is a piece from the Washington Post titled These nine White House staffers remember their most inspiring day working for President Obama. It is authored by Colby Itkowitz, who offers the following introduction (the words are in italics in the original):
For many Americans, Barack Obama’s presidency embodies inspiration. A black man raised by a single mother, he made it to the highest office in the land on a message of hope and inclusiveness. A devoted husband and father, he will leave the White House without any notable scandal, either policy, political or personal.
What his legacy will be, how history will judge America’s first black president, remains to be seen. His presidency was not without its stumbles and disappointments, but many who worked in his White House will remember the dignity and optimism with which Obama took on the major issues of our time.
Obama returns Tuesday evening to Chicago for his farewell address to the country, where he will remind Americans of the good times and stress his enduring faith in public service. In advance of his swan song, we asked those who served in his White House to recall their most inspiring day over the past eight years.
Here are the moments they shared:
As you can see, this piece is from earlier this week. Let me just give one of the nine examples:
From Cecilia Muñoz, assistant to the president and director of the Domestic Policy Council:
In my eight years in the White House, I have savored especially the moments that have enormous impact without attracting much notice from official Washington. One of my favorites took place in July 2010, when President Obama signed the Tribal Law and Order Act. Native American women have a one in three chance of being raped in their lifetimes, something the president has described as a shock to the conscience. In part, this is because men who are not from a reservation can attack women on reservation land, escaping justice by tribal authorities once they are off the reservation. With the administration’s help, Congress addressed these issues in the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010 and the Violence Against Women Reauthorization of 2013.
The standard procedure for a bill signing ceremony is for someone to introduce the president while he waits in the next room. In this case, Lisa Marie Lyotte, of the Sicangu Lakota Ospaya people, began her introduction by bracing herself to recount her very moving story of surviving a violent sexual assault that took place in her home in front of her children. Not surprisingly, she was full of emotion and was at first unable to speak. The president, not waiting for the introduction, burst into the room and gave her a hug, quietly telling her, “I’m right here.” He stood beside her quietly, occasionally squeezing her shoulder as she tearfully told her story and introduced him.
There wasn’t much coverage of that signing ceremony in Washington, or of that dramatic moment in which a survivor of violence showed uncommon courage and her president showed uncommon grace. But I will treasure the memory for the rest of my days, with pride in the accomplishment and wonder that it took this country so long.
This powerful recollection is the first. As I read it, it took my breath away. It reminded me how much Obama has been our nation’s comforter-in-chief for so many tragic events, whether mining disasters in W Virginia, or the too many tragic shootings (Fort Hood, Tucson, Charleston, etc). Here we see his concern for the individual person, his willingness to break from procedure to affirm the real humanity of an other.
Go read the piece.
You will be glad you did.
Peace.