As an avid reader, Representative Mac Thornberry of Texas wanted his office bookshelves depicted in his portrait as chairman of the Armed Services Committee. The artist Robert Anderson chose to show the books—which form a colorful graphic pattern in the painting’s background—without titles, leaving the “atmospheric remains of the books . . . to signify a broad range of thought and insight” contained in the library. Thornberry chaired the committee during the 114th and 115th Congresses.
