Personal Letters, To and From Our President
In “A Note Personally Penned, Then Signed ‘Barack.’ Priceless,” we saw how President Obama personally handwrites letters to kin of our fallen troops and, after they are typed, adds his signature, “Barack.”
In an interesting piece by Jake Tapper, ABC News’ Senior White House Correspondent, we learn that President Obama reads 10 letters a day from regular citizens like you and I.
According to the article:
Every day President Barack Obama is handed a special purple folder. The folder contains ten letters, and every day President Obama takes time to read them.
Are they from world leaders? From members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff? Members of the intelligence community?
No, these letters have been culled from the thousands the White House Correspondence Office receives each day from Americans who have taken the time to sit down and write to their president.
And:
In his first week in office, President Obama requested that he see 10 letters a day “representative of people’s concerns, from people writing into the president,” recalls Gibbs, “to help get him outside of the bubble, to get more than just the information you get as an elected official.”
.
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Monday through Friday the head of White House Correspondence delivers ten letters to be read by the President, choosing among letters that are broadly representative of the day’s news and issues; ones that are broadly representative of President’s intake of current mail, phone calls to the comment line, and faxes from citizens; and messages that are particularly compelling.
Some of these, maybe two or three each day, the President responds to in his own hand.
Way to go Mr. President. One good way not to get trapped in that infamous bubble.
For more interesting details on this charming routine—let’s hope it becomes a habit—of the President to stay in touch with the people, please go to “Dear President Obama”: The President Reads 10 Letters a Day from the Public, With Policy Ramifications”
Photo: Courtesy Political Punch, by White House photographer Peter Souza
One Response to “Personal Letters, To and From Our President”
It is funny how you guys are trying to make Obama seem like this wonderfully caring person by relating these stories when on the other hand you guys(bloggers,media)made every effort to make GWB look like an animal that was 1/2 a step above Hitler. Yet even you reported that Bush did the same thing. That was I remember reported on a couple years ago and the derision that it garnered was mind boggling.
Additonally these letters it seems are handpecked and chosen which of course they should be for fear he ends up with a dose of anthrax or something but still it is appearant that the president is still shielded from the outside by a staff that selects what letters to read (choosing among letters that are broadly representative of the day’s news and issues; ones that are broadly representative of President’s intake of current mail, phone calls to the comment line, and faxes from citizens; and messages that are particularly compelling.)
I know those of you here adore this man with an elementary style crush but he is after all just a man. Just a politician and the fact that his letters are screened and that the press is given this info for the purpose of propaganda makes this even more transparent.