Good Morning
First, i want to thank all those who were so kind to me and supportive yesterday. It's highly appreciated.
Official WH photographer, Pete Souza, published his personal first year summary, with interesting commentary about each photo. But before that, a new Fox News poll brought back some results that undoubtedly made the station regret for even going there:
Buried inside the new Fox News poll are some trial heats for the 2012 presidential election. Among the results:
Obama - Romney 47-35.
Obama - Palin 55-31.
Obama - Gingrich 53-29.
Each margin includes a healthy lead among independent voters.
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Now to Souza's great collection. That Nobel speech picture is really something. Enjoy (please don't hot-link).
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Jan. 20, 2009
"President-elect Barack Obama was about to walk out to take the oath of office. Backstage at the U.S. Capitol, he took one last look at his appearance in the mirror."
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Jan. 20, 2009
"We were on a freight elevator headed to one of the Inaugural Balls. It was quite chilly, so the President removed his tuxedo jacket and put it over the shoulders of his wife. Then they had a semi-private moment as staff member and Secret Service agents tried not to look."
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Jan. 21, 2009
"This was his first morning in the Oval Office as President of the United States. He was reading some briefing material before a meeting."
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Jan. 23, 2009
"The President meets with his national security and intelligence team in the Situation Room of the White House for the first time."
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Feb. 4, 2009
"The President talks with aides during an impromptu meeting around the Resolute desk."
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Feb. 26, 2009
"The President walks alone along the White House Colonnade to the Oval Office late one night. He tells people that he likes having his ‘home office’ so close to where he lives."
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March 2, 2009
"Washington had its first big snowstorm and I knew the girls were home from school. I suspected the girls might try to sled or make a snowman, so I asked the Usher’s Office to call me if the girls headed outside. I got there just in time to catch the First Lady helping the girls sled down a hill on the South Lawn. This picture now hangs on the wall of the President’s study."
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March 29, 2009
"It was a Sunday night in the Oval Office. The auto task force listened to the President before he made phone calls to alert key people about his plan to set deadlines for General Motors and Chrysler overhauls that was to be announced the next morning."
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April 3, 2009
"Aboard Air Force One, the President talks with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton en route to France. I thought looking through the doorway gave the scene a more intimate feel."
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April 5, 2009
"As the President signed the guestbook at the Prague Castle in the Czech Republic, I noticed the First Lady’s hands behind her back."
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April 7, 2009
"President Obama fist-bumps a U.S. soldier at Camp Victory in Baghdad. The President was treated to an overwhelming reception by the troops."
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May 8, 2009
"A temporary White House staffer, Carlton Philadelphia, brought his family to the Oval Office for a farewell photo with President Obama. Carlton’s son softly told the President he had just gotten a haircut like President Obama, and asked if he could feel the President’s head to see if it felt the same as his."
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May 19, 2009
"The President was leaving the State Floor after an event and found Sasha in the elevator ready to head upstairs to the private residence. He decided to ride upstairs with her before returning to the Oval Office."
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May 22, 2009
"We were flying to the U.S. Naval Academy aboard the Marine One helicopter and the President was reading the business section of the New York Times. He is a voracious reader."
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June 4, 2009
"He absolutely loved visiting the Pyramids and Great Sphinx of Giza. He wasn’t there for a photo-op; he was there to take it all in and learn as much as he could from the tour guide. One of the great experiences of that day for me was hoofing it up and down the narrow staircase inside with the President to the top of the Pyramids."
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June 6, 2009
"After his speech in Normandy, a crush of people tried to get close to the President to shake his hand. I noticed this guy waiting patiently and then literally being pushed back into the crowd. I felt bad for him, and mentioned the incident to the President’s trip director, Marvin Nicholson. Marvin pulled the guy out of the crowd, found him a wheel chair, and brought him over to meet the President. He was a French veteran. The man’s face shows his emotion."
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July 7, 2009
"Family dinner is usually private time. But I heard they were having dinner atop their hotel in Moscow, which overlooked the Kremlin. When they first sat down, Sasha was just having some fun with her dad."
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Aug. 5, 2009
"I was sitting in the reception area outside the Oval Office when Sasha walked by and headed to the Oval. I suspected something was up, so I followed her. Sasha then crawled into the office, hiding behind the sofa, and when she reached the far end, jumped up and yelled trying spook her dad."
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Sept. 17, 2009
"This is a rare look inside the President’s Treaty Room office in the private residence of the White House. He was making a call to Poland Prime Minister Donald Tusk."
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Sept. 27, 2009
"The President and his daughter Sasha read one of Thomas Jefferson’s speeches at the Jefferson Memorial one Sunday night in Washington, D.C. The entire family toured the Memorial and later the Washington Monument."
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Oct. 8, 2009
"The President jockeys for a rebound with Congressmen during a basketball game at the White House. I think opponents are always surprised at how tough and competitive he can be."
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Oct. 9, 2009
"Hours after learning he had won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, the President looked over his remarks in the Outer Oval Office that he was about to deliver to the press in the Rose Garden."
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Oct. 13, 2009
"Much to Sasha’s chagrin, the President starts dancing to the music at the Fiesta Latina event on the South Lawn of the White House."
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Oct. 20, 2009
"The light was streaming through the window, and I was trying to catch him walking back to his desk between meetings and phone calls."
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Oct. 29, 2009
"This photo was taken about 4AM after the President made an unannounced trip to Dover Air Force Base to pay respects to fallen troops coming back from Afghanistan. After meeting privately with the families, the President walked alone up the ramp of the cargo plane carrying the 18 caskets, all draped in American flags. I could see the emotion on his face as he walked from casket to casket, leaving a Presidential coin on each. When he was done, he paused for a few minutes, head bowed in prayer. I heard him tell others later how that was the most difficult moment of his Presidency thus far. Out of respect for the families, not all of who wanted their ceremony photographed, we can’t show those pictures (but they will become part of Presidential archive.)"
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Oct. 30, 2009
"The President plays peek-a-boo with the daughter of White House staffer Emmett Beliveau in the Outer Oval Office. It’s interesting to note that this photograph was taken not long after the conclusion of his Afghanistan meeting in the Situation Room. So he went from this very substantive meeting to being able to lighten up for a minute with this young girl."
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Nov. 5, 2009
"The shootings at Fort Hood had happening a few hours earlier. As meetings continued into the night, I walked outside the Oval Office to photograph looking back in as the President talked with one of his national security aides."
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Nov. 14, 2009
"We were on Air Force One heading to the Summit of the Americas in Singapore. Since the 1990’s, the host country for this Summit chooses a shirt that all heads of state wear to the formal ceremony. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs was showing the President pictures of past leaders wearing—shall we say—not the most dignified of shirts. At the Summit, the President joked that he looked forward to hosting the 2011 Summit in Hawaii, where everyone would have to wear Hawaii shirts and grass skirts."
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Dec. 3, 2009
"President Obama heads along the White House colonnade to the residence after leaving the Oval Office for the day."
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Dec. 9, 2009
"The day we were leaving for Oslo, the President’s first meeting of the morning was with his speechwriting team. He said he had stayed up most of the night writing. I was surprised to see that he had handwritten the entire speech so I made a few close-up pictures as he went over the speech with his aides in the Oval Office."
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Dec. 19, 2009
"Snowball in hand, the President chases Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel on the White House colonnade. To escape, Rahm ran through the Rose Garden, which unfortunately for him, was knee-deep in snow."
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Dec. 22, 2009
"This was a planning meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. The President was leaning back in his chair, taking in the discussion."
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Dec. 29, 2009
"I thought this was an interesting juxtaposition between his role as a father, and his role as Commander in Chief. On vacation in Hawaii, here he is hugging his daughter Malia while NSC chief of staff Denis McDonough waits to connect him on the latest conference call following the attempted Christmas Day terrorist attack."
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Jan. 6, 2010
"While waiting to be introduced for an event in the East Room of the White House, the President looks out a window in the Green Room towards a view of the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial."
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The entire 82 photos-and-commentaries set is here, most of them in huge size. Pete deserve some love. He is just a brilliant photographer.