Charles Walter Bennett

Charles Walter Bennett, a longtime Associated Press photojournalist who spent decades documenting American history, including Watergate, three presidential administrations, presidential travels around the world, politics, sports and the changing life of Chicago, died August 11, 2026. He was 86.

Born October 26, 1939, in Atlanta, Charles left school when he was young to help support his family, later earned his GED, and was drafted into the U.S. Army. It was in the Army where he learned photography, acquiring the skills that would become the foundation of a remarkable career in photojournalism.

After his military service, Charles joined the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where he spent roughly a decade as a news photographer. His assignments ranged widely across the life and history of the South during the 1960s, from politics and labor disputes to the changing face of Atlanta and the civil rights era. Among the people and events that passed before his lens were Georgia political figures, the family of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and the Beatles during their 1965 appearance at Atlanta Stadium.

In 1971, he joined the Associated Press and was assigned to its Dallas bureau. Two years later, AP transferred him to Washington, D.C., where he covered the Watergate hearings, placing him at one of the defining episodes in modern American political history.

Charles went on to photograph Richard Nixon’s resignation, Gerald Ford’s presidency, and Jimmy Carter’s election and presidency. As a member of the White House press corps, he traveled aboard Air Force One with President Ford on overseas presidential trips including the historic 1974 summit with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in Vladivostok. He was also just steps from President Ford in Sacramento, September 1975, when Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme attempted to assassinate the president.

After his years in Washington, Charles transferred to the Associated Press bureau in Chicago, where he spent the remainder of his professional career. There, his subjects ranged from politics and social issues to sports and the personalities who defined the city and the era.

Away from the newsrooms, presidential motorcades and assignments that defined his career, he was known simply and affectionately as Charlie, Chuck, Trash (among his AP buddies), and Sweet Chuckie. Charlie was a fantastic storyteller. Many who have met him will recall his story about cooking chili for Willie Nelson, one of his heroes, at the Illinois State Fair in the early 80's.

Charlie’s family grew over different chapters of his life. His daughters Laurie and Sharley were born during his first marriage. He later married Marianne Martinson, with whom he had his sons Joseph (Joe) and James (Jaimie). Later in life, he married Aliza Buchman and adopted her son, Joshua (Josh).

Charlie and Aliza began their life together in 1989 and married in 2001. To the family, Aliza was affectionately known as “Grandma Leezie” and “Bubbie.” Their relationship lasted more than a quarter-century, until her death in 2015.

Together, Charlie and Aliza shared both adventure and home. They traveled across the country by motorcycle on several occasions but also loved the quieter pleasures of cooking and having family and friends gathered around them.

Aliza was an artist, and Charlie took great pride in her work. He enthusiastically supported her art and sought opportunities and places where it could be exhibited. Their life together brought together two creative people.

Charlie was preceded in death by his wife, Aliza; his parents, Tillman Oscar and Vivian (Timms) Bennett; his sister, Margaret; his brother, Harold; and his daughter, Sharley.

He is survived by his daughter, Laurie; his son Joe, Joe’s wife, Ann, and their children, Kjerstin and Kai; his son Jaimie, Jaimie’s wife, Binh Ho, and their daughter, Josephine (Josie); and his son Josh and Josh’s daughter, Tammy.

For all the extraordinary people who appeared before his camera over the years, Charlie’s own family remained the part of the story that existed beyond the photographs. To his children and grandchildren, he was Grandpa Charlie, Zadie, and Papa, remembered around the family table, on the open road, behind a camera, and through the accumulated stories and photographs of a long and remarkable life.