Washington Post staff photographer remembers prize winning photojournalist Wally McNamee, who worked for The Washington Post and Newsweek for over 40 years.
Post staff writer Bart Barnes, in McNamee’s obituary, wrote: “Among his most memorable pictures was a photograph of first lady Jacqueline Kennedy disembarking from Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base on Nov. 22, 1963, hours after President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas. The president’s brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, is holding her hand, and she is still wearing the suit stained with the president’s blood spattered on her by the assassin’s bullets. Mr. McNamee later described it as “a graphic touch to this horrible moment.”
There are some people who you always know you can count on, no matter what. They are not necessarily your best friend. You may not see them for a day, a month, or a year. But you know they are always around. Wally McNamee was one of those people
Wally McNamee, considered one of the leading photojournalists in the world, died Friday, Nov. 17, 2017, in Virginia. Wallace William McNamee began his career in the news business in 1950 as a copy boy at The Washington Post – with an eye to becoming a spo
McNamee covered Presidents, celebrities, and major news events of the 20th century during his four-decade career with The Washington Post and Newsweek.
In addition to covering major news events including the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam War, McNamee covered presidential administrations from Dwight Eisenhower to Bill Clinton. He was named Photographer of the Year four times by the White House News Photographers Association, which also awarded him a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000.
