The Presidential Portrait That Was the “Ugliest Thing” LBJ Ever Saw

(via Smithsonian) When President Lyndon B. Johnson first laid eyes on the painting that was to be his official White House portrait, he disgustedly called painter Peter Hurd’s work “the ugliest thing I ever saw” and refused to accept it.  There are numerous reasons why he MAY have disliked it, but the real reason remain a mystery to this day.