CNN named Obama 'most intriguing person of 2012' five days after TIME named him 'person of the year'. I found this great collection of photos from the White House photographer and I was captivated. I looked at them all and as a totality I think they really capture the essence of the presidential experience. While not generally a patriotic person, I sure feel patriotic after looking at these.
What's your reaction? Would be interesting to hear from Dems and Reps alike.
Thanks for the link. I put this on facebook, which I rarely do, with the reminder that if they wanted my friends could skip the article and just look at the pretty pictures. So we'll see how that goes. (I'm pretty young and so are my facebook friends.)
To answer your question, I love seeing behind-the-scenes photos of just about anything, but the presidency is shrouded in more mystique than most things in America -- so this was something special. And forgetting the subject matter, some of these shots are pure art (thinking of the second picture at the Libya memorial/transfer).
Souza's photos remind me of the prevailing thought I had after Obama's AMA. A bunch of people asked him about (surprise!) the NDAA, pot, etc. -- wasted chances. Only two of the questions were remotely interesting, as far as I can remember. One asked him about the quality of the White House beer and another simply asked him to tell us something we didn't know about his daily life. The answers were entertaining if brief.
Everyone knows what Obama has to say about the NDAA; that's not what I read his AMA for. Similarly, I know what Obama looks like when he's posing for dozens of flashbulbs. That's not interesting. This photoessay was.
EDIT: I submitted the picture of his signature on the health care bill to r/penmanshipporn. Love the 'b' in the 'O'.
What was his answer to the question "What don't we know about your daily life"? Also, you can embed photo's in comments here using imgur, if you have the link handy. I think this is what you are referencing and I agree, it's an interesting signature:
Here's his signature on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. (#118 in the picture series). Much more flowing and happy than the health care signature. Looks like he had trouble with the O. I wonder how tired he was when he signed that.
Hmm. Looks like I'm slightly misremembering - I think that question got asked but not answered. He did answer this, "How do you balance family life and hobbies with, well, being the POTUS?", which is similar enough:
- It's hard - truthfully the main thing other than work is just making sure that I'm spending enough time with michelle and the girls. The big advantage I have is that I live above the store - so I have no commute! So we make sure that when I'm in DC I never miss dinner with them at 6:30 pm - even if I have to go back down to the Oval for work later in the evening. I do work out every morning as well, and try to get a basketball or golf game in on the weekends just to get out of the bubble. Speaking of balance, though, I need to get going so I'm back in DC in time for dinner. But I want to thank everybody at reddit for participating - this is an example of how technology and the internet can empower the sorts of conversations that strengthen our democracy over the long run. AND REMEMBER TO VOTE IN NOVEMBER - if you need to know how to register, go to Gottaregister.com. By the way, if you want to know what I think about this whole reddit experience - NOT BAD!
Here's the whole thing, for good or ill. Pretty disappointing content-wise but completely groundbreaking in every other respect.
Absolutely ground breaking. It's either a step towards a more accountable government or towards Idiocracy, time will tell.
Pretty cool of him to do it though.
If anyone wants it, here is a link to the photostream referenced in the article.
Thanks, these are great, it's nice to be a fly on the wall for some of the most important decisions being made today. These types of photographs are going to be invaluable for future generations. I know that I love seeing old photographs of JFK an other presidents in candid moments.