It's the time of the year to express gratitude, and I am grateful that I lived during the presidency of Barack Obama. It already seems like it was all a dream. Considering what came before and what is to come after, maybe it was.
I've been trying to define my relationship to the American presidency but so far not successfully. Maybe I'll have something cogent to say before this presidency is over.
But I will say that along with my notions of what the President represents and what he means to the country is a more nuanced and practical appreciation of what the job is. That's always been part of how I view the office and the individuals who held it in my lifetime. The gold standard for scholarship apparently still is Richard Neustadt's Presidential Power. I read that when I was 15, along with a book on similar lines written from within the Kennedy presidency: Ted Sorensen's Decision-Making in the White House. These were the beginnings of seeing what the job is. A job that humans do, within the limits of the day.
This time around I could not have asked for a better presidency, a better President and First Family than we've had for the past eight years. It will be a beacon that shines for whatever history is left.
I've paid particular attention to this presidency and savored it, believing it would be the last I would follow and care about so much. Now it seems it will be the last in other senses as well.
This group may include photos from earlier as well, but mostly the past year or two. Because of the limitations of this template, some of the right side of photos posted "extra large" get cut off, so I may have to post some in a smaller size. In any case, click on the photo to see it full size.
And for those also in the US, Happy Thanksgiving.
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