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Obama: An Intimate Portrait
The Historic Presidency in Photographs
Contributors
By Pete Souza
Foreword by Barack Obama
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During Barack Obama’s two terms, Pete Souza was with the President during more crucial moments than anyone else — and he photographed them all. Souza captured nearly two million photographs of President Obama, in moments highly classified and disarmingly candid. Obama: An Intimate Portrait reproduces more than 300 of Souza’s most iconic photographs with fine-art print quality in an oversize collectible format.
Together they document the most consequential hours of the Presidency — including the historic image of President Obama and his advisors in the Situation Room during the bin Laden mission — alongside unguarded moments with the President’s family, his encounters with children, interactions with world leaders and cultural figures, and more.
Souza’s photographs, with the behind-the-scenes captions and stories that accompany them, communicate the pace and power of our nation’s highest office. They also reveal the spirit of the extraordinary man who became our President. We see President Obama lead our nation through monumental challenges, comfort us in calamity and loss, share in hard-won victories, and set a singular example to “be kind and be useful,” as he would instruct his daughters.
This book puts you in the White House with President Obama, and is a treasured record of a landmark era in American history.
Excerpt
February 18, 2009
Senator Barack Obama on Capitol Hill. January 5, 2005
President Barack Obama in the Oval Office. November 9, 2012
FIRST TERM
1
INAUGURATION DAY
SETTLING IN AT THE WHITE HOUSE
TOUGH DECISIONS ON THE ECONOMIC CRISIS
DANCING TO EARTH, WIND & FIRE
BAILING OUT THE AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY
A VISIT TO PRAGUE AND IRAQ
HAIR LIKE MINE
Moments before the inauguration. January 20, 2009
The President with the First Lady in a freight elevator heading to an inaugural ball. It was chilly, so he draped his jacket over her shoulders. 11:00 p.m., January 20, 2009
On the elevator to the private residence after the inaugural party at the White House. 2:00 a.m., January 21, 2009
Seven hours after calling it a night, Barack Obama sat at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office as President of the United States for the first time. 9:02 a.m., January 21, 2009
Meeting in the Situation Room with his National Security team for the second time in the first three days. January 23, 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, just across the hall from the Oval Office. I tried to capture the President’s emotion as he dealt with the issue, which was the worst financial disruption since the Great Depression. January 29, 2009
Talking on the phone with Prime Minister Nouri al-Malaki of Iraq. February 2, 2009
Watching a 3D commercial in the family theater during Super Bowl XLIII, between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals. February 1, 2009
Moving a sofa back into place in the Oval Office with (not much) help from Governor Jim Douglas of Vermont. February 2, 2009
Sasha (left) and Malia checking out their dad’s new office. February 2, 2009
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, also known as the stimulus package. I composed this shot on Air Force One, as we returned from its signing in Denver. February 17, 2009
Dancing with the First Lady at the Governors Ball in the East Room and singing along with the legendary band Earth, Wind & Fire—who were performing directly behind me. February 22, 2009
First speech to a joint session of Congress. February 24, 2009
Playing hoops on a Saturday at the Department of Interior gymnasium. February 28, 2009
The President once told me that he got a lot of thinking done on the Colonnade connecting the residence to the West Wing. February 26, 2009
Running into the girls on the Colonnade after school. March 5, 2009
Meeting with his economic team on a Sunday night, before calling the heads of General Motors and Chrysler to tell them the government was effectively taking over their companies. Though the decision was unpopular at the time, the bailout saved the auto industry. March 29, 2009
With the First Lady at Prague Castle, in the Czech Republic. April 5, 2009
Embraced by the crowd following his speech in Prague’s Hradčany Square. April 5, 2009
Aboard Air Force One, senior staff and Secret Service agent Joe Clancy, far right, coordinating the security details for an unscheduled visit to Iraq. April 7, 2009
Speaking to U.S. troops at Camp Victory, in Baghdad. April 7, 2009
Deputy chief of staff Mona Sutphen joking with senior advisor David Axelrod; staff had gathered to celebrate senior advisor Pete Rouse’s birthday. April 15, 2009
A late night in the Oval. April 23, 2009
* * *
2
OUTSIDE AND INSIDE THE PYRAMIDS
SASHA SNEAKS UP ON HER DAD
EDITING A SPEECH THE ANALOG WAY
AN UNEXPECTED HONOR: THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
A SURGE IN AFGHANISTAN
WORK AND PLAY IN HAWAII
En route to the Naval Academy commencement aboard the Marine One helicopter. May 22, 2009
With senior advisors after moving a meeting from the Oval Office to the Rose Garden on a warm spring day. May 20, 2009
Running into Sasha in the elevator to the private residence as she returned home from school. May 19, 2009
Inside the Great Pyramid of Giza, near Cairo, Egypt. June 4, 2009
Visiting the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid of Giza. In his first trip to a predominantly Muslim country, the President also delivered a speech titled “A New Beginning” at Cairo University. June 4, 2009
Goofing around with Sasha during a family dinner on the roof of the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Moscow, Russia. July 7, 2009
Meeting for the first time with then–Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at his dacha outside Moscow. July 8, 2009
With the First Family at Accra airport, Ghana. July 11, 2009
Waving farewell following his speech there. July 11, 2009
Sasha in the Oval Office. August 5, 2009
On a family trip to the Grand Canyon, in Arizona. August 16, 2009
Greeting new Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor before her investiture ceremony at the court. September 8, 2009
Talking policy with legislative aide Phil Schiliro while press secretary Robert Gibbs horses around with “body man” Reggie Love. September 1, 2009
Editing a speech on health care with Jon Favreau. September 9, 2009
An intense game of one-on-one with personal aide Reggie Love in New York, a few hours after speaking to the United Nations General Assembly. The President was so proud of his blocked shot that he made Reggie sign an enlargement of the picture. Reggie’s inscription: “Mr. President, nice block—Reggie Love.”
That night, around 10 p.m., with National Security Chief of Staff Denis McDonough at the Waldorf Astoria, in New York. September 23, 2009
A detail of the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, where the President kept his morning paperwork. October 5, 2009
Being congratulated by the residence staff after winning the Nobel Peace Prize. October 9, 2009
On Air Force One, flying to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Singapore. Robert Gibbs had pulled up photographs of the colorful batik shirts that previous Presidents had worn to the event in past years. November 14, 2009
Visiting the Badaling section of the Great Wall on his first trip to China as President. November 18, 2009
After a state dinner for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India, on the South Grounds of the White House. November 24, 2009
Announcing his decision to send 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan during a speech to West Point cadets, many of whom would eventually be deployed. December 1, 2009
Fist-bumping Larry Lipscomb, a General Services Administration worker, following a White House forum on jobs and economic growth, in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. December 3, 2009
Busting in, uninvited, on a meeting about climate change hosted by China in Copenhagen, Denmark. December 18, 2009
Golfing at the Luana Hills Golf Course during his Christmas family vacation in Kailua, Hawaii. Although basketball was the President’s sport of choice, a round of golf was as close as he could get to escaping the Presidential bubble for a few hours. Because Secret Service and military personnel always accompanied him, I never in eight years caught him more alone on the golf course than in this photograph. December 28, 2009
With Malia on vacation in Kailua, waiting for Denis McDonough to connect him to his National Security team for updates on an averted terrorist act. A man with plastic explosives sewn into his underwear had unsuccessfully attempted to bomb a plane as it flew from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas morning. December 29, 2009
Genre:
- One of the Best Books of the Year - Today, Los Angeles Times, People, Bustle
- "The book, which distills the 1.9 million photographs that Souza took of Obama's eight years in the White House down to about 300 images, it as once warm and nostalgic, worshipful and respectful, sad and wistful-in a sense, not so different from the framed JFK portraits that everyday Americans hung in living rooms, right through the Nixon administration. Less than 12 months since Obama left office (indeed, the very moment he left his office is included), it also reads like a lesson in how fast things can change."—Chicago Tribune
- "Here are the qualities that radiate from these photos of the former President and his family, all taken by Souza during his eight years as official White House photographer: intelligence, kindness, warmth, integrity. Drink it in."—People
- "For all its exuberant glimpses of the president at play, the dominant mood of this 'intimate portrait' remains earnest. In conveying both the weight of the office and President Obama's full engagement with its demands, Souza fuels our admiration--and stokes our regret."—The Chicago Tribune
- "Souza, chief official White House photographer for Obama's two terms, was on hand for history--documenting our first black president, and a pretty photogenic one at that. Souza's book, an instant best seller, includes many iconic images we've seen before, but its most poignant moments are the least public--like one of the president and his daughters frolicking in the snow at the White House."—USA Today
- "Mr. Souza has honed an ability to crouch and shrink to capture the details no one else sees...With Mr. Obama giving few public statements since leaving office, Mr. Souza's words and images will have to work as a conduit for now."—The New York Times
- "Obama: An Intimate Portrait reminds us of how... glamour functioned in the previous Administration... However glamorous, this man has more power than seems human."—The New Yorker
- "Perfect for gifting... lets readers into Obama's life in the White House, around the world, and into the spirit of his chapter in American history."—Travel + Leisure
- "This book will appeal to any fan of history."—ABC7 Eyewitness News
- "The 300 photographs in the book are a remarkable account of President Obama's eight years in the White House, from events of historic significance to quiet moments with his wife and daughters and the family dogs. They feature world leaders, diplomats, celebrities and everyday people. You see the President in times of contemplation, worry and sorrow. You see him, too, in high spirits, joy and playfulness."—New Orleans Times-Picayune
- "The Obama presidency, distilled into 5 pounds' worth of pictures."—Slate
- "The power of Barack Obama has always been in the simple reality of him. Just the sight of him--so smart, so powerful, so black--means so much to so many. And for over a decade, Pete Souza was responsible for spreading that reality around the world."—Vice
- On Sale
- Nov 7, 2017
- Page Count
- 352 pages
- Publisher
- Little, Brown and Company
- ISBN-13
- 9780316512589
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