Object Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
1900.001.066 |
Object Name |
Painting |
Collection |
Statehouse Artwork Collection/Governors' Portraits |
Title |
Portrait of Ted Strickland |
Artist |
Adams, Leslie |
Date |
2011 |
Description |
This portrait of Ted Strickland, Ohio's 68th governor (2007-2011), shows Strickland sitting against his desk in his Statehouse office, with a bust of Abraham Lincoln and the Ohio flag in the background. Bills representing his first budget and energy reform are on the desk. He wears a dark blue suit with a white shirt and a light-blue tie. He wears his Northwestern University ring on his right hand and his congressional ring on his left. |
Material |
Oil Paint/Linen/Wood |
Notes |
Strickland was born on August 4, 1941, in Lucasville, Ohio. A strong advocate of education, he graduated from Asbury College in Wilmore, Kentucky in 1963, with his undergraduate degree. In 1967, he received a Master of Divinity from Asbury Theological School and, in 1980, a doctorate in counseling psychology in 1980. Strickland has held numerous positions in both the private and public sectors. An ordained Methodist minister, he has served in ministerial positions, as well as worked as the director of a Methodist youth home. He also taught psychology courses at Shawnee State University in Portsmouth, Ohio. In the late 1970s, he also pursued a career in politics. He ran for the United States House of Representatives in 1976, 1978, and 1980 as a member of the Democratic Party. Strickland lost all three elections. Strickland retired from politics for the next decade, but in 1992, he again sought election to the U.S. House of Representatives, winning this time. Unfortunately, for Strickland, Southern Ohio voters did not reelect him in 1994, choosing the Republican candidate instead. Undaunted, Strickland again sought this House seat in 1996, winning the election. Southern Ohio voters reelected him in 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2004. While in the House, Strickland became known as a strong advocate for job creation in Appalachia. He also has emphasized more federal funding for education. In 2006, Strickland received the Democratic Party's nomination for the Ohio governor and ran against Kenneth Blackwell, the Republican Party's candidate. Strickland's campaign emphasized more and fairer educational funding and job creation. In an election dominated by the Democratic Party, Strickland handily defeated Blackwell. Due to his more conservative politics and popularity in what is presumed to be a key swing state, Strickland was mentioned as a possible Democratic Vice Presidential nominee in the 2008 election. Nonetheless, Strickland repeatedly and vehemently denied that he would accept a position on the ticket if offered. Most speculation of his potential selection as Barack Obama's running mate died out by the summer of 2008. Strickland spoke on the second night of the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Strickland sought reelection as governor in 2010. On January 19, 2010, he chose Yvette McGee Brown, a former juvenile court judge from central Ohio, as his running mate, running against John Kasich's running mate Ohio State Auditor Mary Taylor. John Kasich's ties to Lehman Brothers played a role in the campaign. Brown attempted to capitalize on Governor Strickland taking Ohio schools from somewhere outside the Top 25 best schools in the nation to number 5 in the nation, according to the news media. Governor Strickland and Brown both spoke at President Barack Obama's rally in Columbus, Ohio shortly before the midterm elections, appearing with singer John Legend, Strickland's lieutenant governor and U.S. Senate candidate Lee Fisher, and former astronaut and U.S. Senator from Ohio John Glenn. The rally drew thousands of attendees, and parts of President Obama's speech were featured on MSNBC. The awaited results from Cuyahoga County for the gubernatorial election decided the winner of the governorship on November 2, 2010; Strickland was defeated by Republican John Kasich, and thus Brown also lost that night, to Mary Taylor. In Strickland's concession speech, he mentioned he'd called Governor-elect John Kasich to ask if there was anything he could do to make the transition of power easier. Brown, defeated Attorney General of Ohio Richard Cordray, and others appeared onstage with Strickland as he delivered his concession speech. In 2011, after Strickland's immediate successor to office and former opponent, John Kasich, signed into law Senate Bill 5, former Governor Strickland took a leading role in gathering the signatures necessary under Ohio law to repeal Senate Bill 5 via public referendum. The signatures, amounting to 2,298,301 names, were delivered to the Kasich Administration on June 29, 2011, an amount sufficient to put the law on the ballot. The signatures were also turned in one day before the ninety day deadline (According to Ohio law, the citizens of Ohio have ninety days after a bill becomes law to gather enough signatures to put the law on a ballot for a public vote). Senate Bill 5 became Issue 2 in the November elections and was repealed. Strickland became a resident fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics in Spring 2012, where he stayed until May. He spoke on the first night of the 2012 Democratic National Convention attacking Republican nominee Mitt Romney for outsourcing American jobs and for his foreign bank accounts. On September 10, 2013 Strickland was nominated to be the nation's Alternate Representative to the 68th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. The post entails delivering speeches and assisting the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. |
Provenance |
In 1867, the Ohio General Assembly passed a joint resolution relative to the governors of Ohio. The legislators resolved that "the secretary of state, on the first Monday of January next, whether the portraits of the governors of Ohio, state and territorial, can be procured, and if so, whether original portraits or copies, and the probable expense of procuring such portraits for the governor's office." Toledo artist Leslie Adams painted and signed this portrait of Governor Strickland in 2011. The portrait was unveiled at the Ohio Statehouse in June 2011. The Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board took over the care of the Statehouse and its collections in 1988. |
Image size |
52" x 35" |
Frame size |
60-11/2" x 43-3/4" |
Frame desc |
Twenty-first century gilt molded frame |
People |
Adams, Leslie Strickland, Ted, 1941- |
Search Terms |
Ohio Governor Ohio Governor's Portraits |
Subjects |
Governors Painting Portrait paintings |