Dad-in-Chief: White House Photographer Reveals Pics of His Favorite (Snow) Day with President Obama
Pete Souza explained a snowy Saturday in February 2010 was his favorite day of photographing Obama
President Obama isn’t just the commander-in-chief, he’s also the Dad-in-Chief.
On Tuesday, Chief White House photographer Pete Souza shared never-before-seen pictures of Obama with his daughters, Malia and Sasha, playing in the snow after a blizzard battered Washington, D.C., in 2010.
“People are always asking me to choose my favorite picture of the President. But I just can’t do it. So let me tell you about my favorite day,” Souza explained on Instagram.
“It was a Saturday in February 2010. Washington was under siege with snow. I slept in my office overnight, knowing I probably couldn’t drive to the White House the next day,” he continued.
“And then I guessed…and yes, hoped…that the President of the United States would be a dad and play with his girls in the snow,” added Souza, who was also the White House photographer during Ronald Reagan’s presidency.
In the series, Obama, then age 47, has a beaming smile on his face as he makes snow angels and plays with 10-year-old Malia and 7-year-old Sasha on the South Lawn.
For the past eight years, Souza has been documenting the Obamas, taking as many as 2,000 pictures a day.
“One of the things I try to do is to show him, not only as a president, but as a human being, what’s he like as a man,” he said in his recent interview with CBS News.
“Not only does he have an amazing eye, not only are his pictures evocative, accurate, creative, but he’s also become a great friend and somebody I trust,” Obama said in the same CBS News interview.