In the period between 1884 and 2009, the Naval War College has had fiftytwo presidents, including the incumbent, Rear Admiral James P. Wisecup. Of these presidents, the Naval War College has a complete collection of oil portraits on canvas depicting every College president since 1939. Of the twenty-two presidents of the Naval War College who served before 1939, there are only ten individuals who are not currently represented in this collection:

• Captain Charles Herbert Stockton President, 10 May 1893 – 13 November 1893 and 2 November 1898 – 25 October 1900
• Rear Admiral French Ensor Chadwick President, 25 October 1900 – 16 November 1903
• Rear Admiral John Porter Merrell President, 24 May 1906 – 6 October 1909
• Rear Admiral Raymond Perry Rodgers President, 6 October 1909 – 20 November 1911
• Captain William Ledyard Rodgers President, 20 November 1911 – 15 December 1913
• Rear Admiral Austin Melvin Knight President, 15 December 1913 – 16 February 1917
• Rear Admiral Clarence Stewart Williams President, 3 November 1922 – 5 September 1925
• Rear Admiral Harris Laning President, 16 June 1930 – 13 May 1933
• Rear Admiral Luke McNamee President, 3 June 1933 – 29 May 1934
• Rear Admiral Charles Philip Snyder President, 2 January 1937 – 27 May 1939.