For two nights last week, Brian Williams and NBC News interviewed President Obama, his staff, and his wife, Michele, about life as President and life in the White House. I found the interviews fascinating on a number of levels - not the least of which I remember as a small child watching similar interviews with John and Jackie Kennedy. At least this time around, I could understand what people were talking about.
In my life, I have had the fortunate opportunity to meet two presidents - Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. My encounter with Mr. Carter was actually a near disaster for both of us. At a campaign rally in Sacramento in 1976 on the eve of the California primary, my college roommate and I were in attendance. At the end of the rally, as the crowd surged forward to shake the candidates hand, we were swept forward as well. As I reached out and shook Mr. Carter's hand, he grasped mine firmly and I responded in kind - thinking this was pretty cool. Unfortunately, neither one of us was able to disengage right away. As the crowd continued to surge around us, the seconds seemed to stretch into minutes. Finally, the Secret Service agents started to yell at me: "Let him go! Let him go!" Convinced that I was not the reason for our prolonged digital embrace, I shouted back: "Tell him to let go of me!" - forever endearing myself to the ranks of the Secret Service, I'm sure. Finally, the grasp was broken, the crowd continued to move forward, and we were able to leave.
Ronald Reagan and I met (sounds like the beginning of some Hollywood starlet's tell-all), as a result of one of my summer trips to the East Coast with students from my previous school. With all kinds of connections from California, a personal visit with the Reagans was arranged. When my mother heard that this meeting was likely to happen, she asked me to be sure to share with the president that she was a big fan of his from his Hollywood days - especially in that hallowed western epic, "Cattle Queen of Montana". Right, mom.
Long story short, during the meeting with the President and the boys on the trip, there was a time when the president was alone and I decided to make conversation. What better topic than "Cattle Queen of Montana"? Turns out, the movie was one of Mr. Reagan's favorites, he bought the horse he rode in the movie and still had the grandson (grandhorse?) of the original, etc. Twenty minutes later, we were still talking, the helicopter was waiting, and I could see that once again, the Secret Service and I were not on good terms.
My point in all of this is not to brag about my famous acquaintances (famous, yes; acquaintances, no), but to point out that both men, especially Mr. Reagan, seemed like perfectly nice gentlemen - normal almost. In fact, Mr. Reagan reminded me of my grandfather - great guy to talk to - I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with either having their finger on the nuclear button, perhaps, but nice nonetheless. I think that as Americans, we like our leaders to be majestic, but with a little humanity as well. Ronald Reagan understood this, Richard Nixon never could.
Back to the Brian Williams interview - my favorite part of the interviews was when Williams had Obama talk about his dog. A new dog, the president explained that it was his job to take the dog outside for the last time each night at about 9:30 pm. He went on to say that it was usually a nice time to gaze at the well-lit White House and Washington Monument, as well as the occasional beautiful moon. He said he waited patiently for Bo to do his business, utilized a plastic bag for the proper clean-up, and went back inside. A little humanity at its most basic level . . .
Because the same job falls to me on occasion, I look forward to the next time I am outside, looking up at the same moon as the president, plastic bag in hand, and realizing what a nice feeling it is to have someone else with the same chore. While we each probably have other things to do - he might have to phone a head of state, and I'm probably outside during a commercial break for "Law and Order" - for one brief moment at least, we realize together that there really are sometimes, no more important things in the world, than having a well-walked dog . . .
No comments:
Post a Comment