The White House Historical Association is engaged in a high-stakes bid to reclaim a series of iconic Norman Rockwell sketches, once a familiar sight in the West Wing, as they head to auction following a family ownership dispute.
With an opening bid of $2.5 million, the association faces stiff competition from private collectors eager to acquire these unique pieces of American history.
The four 1940s-era sketches, collectively titled So You Want to See the President!, vividly depict a diverse array of individuals – from journalists and military officers to a Miss America Pageant winner – patiently waiting in the plush West Wing lobby, hoping for an audience with President Franklin D Roosevelt.
Created in 1943 and published in the Saturday Evening Post during the Second World War, the series is Rockwell’s only known collection of four interrelated paintings designed to tell a cohesive story.
Anita McBride, a member of the association's board of directors, recalled seeing the drawings in 1981 during her time in Ronald Reagan’s administration, noting they were a "focal point" for tours.
She added that "People just loved seeing the wide array and depiction of Americans who have access to their president."
According to the Heritage Auctions website, the series "offers an intimate and deeply human portrayal of American democracy in action."
Matthew Costello, the association’s chief education officer, further explained their significance: "In a way, it sort of illustrates how FDR always talked about the ‘arsenal of democracy’ and what made the United States unique," calling them "an incredible series of renderings."
The sketches were originally a gift from Rockwell to Stephen Early, Roosevelt's long-serving press secretary. They were subsequently displayed in the West Wing for over four decades until a family ownership dispute emerged in 2017.
This began when Thomas Early, one of the press secretary's sons, reportedly spotted them on a wall during a television interview with President Donald Trump.
William Elam III, Stephen Early's grandson, asserted his ownership, stating his mother received them as a gift from her father. A federal appeals court settled the dispute in May, upholding a lower-court ruling in favour of Elam, leading to the White House returning the drawings in 2022.
The Dallas-based Heritage Auctions is set to sell the sketches on Friday, with estimates suggesting they could fetch between $4m and $6m.
This presents a considerable financial hurdle for the White House Historical Association, a non-profit, non-partisan organisation established by Jacqueline Kennedy in 1961.
The association, which receives no government funding and relies on private donations and merchandise sales, has a previous record high of $1.5m paid for a painting, Jacob Lawrence’s The Builders in 2007.
Christina Rees, Heritage Auctions’ director of communications, confirmed that clients are "ready and waiting to compete for this American icon”.
Despite the expected "stiff competition" for Rockwell's work, driven by broad interest in Americana, the association remains determined. Its mission is to help the White House collect and display artefacts representing American history and culture.
McBride affirmed their commitment to acquiring such pieces for the vast White House collection of art and furniture: "We try hard to bring them back."
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