I saw this on Jack & Jill Politics. It shows President Obama hugging retiring White House butler James Ramsey on January 25th 2010.
Michelle Obama comments:
Mr. Ramsey side note – he’s worked for the White House for 40 years and was supposed to retire when the Bushes left but wanted to extend working at the White House so that he could serve the Obamas as long as he could. I read last year that several of the scheduled retiring usher staff did the same thing because they’ve been treated so well by the Obamas and really don’t want to retire now….I think stamina may be the only factor for them leaving at this point….I’m sure the pace gets difficult over time. Desiree Rogers said last year in the Washington Post that some older staff had tears in their eyes when she was asking for their input, and they told her that no one ever asked that from them before or asked for their opinion.
See also:
Mr. Ramsey has a bestseller in him!
One could only imagine what this man has seen and heard over the past 40 years working in the White House.
A million stories to tell I sure. And I hope he seriously considers sharing them with the World.
What a bestseller that would be, “Tales from the White House”.
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Mr. Ramsey looks as pleased as if it were his own son.
I am also thinking of the ghosts behind him, since 1801.
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Michelle looks absolutely radiant here. I love the colors she is wearing now.
I wonder what the specifications are for the cameras they use to take these “gratuitous” photos, if they were taken by the same people. The color is always very vivid and the detail sharp; very true to life.
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Oh, I see Pete Souza is their official photographer. I went on his website. Great stuff. He’s got some beautiful black and whites of Obama, chronicling his journey here:
http://www.petesouza.com/gallery.html?gallery=The%20Rise%20of%20Barack%20Obama
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The butler seems thrilled to live long enough to finally see people of color occupying the White House.
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Natasha W:
From what I uhderstand the Obamas flood the press with pictures taken by their own photographers in order to have some control over their public image. That is why the Internet is awash with so many nice pictures of them.
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Hey Abagond, “Hacker from New York” is written on your About Me page. Hope your website hasn’t been hacked again.
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Awww, this pic looks so cute and sweet
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They asked his opinion on something. Wow. The ordinary American counts with them. I already knew this, but I still like that part of the story best.
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I love the obamas!
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Sweet post. Has anyone watched “Backstairs of the White House”? The picture kind of reminded me of that movie.
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This is the first time in my 49 years of life that I can say I love my president!
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all this hugging is not presidential .
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