Photographer Pete Souza Reflects On 8 Years (And 1.9 Million Photos) Of Obama

[DFW]

10. It was so refershing to be able to discuss SO many different subjects, and he was up on all of them

Without notes.

Health care costs. The budget deficit. Latin America. The Egyptian economy. Election strategy (this was July 2012). Syria. Russia.

It was amazing. I've been able to discuss THAT many themes in one sitting with exactly THREE people in public life, and one of them was a soft-spoken, intellectual Republican whose "public" life was a fictional portrayal of him in a hit film, where the guy playing him made him out to be someone COMPLETELY unlike the real person. Most people never even knew he is a Republican.

Besides Obama, the only other Democrat in that category I can think of is Howard Dean, although I got the impression from a few short encounters that Bill and Hillary Clinton are the same way.