May 3, 2009
Notes

The Executive Picnic Table

The president’s comments came at the end of a weeklong balancing act in which his public words and actions were carefully measured to summon a sense of urgency without setting off a panic. It was no coincidence, his aides said, that he played golf the day his administration declared a national emergency. — from: President Enlists Cabinet to Prepare for a Pandemic (5/2/09 NYT)

The line above, pulled out of a NYT article yesterday on pandemic preparedness, is interesting in the way it speaks to White House communications strategy. The quote, I believe, also informs this photo of Clinton and Obama meeting last month on the South Lawn.

In contrast to the uncharacteristic photo on Friday showing a nervous White House auto task force behind the President, this image — stopping short of describing life as a picnic — is classic for the way it trumpets the message: we’re loose and operating in an atmosphere of calm.

(image: Pete Souza/White House, April 9, 2009, from the “Delivering on Change” photo set released on the White House flickr photostream to mark Obama’s 100 days in office)

Post By

Michael Shaw
See other posts by Michael here.

The Big Picture

Follow us on Instagram (@readingthepictures) and Twitter (@readingthepix), and

Topic

A curated collection of pieces related to our most-popular subject matter.

Reactions

Comments Powered by Disqus