I love this Time photo essay. Most of them are of President Obama at work, but there are some of the family together. I like them all, but I especially like 13, 14, 27, 32, 46, 49, 51 (on Air Force One), and 56 (in England? not sure, because the caption makes it seem like the White House but it isn’t).
Nice to see he has a computer at his private desk. He has my favorite picture of him and Michelle on his desk too (it can be briefly seen at 2:22 of this video).
He writes notes to 10 average Americans a day, as well as to the family of every service member who dies in the line of duty.
This is not at the White House but that curved painting in 61 is interesting to me.
Love his reception by the troops in Iraq. 70, 71, 72.
i liked, i think it is 2, him leaning on the back legs of a chair with his eyes closed thinking. i just get a kick out of foo-foo chairs being leaned in.
i’m sure if his mil saw him doing that, he would be sitting with all 4 legs on the floor right quick!
Good god. I know my farming roots are showing but that photographer needs to change the camera filters. The walls in that picture are the exact same shade of yellow as the “end result” of calf scours.
That unpleasant observation aside - in fact, everything resembling political leanings aside - I am utterly and completely charmed by the obvious love and affection the Obamas have for each other. The Reagans had a “Hollywood relationship”; both Bush wives seem to have a “whatever you want, dear”, 1950s-style, Mad Men relationship; the Clintons have a “business relationship”. And now we have a couple in the White House who actively and outwardly project the fact that they care about each other as much as they care about themselves.
I don’t know why that turns me on so much but it does, and I’m certain that their outward projection of “we’re ok” is why the presidential approval ratings are so high despite the shitty economy and the myriad other “we’re going to the dogs” news.
Thanks for that link to the Kennedy photo SaharaTea. I hadn’t seen that before.
It was Ash Wednesday. I saw other pictures with the smudge.
I’m with you chique, the love and affection between the Obamas (and the children) is so endearing. How anyone could think ‘it’s all an act’ or find it disgusting (yes, I’ve read these things) is beyond belief.
This just adds into my endless “What is it like to be rich?” musings. The rooms are huge, and mostly empty. Who could work at such a clean desk? WHo could eat lunch alone with such an elegant setting?
Of course the trick is any president is so much beyond even thinking about things like rooms, table services or desk clutter that it barely registers with him.
the lunch alone seems really sad to me. and i eat lunch alone often. i’m usually surrounded by people in a food court, atrium, or restaurant so there is a lot of hussle and bustle around. and i’m reading a book not work documents.
i hope he finds the elegant surroundings and no doubt loud silence peaceful.
i was amused by the little tv he was watching in one of the pictures. seems like he should have wafer thin big screens to watch the news on.
I loved all the pics, but the one caption early on that says “Obama throws a football or a basketball…” WTH? It’s a football. It is clearly a football; it couldn’t be anything but a football.
I love the emerald green dress Michelle wore to greet the Irish Prime Minister. Nice touch. And she looks great in it.
So many thoughts went through my head when I saw the one of the WH butler with the 2 girls. Talk about bittersweet, but so enlifting. (ok, I made that word up, but I can’t think of the term for elevating while at the same time poignant).
What also struck me is how relaxed the foreign heads of state appear in those photos–the past 8 years have been ones requiring stoicism on their part.
Their body language shows me that it’s a very comfortable relationship already. Stealing a comment from another message board, he looks like “that guy” who would cover for the girls if they did something they didn’t want their parents to find out about, like spill juice on a carpet. Not that the girls are little liars or anything, but I can imagine that it would be nice to have a grown-up confidant other than your relatives when you live in a fishbowl. Or anytime, really.
I agree. One thing about President Obama is that he’s very polite and easy-going. He has intelligence, warmth, and charisma, but he also has just basic manners. Here’s a shallow but lovely photo slideshow showing his manners by Emily Post’s Great-great-granddaughter. His genuine and automatic manners are a real tribute to his mother, grandmother and grandfather. They raised him to respect other people.
I suppose you can read the caption more than one way, but I take it mean that the caption writer is not sure what he has in the pic and states “either a football or a basketball”. I would not have written it the way this writer did. I would have said “Obama palms a football blahblahblah. At other times, he likes to palm a basketball” or just leave off the bit about the basketball entirely.
It is nice to have an elegant Head of State for a change.
quite often he mentions how isolating being in the white house is, that picture really shouts it. you do have a good point though. everyone does want a piece of you nearly every waking moment.
I’d have warned them on day one, “Don’t let my ass hit ANY CHAIR not made in the last 10 years.” I’m a chroic leaner-backer. If my computer chair lasts me two years it’s had a GREAT run.
It’s striking how much his facial expression changes between when he’s working and when he’s with his family.
Look at the contrast between this one, where we see him after his first month in office looking exhausted, stressed and distracted, a little anxious, probably thinking a million things at once, and then this one, where he’s dancing with Michelle and you can practically see the stress and anxiety draining out of him. He’s holding onto her for dear life. She’s like a life raft.
A lot gets made of President Obama’s (I still love saying that) even temperament and calm demeanor, but I think a lot of that comes from Michelle. You can tell she’s just a rock for him. All of the happiest pictures are when he’s with her and/or the girls.
i really liked that picture of them dancing. he looks like he is soaking in sunshine, and she is his sunshine.
there is a picture from the campaign, when she walks up on him and hugs him, the same face. like he is in a ray of sun soaking up all the warmth and light.
One little detail I especially love about that photo is, his hand is on her back, but his thumb is touching her skin, and it’s stretched up in a way that makes it look like it’s on purpose, done to feel her warmth, not just a matter of happenstance as to where his hand and thumb landed. It’s a minor detail, but it makes me smile. And because of his expression of course. Such a beautiful photo.
I agree with everything you and rocking chair said. I love this family.
