From retaking the oath of office, to reining-in Vice President "Loose Lips" Biden, President Obama looks to be ironing out some move-in kinks over the first couple of weeks. Perhaps that's natural, although Obama's predecessor, President George W. Bush, had spent lots of time around the White House during the presidency of G.H.W. Bush, and in some sense he seemed especially "fit" for the job.
I noticed also that Obama is returning some informality to the Oval Office. Unlike President George W. Bush, who steadfastly maintained a coat-and-tie rule for visitors to the oval office, and who himself always wore a suit when working there, President Obama took off his jacket while sitting at the president's desk yesterday, in essence rollling back the button-down mannerism of his predecessor.
When I started at LBCC, I always wore a coat and tie for lectures. For various reasons I am dressing more casuallly now, although I miss dressing up, and I'll be going back to more formal dress at some point (I need some new clothes mostly, but also my mood and teaching style has been more casual).
There's something to that professionalism that is meaningful. Dress signifies seriousness and decorum. When Bush came in with his crisp White House style, a corporate élan, it was a stark difference from the Bill Clinton years, where it was reported that early in that term, young White House staffers would address senior U.S. military commanders visiting the president with a "What's happening, bro?" or some other casual greeting to that effect.
We'll see how things turn out, and change is good and refreshing, but that's another thing that I always admired about President Bush. His style and graciousness is something that I'll never forget.
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