most powerful office on Earth.

Using striking photography along with short historical narratives and anecdotes that bring each artifact to life, the book takes you on a tour of hundreds of iconic objects and documents—some of which have rarely, if ever, been seen by the public.

Barack Obama’s Blackberry smartphone. Franklin Roosevelt’s lucky fedora. The safety plug of the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki. The telephone used by Richard Nixon to speak with the Apollo astronauts on the Moon. Dwight Eisenhower’s written orders to Allied troops on D-day and the note he prepared in case the invasion failed. These are just a handful of the visually stunning objects, memos, notes, memorabilia and mementoes that stand as reminders of events that shed light on who the presidents really were―especially when the cameras weren’t rolling―or that, quite literally, shaped the world as we know it.

You can pre-order the book or learn more at:

https://www.potusphotobook.com

And, here’s a short book trailer:

I hope you enjoy the book and can’t wait to hear what your favorite artifacts are!

More to come.

-Peter