Obama: An Intimate Portrait

10 Middle St,Portsmouth NH 03801

17 December, 2020

Description

50 Photographs of President Barack H Obama 44th President of the United States President Obama and I shared a lot of time in each other’s presence. Probably more than anyone else except for his family. Ten to 12 hours a day. Five days a week, sometimes six or seven. Photographing every meeting, every day. In the Oval Office, the Situation Room, the Roosevelt Room. And then on the road. Nearly 1.5 million miles on Air Force One. All 50 states, more than 60 countries. Almost two million photographs in eight years. Along the way, I became his friend. And he became my friend. How could you not when you spend so much time together. In the now 14 years that I’ve known Barack Obama, the character of this man has not changed that much, if at all. Deep down, the core of him is the same. He often tells his daughters, “Be kind and be useful.” That tells you a lot about him. As a man. A father. A husband. And as President of the United States. Pete Souza January 29, 2009 The economic crisis was the biggest challenge of the first year of his Presidency. Many of the meetings about it took place in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. I tried to capture the President’s emotion as he dealt with the issue, which was the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.