page_title: The Peacemakers
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: The Peacemakers / Painting / Legacy
caption_attribution_description: English: President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have lunch in the Oval Office Dining Room of the White House, Oct. 22, 2009. The painting showing President Lincoln with Union high command is The Peacemakers. Français&#160;: Le président Barack Obama et la présidente de la Chambre des représentants Nancy Pelosi déjeunent dans la salle à manger privative à coté du bureau ovale, dans l'aile Ouest de la Maison Blanche, le 22 octobre 2009. Le tableau représentant Lincoln et des généraux a été accroché sous la présidence d'Obama.
context_page_description: The Peacemakers is an 1868 painting by George P.A. Healy. It depicts the historic March 27, 1865, strategy session by the Union high command on the steamer River Queen during the final days of the American Civil War. Since 1947, it has been in the White House collection.
context_section_description: The pose of Lincoln inspired Healy's 1869 portrait, Abraham Lincoln. Robert Todd Lincoln considered the likeness of his father in this painting to be the "most excellent in existence."
  The U.S. Postal Service commemorated the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln by issuing four first-class commemorative 42-cent stamps.  One of these stamps features an image of this painting.
  The painting was displayed in the Treaty Room of the White House from the Kennedy through the George W. Bush presidencies. In his book Decision Points, President Bush mentions the painting specifically and makes the following comment: "Before 9/11, I saw the scene as a fascinating moment in history. After the attack, it took a deeper meaning. The painting reminded me of Lincoln's clarity of purpose: he waged war for a necessary and noble cause."  It was briefly loaned to the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library from March 11, 2002 to July 31, 2002 for an exhibit entitled, "Fathers and Sons: Two Families, Four Presidents."   The painting is also featured behind the elder Bush in his official presidential portrait, painted by Herbert Abrams.
  The Obama administration moved the painting to the private President's Dining Room, where it currently hangs.  There is also a copy of the painting at the Pentagon.
caption: Painting in its current location within the Oval Office Dining Room. Pictured here are Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi.
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