Chip Somodevilla ('95), a graduate from the Mayborn School of Journalism, has been covering the White House and political news for Getty Images since 2005. He shared some of his favorite moments of the high-profile beat. Read about his other favorite moments in our Witness to History story.

Capturing Personalities

"When you do this job, you have to go into each assignment with two minds. Almost like a split personality, right? You've got the one mind that is the professional photojournalist whose job is to not get excited -- to stay cool and calm, so that you can do your job in a professional and accurate way. And then there's the other part of your brain that is really freaking out because you just walked side-by-side with Bono from U2 for a few minutes as he toured the U.S. Capitol. Or, you see Barack Obama giving the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Robert Redford, or to Harper Lee, or to all of these amazing people. And so, yeah, on the surface, you're cool, you're calm, you're professional. Underneath, you're freaking out because George Clooney just grabbed you because you were falling backwards while you were taking his picture. So those kinds of moments do happen."

Covering Memorials

"My time in Washington began when a lot of these 20th century leaders -- Nelson Mandela, Ronald Reagan, Queen Elizabeth -- were passing. It's been a really interesting opportunity to see how the world and our country mourn and celebrate the lives of these leaders.

To see the way that people line up 24 hours in advance, in the cold or the rain, to see leaders lying in state at the U.S. Capitol is really impressive.

For Mandela's celebration, the streets were filled with people who loved him. World leaders came from everywhere to honor his life, at a public funeral in a stadium. People still showed up, even though it was pouring rain.

I covered Fidel Castro's funeral also. My dad was born and raised in Havana and left after the revolution. And so, for me, covering Cuba and the normalization of diplomatic relations under the Obama administration was really special. We spent probably 10 days down there covering the funeral and the funeral cortege, which went from the west end of the island all the way to the east, where he was buried in Santiago de Cuba."

Learning about Everything

"I like covering hearings. It's like being back at UNT, except that I get to take all these courses that have nothing to do with my major. I get to learn about aviation safety, vaccines, monetary policy, law enforcement. I get to learn about everything and anything that the Senate or the House Is learning about. And that is really cool."

Having a Blast

"Other times that have been noteworthy are photographing the end of the space shuttle program. That was really special for me as a big sci-fi and space nerd. And I'm excited because, with the Artemis project, I'll start shooting rockets again."