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Photo Opportunities

Political donors seem to love getting photos of themselves shaking hands with the president, suitable for framing and hanging on office walls to impress visitors (including, especially, potential business partners). When Ronald Reagan was president, a $5,000 donation to a Republican Party committee was enough to secure a brief grip-and-grin moment in front of a camera. Reagan’s successor, George H.W. Bush, inflated the price considerably. In connection with a 1991 fundraising dinner for the Republican congressional committees, donors had to sell at least $75,000 worth of tickets to others to rate a presidential photo op. At a GOP event the following year, the minimum donation required for a photo with the elder Bush was an astounding $92,000. A picture with President Bill Clinton, in contrast, could be had at the comparatively bargain price of a $2,500 donation to the Democratic National Committee early in his first term, though by 1996 the rate had risen to $12,500. Photo ops with President George W. Bush are frequently offered at fundraisers for GOP candidates, where the price for a picture can range from $4,000 to as much as $50,000. But the picture that boomeranged on Bush was one taken at the White House, showing him in the company of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who raised $100,000 for Bush’s reelection campaign before he pleaded guilty to federal fraud, conspiracy, and tax evasion charges. Bush insisted that, despite the photographic evidence, he didn’t really know Abramoff. “There’s thousands of people that come through and get their pictures taken,” he explained, adding: “It’s part of the job of the president to shake hands with people and smile. And I do.”