Updated: January 30, 2013 10:46 PM EST Peter Funt: Why is
President Obama smiling? Smile, you're the most powerful person
on Earth. Only 43 men have posed for an official presidential
portrait or photo. What ran through their minds? I must have a
stern expression to convey authority? If I smile do I risk
appearing smug? In his just-released second-term photo,
President Barack Obama flashes a wide smile. There hasn't been
anything like it since 1977 when Jimmy Carter established a
record for the toothiest presidential grin. Looking at the
gallery of White House images, we see that no president, not
one, dared to crack even a slight smile until Gerald Ford
revealed a few front teeth in his 1974 photo. It looked more
like a smirk than a smile, and considering how Ford's presidency
came about, maybe it was. Regardless, it established a trend in
which all presidents smiled for the camera -- until 2009. Obama,
despite his mighty incisors, broke the chain of smiles in his
first term photo, choosing to go with a rath