Earlier this year, S. and I had dinner with the Barack Obama.  Well, he didn’t actually eat with us, but he was there while we were eating.  Actually, we weren’t eating when he was in the room with us, but we had finished our salad before he came in.  Never mind the details.  We met, spoke to, shook hands with, had our pictures taken with President Barack Obama and his lovely First Lady, Michelle (from whom I got a classic, big Michelle hug).  To say this was a high point in our political/social life would be a  understatement of indescribable dimensions.  You should view this in the context of knowing that I’m not a celeb kind of guy.  The only autograph I’ve ever sought was Dizzy Deans’ when I was ten years old, and the only celeb photos I’ve ever appeared in were ones which were taken when I wasn’t looking.  My delight at the event wasn’t even based on any ideological fervor.  While I agree with most of his political philosophy and support many of his policies, I don’t think he will go down in history as the greatest political operator or President, and there are things he has done as President that I disagree with.  I do think he is an extraordinary leader and human being.  And being married to a woman the caliber of Michelle doesn’t hurt either.

This was not my first rodeo as far as meeting Presidents.  I met George W. when he was Governor of Texas long before the presidency was a gleam in his eye.  I was most impressed by his willingness to admit what he didn’t know (which seemed to be quite a lot).  Unfortunately, he lost this characteristic on the road to the presidency.  I met Ronald Reagan in the Indian Treaty Room of the Old Executive Office Building.  He was accompanied by the then Chairman of ATT, Charlie Brown.  I was there to press the flesh and get thanks from the Ronald for some work I had done for the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.  The study was entitled, “Possible Effects of an Electromagnetic Pulse on an Airborne Command and Control Center.  You can see this was a task to which I was perfectly suited.  To be honest, the only thing I can remember is the aforementioned name and that Charles Brown was wearing penny loafers with an actual penny in the little slot.  Oh, that and The Pres had the most highly shined shoes I’d ever seen.  And this from someone who learned to spit shine shoes at the Infantry School.  I wondered, only briefly, if he had done them himself, and, if not, who was it that shined the shoes of the biggest potentate in the land.

I also met Jimmy Carter at a function for inside the beltway business types of which I was then counted.  It was a small gathering as presidential audiences go and was in the Blue Room of the East Wing or the East Room of the Blue Wing, I get them confused.  Jimmy was running late as is the won’t of Leaders of the Free World, so we got the warm up act of Bob Strauss.  Bob was from Dallas and I felt an immediate kinship with my fellow Dallasite.  I was to meet Bob again soon as I would try to solicit his support to get replacement passports for my fellow EDS employees who were being held hostage in Iran.  But that’s another story.  Bob Strauss was one of the most charming men to ever put on lace up shoes.  He wowed the audience to the point where most were indifferent to whether Carter showed or not.  Carter ultimately made his appearance, but I remember nada of what he said.  Everyone, including me, did notice and later remark on the stark difference in the charm factor.

I never met Clinton, although I would have liked to.  He was the first president that I could actually identify with.  No, I don’t mean the skirt chasing part, but he did like to play golf and I’m sure he would’ve been a great one to pop a cold brewski with.  I recently saw a piece on George H. W. Bush which reminded me of why I would’ve like to have known him.  At age eight nine, he has shaved his head to show support for the two year old child of one of his security detail who is being treated for leukemia and has lost his hair as well.  Wow.  Also, I’m drawn to winners, and George the Elder was a winner at everything from pitching horseshoes to running for president.  George Plimpton in his book The X Factor cited him as having the secret sauce present in most all successful people…the ability, but more importantly, the will to win.  President George H.W. Bush had that in spades.

The only other president of my lifetime that appeals to me enough to want to have met him is Lyndon Johnson.  I know, I know… Viet Nam and all that.  But he was a oner.  They broke the mold.  His goods were really, really good and his bads were not so good.  LBJ had left the presidency and Washington long before I got there, but I wouldn’t have gotten to meet him anyway.  He was, as they say, way above my pay grade.  I did, however, hire a retired Brigadier General who had run the White House Communications Agency while Lyndon was in office.  With enough time and a modicum of whiskey, he could be induced to tell Lyndon stories for the ages.

My diner with Obama wasn’t my first personal encounter with him.  I, and a few thousand others, attended a function in downtown Dallas to honor (or raise money for) the Obama Campaign.  The function was notable in that Barack was introduced by Emmitt Smith…I dunno who thought that one up, and that I shook Obama’s hand.  “So what”, you say.  It’s little better than holding the reins to a rich man’s horse.  But this was different.  There was the typical rope line at the conclusion of his speech.  Our table was near the front of the room so I was able to maneuver to a place adjacent to the rope where he would be pressing the flesh with the masses, including me.  I felt a little foolish as I waited my turn, but what the hey…I was there, and he was there…why not.  As he neared, I didn’t know exactly what to expect.  Most pols that I had previously met under similar circumstances would extend their hand as they looked over your shoulder for the next encounter or to find someone more important.  Not so Obama.  He looked directly at me, took my hand in a firm grasp, and said, “It’s great to meet you and I’m so glad that you were able to be here with me today”.

I know there are those among us that will never like President Obama because of his political ideology.  There are those who will hold him in disdain for reasons that even they cannot clearly articulate.  There are others who will want to accord him sainthood without regard to his achievements or lack thereof as President.  I will not try to persuade either group to adopt another stance.  Before I give you my own view (which you surely must have known was coming), I want to share with you his words on the occasion of his victory in the Iowa Democratic caucus in January 2008.

“Hope is what led a band of colonials to rise up against an empire, what led the greatest of generations to free a continent and heal a nation, what led young women and men to sit at a lunch counter and brave fire hoses and march through Selma and Montgomery for freedom’s purpose.  Hope is what led me here today-with a father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas; and a story that could only happen in the United States of America.  Hope is the bedrock of this nation’s belief that our destiny will not be written for us, but by us; by all those men and women who are not content to settle for the world as it is; who have the courage to remake the world as it should be.”

Whoa!!  I don’t know about you, but that makes me gulp pretty hard.  Yes, I like Barack Obama, I respect Barack Obama and I would like to count him as my friend.  He may or may not be able to break the legislative log jam in Congress.  He may or may not ever cause another piece of legislation to be passed.  I know, however, he will continue to represent the very best in all of us and provide an example as a human being and an American, that the world and history will admire.