When Obama Was New to the White House
Photos of another striking transition in November 2008.
![So soon after the election he was supposed to lose, by almost everyone’s prediction, President-elect Donald Trump’s first post-election visit to the White House was almost jarring. Paired with the photos of a significantly toned-down Trump and his assurances that he would seek “counsel” from President Obama, the man he spent a year skewering on the campaign trail, it was enough to make people wonder if the man in the Oval Office starting in January 2017 would be a new Trump. But that visit is nothing less than transformative for those mere 44 men who have experienced it. I know firsthand: For 5 years it was my job to chase after Senator and then President Obama with cameras of various kinds. I was there, cameras in tow, on November 10th 2008, when President-elect Obama met with President George W. Bush at the White House. It was a study in contrast: The graying tired and deeply unpopular President Bush and the fresh young former Junior Senator from Illinois, empowered with a national mandate. “People think I’m doing a pretty terrible job. Whadya think about that Reggie?” President Bush, wheeled on Reggie Love, Obama’s body man as if he really wanted an answer, right before smiling for cameras on the colonnade. As Obama now turns to the role of confident, poised mentor, it’s worth taking a look back at a time when he, too, was awed, shell-shocked and nervous to be in his new home, and the power that comes with it. Above, President George W. Bush shows President-elect Barack Obama the private office attached to the Oval Office. “You gotta check this out Barack!” [[did he really say this?]]](http://static2.politico.com/dims4/default/4cf56fe/2147483647/resize/1160x%3E/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.politico.com%2F92%2F9e%2Ff1bf91c2411398a122cc7fb9cd0f%2F110813-gwb-bo-0317.jpg)
President-elect Donald Trump. For a world that expected a different election result, the photographs of Trump’s first post-election visit to the White House were almost jarring. Many were surprised to see President Obama shaking hands with the man who spent years smearing him with conspiracy theories about his birth certificate. But this is how it works: History demands contrasts when parties transfer power, and graciousness in front of the camera’s lens. I know firsthand: For 5 years it was my job to chase after Senator and then President Obama with cameras of various kinds. I was there, cameras in tow, on November 10, 2008, when President-elect Obama met with President George W. Bush at the White House.
It was a study in contrast: The graying tired and deeply unpopular President Bush and the fresh young former junior senator from Illinois, empowered with a national mandate. “People think I’m doing a pretty terrible job. Whadya think about that, Reggie?” President Bush, wheeled on Reggie Love, Obama’s body man as if he really wanted an answer, right before smiling for cameras on the colonnade.
As Obama’s days at 1600 dwindle, it’s worth taking a look back at his visit to the place he would call home for the next eight years—and his introduction to the power that came with it.
Above, President George W. Bush shows President-elect Barack Obama the private office attached to the Oval Office. “You gotta check this out Barack!” he said.
President George W. Bush and President-elect Barack Obama walk down the colonnade at the White House. Whenever they entered public view GWB would start cracking jokes.
President George W. Bush shows President-elect Barack Obama to his motorcade after his WH visit. Mike, the Secret Service agent, was pretty stoked to have ended up right in the middle of the shot.
President George W. Bush and President-elect Barack Obama in the elevator that leads up the residence. You can see Eric Draper, GWB’s photographer, in the mirror.
President-elect Barack Obama looks out the window of the Lincoln Bedroom inside the White House. “They already have drapes,” I joked to him here.
President George W. Bush shows President-elect Barack Obama the Gettysburg Address in the Lincoln Bedroom.
President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush show President-elect Barack Obama the bedrooms in the residence. Mrs. Bush was very keen on showing the Obama’s possible layouts for the family bedrooms.
President George W. Bush and President-elect Barack Obama in the Oval Office. I asked Bush White House photographer Eric Draper if they were seated on the right sides and he told me it actually didn’t matter. Reagan used to sit on the opposite side from most Presidents.
President George W. Bush shows President-elect Barack Obama the Oval Office.
First Lady Laura Bush cracks a joke with Obama.
President George W. Bush introduces President-elect Barack Obama and Michelle Obama to the Chief Usher of the WH Residence.