The many firsts of President Obama
From digital and tech to the rainbow colors of the White House, and more.
There are many ways of remembering the past eight years of the Obama administration. Certainly with many firsts! Too many to lists them here.
In a recent post on Facebook, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, guest of honor of the Obamas’ last state dinner at the White House, said:
Obama became the first-ever African American president, not even 50 years after Selma. He’s the man who has invested in hope over cynicism; who has raised an entire generation to always try — “Yes, we can;” who has brought growth and new jobs; who has invested in energy, innovation, and healthcare.
Since technology and innovation are my beat, what I remember the most are President Barack Obama’s firsts in the digital space and in tech.
But one first is even more memorable — and a hint is the cover photo of this post (keep reading for more).
President Obama was the first true digital president — and the first to put in place a fully digital transition.
He was for example the first to debut here on Medium; and the first to use it to dive deep into policy content, as he did by publishing the 2015 Iran Deal in its entirety on the platform, and by posting his 2015 State of the Union address shortly before he started speaking.
On social media, Obama was “the first to have @POTUS on Twitter, the first to go live on Facebook from the Oval Office, the first to answer questions from citizens on YouTube, the first to use a filter on Snapchat,” as Kori Schulman, Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief Digital Officer, mentions in an official blog post on the digital transition to happen after the election. The First Lady marked also many firsts: from her debut to Snapchat and Instagram, to viral digital campaigns like #bringbackourgirls.
Obama was the first to launch a platform for citizens to petition The White House. It was 2011 and since then more than 470,000 petitions have been posted on the We the People platform.
He was the first to launch 18F, an office inside the General Services Administration (GSA) to help other federal agencies build, buy, and share efficient and easy-to-use digital services. 18F — the name is the address of the agency’s headquarters in Washington DC — is often linked to the Presidential Innovation Fellowship (PIF) program, launched in 2012 by the president and created by then US Chief Technology Officer Todd Park together with colleagues Steven VanRoekel, Peter L. Levin, and John Paul Farmer, to bring entrepreneurs, executives, technologists, designers and other innovators into government, and team them up with federal employees and agencies to improve government services, it became a permanent program in 2014.
President Obama was also the first to institute The U.S. Digital Service (USDS). Like the PIF program and 18F, one of the strategic aims is to “bring best-of-class, private-sector engineers into government for time-limited tours of duty,” and task them with bringing a modern perspective to key technology initiatives. But while 18F provides the team that is dispatched to agencies to fix services and digital platforms, USDS — which is strategically housed within the Office of the President — provides the strategy and consulting services on how to move forward. And both operates as tech startups within the federal government.
Obama was the first to focus heavily on entrepreneurship and innovation. He organized the first-ever White House Maker Faire in 2014; the first-ever South by South Lawn (SXSL) in 2016, a festival of art, ideas, and action; the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES), first announced in his speech at Cairo University in 2009, to connect innovators from around the world.
And finally, in the past eight years, Silicon Valley became an important partner, including in the fight against ISIS and terrorism and help face the refugee and migrant crisis.
But, on a more personal note, the Obama’s first that I will forever remember is when he flooded The White House in rainbow colors in celebration of the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage of June 2015.
“One of the most special moments of my presidency was that warm summer night last June when we lit up the White House out there. It was a powerful symbol here at home, where more Americans finally felt accepted and whole, and that their country recognized the love that they felt. It was a beacon for people around the world who are still fighting for those rights. It was a reminder that when the change we seek comes, and when we move a little bit further on our journey toward equality and justice, we still have a responsibility to reach back and help pull up others who are striving to do the same.”
— President Obama at the 2016 LGBT Pride Reception
Photos of the White House lit with rainbow colors when viral on social media with hashtag #LoveWins.
A few times before, the White House was lit up in special colors. In October 2013, it was pink to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and in November 2014 it was red, white, and blue during the event “A Salute to the Troops: In Performance at the White House.”
I personally experienced the magic of the White House at night, flooded by lights and the power of nature, a few times in the past.
In October 2016, the President and the First Lady hosted Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and his wife Agnese Landini for the Obamas’ last state dinner. For the occasion, the fountain on the South Lawn on the White House was lit in green, white, and red, the colors of Italy’s flag.
The same night, I took pictures of the most amazing moon lighting the grounds of the White House at night — and if you’re a fan of House of Cards like me, you probably recognize the arched window on the west side of the White House.
Some of those moments, with the colors of nature glowing around the Oval Office and the starch white of the presidential mansion, were capture by the expert eye of Chief Official White House Photographer Pete Souza.
Here some of my favorite moments immortalized by Sousa:
