During my eight years as the chief official White House Photographer for the obama administration, i documented all the important moments of his presidency. The emotion. The tough decisions. The stressful times. The fun times. But also, showing what he was like as a dad, as a husband, just as a human being. To me, that shows how the job of the president should be done. I think its my right, as an american citizen, to speak out when i see wrong. I really come at this from a unique perspective. Not just as a former pho photojournalist. But also, having worked for both the reagan and obama administrations. And seeing what its like on the inside of a presidency. Whether you agree or disagree on a president s policies, how that president should behave. Im going to throw some shade tonight, if thats okay. But i want to tell you, first, how i how i got there. So, if we go back to january 20th, 2017, president obama left his successor a personal note. And stuck it in the drawer of the resolute desk. And the last line of the note was, michelle and i wish you and melania the very best, as you embark on this great adventure. And know that we stand ready to help, in any ways which we can. Good luck and godspeed. With that, he left the oval office for the last time. Morning, sir. Thank you, sir. Thank you, guys. He went and said goodbye to the staff, butlers, ushers, groundkeepers. And vaughn everett, who was one of the butlers and had been there since the reagan years, can imagine what it was like for him to have been there for the first africanamerican president. Theres a tradition that the incoming president comes to the white house, the morning before the inauguration for a reception. After everyone else had finally boarded the motorcade, president obama took trump aside to brief him on a pending National Security issue. He escorted trump to the limousine. They had to ride in the limousine, to the capitol, together. The guy, on the far left, is mike white. He was the head of the president ial protective division of the secret service. And you always see the person in that position behind the president or behind the first lady. As they were leaving the podium, i now noticed that mike white and his deputy were behind trump and melania, and not behind president obama. And thats when it really hit me that this, for real, had happened. You know, if i go back to january 20th, 2017, im ready for the job to be done. Because, you know, it just takes so much out of you, physically and mentally. There was a sense of relief. Almost excitement, that i would not have a blackberry with me 24 7, 365, for eight years, anymore. You have no idea how good of a feeling it was to be done with that. But, there was a sense of disbelief and worry. I was. I really was concerned for the the country. To this day, i have that same feeling. Not literally, in the room, anymore. But, i know what happens in the room. And thats what scares me about whats happening, today, in the oval office. After i left the white house, i started this personal instagram account. My intention was to highlight some of the photographs that i have made throughout my career. I never intended to be vocal, in any way, about what was going on. So, the first day he came to me with his photo that he wanted to post on instagram. With the president sitting on the resolute desk and the red curtains. And he wrote a caption, something like, i like the old curtains better. What did you think . And i said you cant say that because he had spent eight years having no voice and no opinion of what was going on. And suddenly, heres an opinion about drapes. And i said, you cant do that. Now, what i didnt tell you is i had just seen a picture of the redecorated oval office with these gold, ornate curtains. And there was even a comment on that very first post from somebody that said, pete is dropping shade with a comment on drapes. And i i have to admit, i had no idea what dropping shade meant. I knew what i was doing, i just didnt know it was called dropping or throwing shade. President elect. Dont be rude. Can you give us a question . Dont be rude. When you report fake news, which cnn does a lot, you are the enemy of the people. Go ahead. Hi, pete. Welcome to india. Thank you. Its nice to be here. Is there hope for photojournalism . I think theres a lot of people doing great work. But it doesnt help when the president of the United States calls journalists fake news and the enemy of the people. I think thats really dangerous. I i think our president is causing grave damage to the institution of the free press. Announcer please, welcome to the stage. [ cheers and applause ] i want to ask you, as a photojournalist, your commitment to photographing is to the truth. But when you are the chief White House Photographer, were you consciously or subconsciously building an image of obama, was there ever a conflict. Yeah. I think thats a good question. I often say to people, though my background is as a photojournalist, certainly when you are the chief White House Photographer, youre youre working for the government. But so, i didnt ever think of it as a conflict because it wasnt i wasnt a pr photographer. I look at myself as a historian with a camera. The job as the chief official White House Photographer is to document the president to see for history. So, when inauguration rolled around, i had in the back of my mind, for the journey i was about to take, this thought. Make thauthentic photographs. Think mood, emotion, context. Be ready for the fleeting moments, both big and small. My goal was to create the best, photographic archive of a president , that had ever been done. Lasting images for history. The origination of my office was a military office during the kennedy administration. Lbj wanted somebody to cover everything, and he hired this guy named yoshi yokomoto and, you know, johnson was such a character and okomoto was such a great photographer. His pictures are just amazing. More than anyone, his work was the kind of work that i wanted to do. I wanted the level of access that he had to johnson. Thats sort of what i was striving for with obama. Photographs can tell a story. Just as a book can tell a story. And its a very special thing because it breaks down the idea that these people are, somehow, different from us. Yes, they have different responsibilities. Yes, they have greater anxieties. But theyre leading a life that has a daily ritual to it. I knew how the job should be done, having worked for the reagan administration, too. The White House Photo editor called me up one day, out of the blue, and said we want you to apply for this job. It was totally unexpected. You know, im in my 20s and ive never met a president before. And i was just nervous. It was kind of like just sort of overwhelming to me. I actually turned it down, at first. A, i was not really that into politics. B, i was really not the biggest fan of reagan. Photographer. But you hope that what youre doing is important for history, used to say journalism is the first draft of history. And im thinking heres a chance to actually be involved in documenting history. The photograph office, primarily, it was myself and fitz and jack and then pete. But we were, very much, a team. Working at the white house, as the first woman official photographer was a humbling experience. I was recording for history. Now, was pete nice and clear . Yes. The orchestration of Television Coverage absorbs the white house. They provide pictures of him looking like a leader. Confident with his marlboroman walk. A good, family man. The white house has become more a stage, a theater. And the question has become are the Television Networks going to manage that theater . Are they going to manage that stage . Or is the white house going to do that . They were very aware of creating the best backdrop possible for tv networks in time and newsweek. Now, do you want us on either side of the tree, or what . I think they want to do one standing but i think for release purposes, itd be better to have you doing something. My suggestion was watering the tree. We have two shovels. We have a chainsaw. No, please. Its too hot. Can we just do watering tree . Watering tree is fine. Did you get that, pete . Yeah. You did, huh . I got an idea for another picture. Just one more. Ive got the chainsaw. No. And youre glocki are blocking. Stopping me from dont just stand there. Youre supposed to be saying, no, im not going to start the saw. No. [ laughter ] all right. Thank you. The amount of access you get as the chief official White House Photographer is really, totally dependent on the relationship that you have with the president. All i tried to do was push for more access for the behindthescenes moments, most of which were never seen until after he had left the presidency. Some of the pictures that i had make would be fairly intimate. After mrs. Reagan had undergone Breast Cancer surgery at bethesda naval hospital, every day, at the end of the day, he would take the helicopter and go visit her. They were exactly the same way, together, behind the scenes, as they were in public. It was, very much, a true love and companionship between the the two of them. I always felt the best pictures i made of reagan were not from planned events. They were things that happened between events and moments that you couldnt ever predict. They would just happen. And that really humanizes the president of the United States. One of the roles of commander in chief is you send people into harms way. But then, president usually is the one who has to go talk to all the families who had lost someone. He is, clearly, empathetic and compassionate. And you can see the emotion in their faces, as theyre looking up to see what reagan is saying. Thats the way a president should behave, in times like that. In some respects, i think it did a disservice not to show him in these true, authentic, behindthescenes moments more than they did. Okay, folks. Mr. President. [ laughter ] mr. President , just half a step this way. To the left and im to the right. Another half step. Here we go. Big smile. I wanted this time to talk with you about an extremely sensitive and profoundly important matter of foreign policy. Certainly, during the iran contra affair, there were a lot of pictures i made where he is agonizing over what he did or what he didnt do. It was a big scandal. I made that picture with the Tower Commission after this manymonth investigation, that concluded that, in fact, reagan had sold arms for hostages. And you see that look on reagans face that was still, somewhat, in denial. But to me, it really defines that whole scandal and how impactful it was on his presidency. I did not, necessarily, agree with some of the things that president reagan was doing. For example, how long it took him to come to grips with aids. I think that, in retrospect, is more than disappointing. But this photo i made of him holding a baby with hiv did help destigmatize the disease. I was naive and not as politically aware a s i should have been, at the time. But i did feel that he was a decent human being. He respected other people, from all walks of life. When reagan had passed away, and his body was being flown to the west coast, nancy reagan requested that pete be on the plane with them. Hes been at the white house so many years and peter did that. Irmly and it continuously eliminates odors in the air and on soft surfaces. For 45 days. Struggling to clean tough messes with wipes . Try mr. Clean magic eraser sheets. Just wet, squeeze and erase icky messes in microwaves and on stovetops for an amazing clean, get the power of mr. Clean magic eraser in disposable sheets. When i left the white house under reagan, its not like i was that well known. So i was a freelance photographer. After that, i went to work for the Chicago Tribune based in d. C. If someone told me id end up working for the most iconic president of our generation, and then the most iconic democrat president of our generation, i would say they were crazy. What are those words . Yes, we can thank you, illinois, i love you thank you. Thank you, illinois. In 2004, barack obama was elected to the senate. I didnt see his 2004 speech at the convention because i was traveling with carrie. The hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that america has a place for him, too. I remember the editors of chicago said to me, make sure you got a picture of obama. And i was like, i didnt even know what the guy looked like. You know . Youre on the front page of every paper, this week. You are all over television. Everyones calling you the future, the savior, of the democratic party. So, are you . You know, i rank 99th out of 100 in seniority. So, im going to be sharpening pencils and scrubbing the floors, i think, for the first couple of years. Jeff zelleny, who is a correspondent for the tribune came up to me one day. And said, following obamas first year in the senate. I love this picture because, you know, hes got half a sandwich in his mouth. And then, sashas eyeing the other half. This is the day i met him. The presence of my camera didnt bother him, at all. Which was not always the case, especially with politicians. Did that say anything about him, to you . You know, i found a good subject. This was the first day that he was in washington as the newly elected senator. And malia was 6. Senator obama spent the day with his family, and showing them around. And helping them understand what it was like. And sasha was 3. I think he thought i was a competent photographer. I continued to further that trust, as the year went by. By the age of youtube and so much internet video, photographs still have a very powerful impact in terms of politics. You know, i like to still photograph. It stops time. You can remember a still photograph. A lot of photojournalists, now, are evolving into video. But i still think the still photograph, for me, says a lot more. I wasnt with him, every day. But i got to know him pretty well, professionally. It was very clear that he was different from most politicians. I hadnt really seen somebody, especially a freshman senator, with this kind of presence. He had us call him barack. He was casual. He would email you in the middle of the night. Generationally, he had more in common with the people that worked for him in their 20s, than he did with probably the other senators in washington. This would have been 2005. Went to russia, ukraine, azerbaijan, with him. Were in the middle of red square and not a Single Person recognizes him. Hes just a regular guy. And then, i went to africa with him, in 2006. And we went to mandelas cell. Not only that. On a clear day, you could see cape town. When we went to kenya, he had this meeting with some ngos and word got out that he was in there. And when he emerged from this meeting, there were, like, thousands of people waiting to hear him say a few words. When we went to nairobi and he gave a big speech, i got this picture of this guy writing down, like, the bullet points of what he was talking about. Hey. Hey. The reception at his grandmothers village was, like, chaotic. Anytime i think a child comes back to his parents grave, it makes you reflect on your own life and mortality. And it makes you think about the next generation. My wife and i are going to get tested for hivaids. So, i just want everybody to remember that, if a u. S. Senator can get tested and his wife can get tested, then everybody in this crowd can get tested because you need to know. Seeing the overwhelming response that he got in africa, i remember coming back from that trip saying that, you know, ill bet he runs for president. I mean, just the way people were hanging onto his every word. You just see, in peoples faces, that this guy was Something Special to them. Obviously, he was very intelligent. But i think he, also, had the right temperament to become presiden president. To me, this picture really tells a story about a young, u. S. Senator, about to walk out, announce that hes running for president. Knowing that his life will never be the same. And i think you can see that in his face. You see the anxiety in michelle, as shes trying to brush off some lint from the back of his jacket. I knew the gravity of the moment, and i knew he had a shot. I knew that, once people got to see him and hear from him, that he had a shot. He had the kind of qualities, within him, where people people would relate to him. I stand before you, today, to announce my candidacy for president of the United States of america. People forget that hillary was so far ahead, had so many endorsements, that people thought he was a total long shot. Does obama face a big, uphill battle, despite all the Media Attention he is getting . He will have to deal with the issue of only two years in the u. S. Senate. The media was ready to kind of write us off or put us in the barrel. It was like, no, theres this broader force out there that was not going to let that happen. American history wont be the same again. Americans elected a young man with a young family, an africanamerican, the first, ever. Its been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this stage, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to america. Gibbs called me january 5th and offered me the job. I just said to gibbs, i said, look, i said, heres the thing is if i do this, i have to have access to everything. And he just said to me, president elect gets it. Theres no worries there. And i said, okay, ill ill be there tomorrow. Two days later, i met up with obama. He walked in the room, and he said, were going to have some fun. I think there was an enormous amount of respect, overseas, when he was elected. I think they were just excited our country had finally put prejudice aside and, really, a different kind of politician that resonated around the world. Pete was with the president , all the time. Hed start his day around 9 00. Id get his schedule, but i came to learn that the schedule was really just the starting point. All right. Lets go. I covered all the behindthescenes meetings, all the situationroom meetings. I mean, i cant take ownership of this analogy. But imagine trying to take a sip of water from a firehose that never shuts off. It was nonstop, every day, 24 7. Always on call, always ready. That was the challenge, for me, for my job for eight years. Pete had walking pneumonia, one time, and he still came to work. I mean, if you really want to document the presidency for history, you got to be there all the time because you cant predict when images are going to happen. Pete really wanted to be the guy who disappears. And thats the gift when youre a White House Photographer, is the the president doesnt