Occasionally, the consequences are felt by all of us.
Born in Scotland in 1929, Harry Benson became a photographer after World War II.
In a way, photography was simple.
I photograph what I see, and what I see should inform.
I never said no to a job.
I did any job that came along, because you never know when you would get a good picture.
I covered the Royals a lot, and I photographed every president starting with Eisenhower.
Each of them was different, just as every era of each presidency was different.
They are human beings.
You look for that center, and that center is where they show their emotions.
The photographer keeps their image alive.
Nixon was always very emotional, and I knew how to get close to him.
When you travel with the president all over America and Europe, you photograph him as you see him.
I had photographed him crying before.
Did you get anything you wanted today?
On this day, I was going into an unfortunate situation.
I turned up outside Nixons door unannounced, and they put me in this little room to wait.
He knew why I was there, and he let me in.
Watergate had been building up for so long.
He was basically saying goodbye to his staff.
[Nixon announced his resignation on August 8, 1974, to take effect at noon the following day.
While he was speaking, I tried to get as close to him as I could without being objectionable.
There was so much melancholy in his face and in his voice.
And then there was the First Lady.
A White House correspondent named Helen Thomas turned to me and said, Look at this woman.
Shes amazing, just amazing.
She never got good press.
She went through a lot of [expletive]!
Now here she was, watching her husband go through this humiliation.
She was really a decent woman and it was amazing watching her.
I maneuvered myself to get her in the shot.
