IMAGES: Popes' meetings with U.S. presidents
President Barack Obama met with Pope Francis for the first time at the Vatican on Thursday, holding a nearly hourlong audience with the pontiff. The president and pope both appeared tense at the start of the meeting, but they were all smiles by the end.
Here's a gallery of photos of U.S. presidents with the head of the Catholic Church.
President George H.W. Bush gestures while standing with Pope John Paul II in the papal library at the Vatican.
Associated Press File Photo, 1989
President George W. Bush is greeted by Pope John Paul II upon their meeting in his private library at the Vatican.
Associated Press File Photo, 2004
President Jimmy Carter talks with Pope John Paul II at the White House in Washington.
Associated Press File Photo, 1979
President Richard Nixon talks with Pope Paul VI as they meet in the Vatican.
Associated Press File Photo, 1970
President Dwight D. Eisenhower walks with Pope John XXIII at the Vatican.
Associated Press File Photo, 1959
Pope Benedict XVI and President George W. Bush walk in the Vatican Gardens.
Associated Press File Photo, 2008
President Bill Clinton points out people in the crowd to Pope John Paul II as he arrives in Denver, Co.
Associated Press File Photo, 1993
Pope John Paul II, right, meets with President Ronald Reagan in the Vizcaya, a lavish mansion on Biscayne Bay, in Miami.
Associated Press File Photo, 1987
President Barack Obama meets with Pope Francis, Thursday, March 27, 2014, at the Vatican. Their historic first meeting comes as Obama's administration and the church remain deeply split on issues of abortion and contraception.
Associated Press
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