Opinion: Barack Obama’s White House: cooler, hipper, more casual
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In the old days -- that would be the last eight years -- President Bush never entered the White House without wearing a suit and tie. And as far as anyone knows, he didn’t use a cellphone either.
Not so his successor.
Maybe it’s a generational thing, maybe it’s a Democratic thing. Whatever the cause, President Obama is staying up later, opening up the White House to parties and receptions more -- and wearing a shirt without tie for weekend events like his Sunday interview with NBC’s Matt Lauer.
Obama is also the first president to use a BlackBerry while in office, though it’s a specially souped-up one where messages are encrypted. In fact he told Lauer that the new device, a concession to security concerns, ‘has everything. It can turn into a car.’
The president isn’t saying who has his new e-mail address, the latest status symbol in Washington. But he did tell folks at the posh Alfalfa Club dinner Saturday night that they’re not on the list. Poking fun at the elite 202-year-old club’s VIP-only crowd, Obama said:
In just the first few weeks, I’ve had to engage in some of the toughest diplomacy of my life. And that was just to keep my BlackBerry. I finally agreed to limit the number of people who could e-mail me. It’s a very exclusive list. How exclusive? Everyone look at the person sitting on your left. Now look at the person sitting on your right. None of you have my e-mail address.
--Johanna Neuman
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