The Popes and the Presidents (Photos)

It looks like President Obama and Pope Francis had a grand old time during their first meeting at the Vatican on Thursday, but a photo can only tell us so much. We try to imagine what former presidents may have been thinking during their own visits with popes past.

Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

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"This is fun and all, but must your entourage follow us everywhere?"

President George W. Bush and Pope Benedict XVI enjoyed a stroll around the Lourdes Grotto at the Vatican in June 2008.

Jason Reed/Reuters

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"Don't take this personally, but most of these people are probably here for me."

President Bill Clinton points to the crowd gathered for Pope John Paul II's arrival in Denver to celebrate World Youth Day in 1993.

Luke Frazza/AFP/Getty

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"Not bad, Pope. But I told you 'Born to Run' is my karaoke song."

Pope John Paul II welcomes President George H.W. Bush to the Vatican following the Rome NATO summit, Nov. 8, 1991.

Rick Wilking/Reuters

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"All right, you two. Nancy, I told you not to wear that traditional head covering."

Pope John Paul II greets President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan at the Vatican in 1982.

Corbis

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"Can you visit more often? People are much more excited to see me when you're around."

President Jimmy Carter welcomes Pope John Paul II to Washington, DC in October 1979.

Corbis

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"I'll indulge you, because you're the pope, but maps are for nerds. I can find my way around Vatican City just fine on my own."

President Gerald Ford is pictured with his wife, Betty, and Pope Paul VI at the Vatican in 1975.

Rolls Press/Popperfoto/Getty

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"I don't really get it, but my secretary said Bohem is hip."

U.S. President Richard Nixon presents Pope Paul VI with a ceramic plant and a robin sculpture by American artist Bohem, and a book on the sculptor's works during a meeting to discuss the problems with world peace on March 2, 1969.

AP

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"So two popes walk into a bar, right?"

President Lyndon B. Johnson chats up Pope Paul VI at New York's Waldorf Towers in 1965.

Rolls Press/Popperfoto, via Getty

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"So, uh, how much longer do we have to pose like this? I haven't been to the bathroom since we got to Vatican City..."

President Kennedy and Pope Paul VI sit with an audience at the Vatican on July 3, 1963.

AP

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"Before I leave Italy, you have to introduce me to the guy who makes your shawls."

President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Pope John XXIII greet a private audience at the Vatican on Dec. 6, 1959.

Paul Schutzer/AP

The Popes and the Presidents (Photos)

Francis and Obama appeared to hit it off Thursday. What were other commanders in chief thinking when they encountered His Holinesses past?