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October 23rd, 2009
07:10 AM ET
White House releases portrait of first family
The White House unveiled this portrait of the first family this morning. It's the first official White House portrait of the Obamas. The picture was taken by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz.
President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and their daughters, Sasha and Malia, sit for a family portrait in the Green Room of the White House, Sept. 1, 2009. (Official White House Photo)
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Great looking family, indeed! I just wish his politics didn't turn my stomache to a puke machine in seconds.
Love this little family...thankful we have their role model...not a stiff portrait!.
Gorgeous!
I so love the Obama family. No matter how tough things are now, I trust our President Obama, and I just love Mama Obama and the gorgeous and lovable First Daughters. Minor quibble: where is Bo?
Other than the missing First Dog of the United States, this is a wonderful photo of a wonderful family.
Kali
Beautiful picture, although I personally think the older daughter looked cuter when she had her hair in that twisty braids style.
Ok I get it. In summary. Everybody is proud to be an American. The President should have wore a jacket. His mother in law and the dog should have been in the picture. Malia shouldn't sit on the chair because the chair is over 200 years old and possibly can't be replaced. Barack and Michelle are too far apart and we should be able to see the picture on the wall. Mr. President should hold hands with someone other than himself. And overall it was a great picture. FREEDOM OF SPEECH ROCKS!!!!
Hey "negativity folks" take 5 ... the glass is half full.
Love the picture! Keep truck'ng Mr. President!!!!
This is a wonderful photo of the first family. Simply Beautiful!!!!
I am not a US citizen...but I love this family and their story. They inspire millions.
Just beautiful...
Cheers and round of applause from your Canadian neighbours! Saw your president on David Letterman last night and President Obama is a really fine and wonderful human being and the kind of leader you can be proud of. From Canada with love.... Linda Davis
Great family portrait and likely a wonderful family as well.
I am very disappointed though that I am well on my way to disliking this presidency very much.
Like the man (and his family), dislike his approach and stance and solutions to many of today's critical issues.
If the shoe were on the other foot, it would be tough luck for Sasha and Malia. In a gay marriage Barack and partner would pay more taxes. All things being equal and average American, Sasha and Malia would not have the equal opportunity to an education fund because their mothers or fathers would have to pay more taxes. A single earner at $60,000 will pay 3817 more in taxes each year. Invested in 5 year T bonds that's enough to pay for 2 years at Harvard law. But the child of lesbian mothers is denied the equal opportunity.
Kill DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act, and stop worshipping the ideal of a phallus. The phallus is the idol of the Defense of Marriage Act. If you don't have one, as a lesbian mother in a same gender marriage you will pay more taxes. Discrimination against adults results in discrimination against her child.
Why carry the idol of a phallus when you can carry the child dare?
Dare to love. Clock's ticking. It's almost the end of the tax year, Mr. President.
Breathtakingly beautiful. I am Proud of our First Family.
The Liberal Loons are out in full force today!
Wonderful family picture!
This Family portrait of the President of the United States, is nothing more than a snapshot. The white clothing, the pose, lighting and angle of view are all poorly done.
This is the worst Annie Liebovitz portrait I have ever seen her do, and it is not worthy to be the first official portrait of the President of the United States!
ADORABLE! Fan or not, simply CHARMING.
CLD,
Yes, ALWAYS. When people stood up to Lynchings.When African Americans were granted , their rights. I was proud. When disaster relief was late, and thousand of pilots worked 24 hours to save lives. I was proud. With millions of Americans, not all are going to do what is right. I am proud of her as a whole. I doubt that African Americans who fought in Korea and Vietnam, both world wars, even the Civil war would have told you they were NOT proud of America, and they were the ones suffering. So yes, get over your negativity. She has always been great, despite her flaws.ALWAYS
Woow. This is a beautiful family picture. nice.... : )
Truly Magnificent.
Fabulous. Beautiful family.
This is a beautiful portrait. You can see the love & happiness within this family. America's Best!
KLB
If you have ever been hated because of the color of your skin or been told that you don't belong here or you can't do this or that. Then yeah, it is hard to be proud. I always love my country, but sometimes it is hard to be proud of my country. That is why I agree with Michelle.
Great photo but where's the family dog?
The First Family looks very gracious.
Please leave all the other comments unwritten. Nobody will ever have the same opinions and a lot of the opinions are hurtful.
I am from Canada New Brunswick and I can say that we love the Obama Family here and could not be happier to see him running as President of the United States. What I most love is the love he has for him family and girls and especially the morals that Michelle and President Obama protray. They are beautiful on the outside yes. But more beautiful I see on the inside of their hearts. Just wondering if they had the dog then and if so why he or she is not in the picture? I have a dog so I totally understand the family purchasing in one. The little addition will keep them well grounded trust me.
nice picture. I too have always been proud to be an American. I didn't just become proud because this man won an election. I don't agree with any of his liberal politics at all... none... However i am still proud of my country and it's constitution.
I was also proud to be an American when Carter was president. That pride doesn't come and go with the political winds as many more shallow persons here would have it.
Awesome photo! 🙂
While I despise most of his work and broken promises, this is a wonderful picture of the family.
what a beautiful and loving family.
We may not agree with all his policies. But that is a beautiful picture. Go USA BABY!!!!!!!!!
Great photo, great family, great President.
Can all the "low information" voters go back to listening to the ranting lunatics and let us enjoy the solace of having an intelligent person back in the big chair?
Betty from Ohio...proud to be Americans again??? You weren't proud before???
A marvelous portrait!
I'm so proud of them. They look so happy and healthy. What a great example they set for all Americans.
It's a nice, relaxed picture. I gotta say the oldest girl and Michelle look a little awkward, though.
What a family! They are so all-American and I just love the fact we finally have a Black President.
After at looking at your comments, I'm truly sickened by the blindness of My fellow Americans. Worst president since Carter... perhaps worst president ever, if not the last president of the USA. Nice picture, bad policies. Please don't respond to this comment, I won't be checking back. Let the sheeple begin their assult!
FINALLLY, proud to be an American again!!
i love the obamas, but not their portrait. it's a little awkward. i wish he was sitting up straight.
It is really ashame that all those who are sucked in by this mans smoke screen are SO BLIND to see that he has ruined the American drream for our children.
Beautiful family! Michelle especially, ...if I may say so! I just find it strange that the photographer didn't isolate the Obamas more by having a shallower depth of field; as it is, the background is somewhat distracting, especially the white urn on the mantel. But the Obamas are just super! Great family!
I am a Proud American and it has nothing to do with this President or his family photo
What a beautiful picture of a great family. You can see the love in their eyes.
Just GORGEOUS!!!!! God Bless!!
This is a very beautiful picture of President Obama and his family! See America, dreams can come true!!! YEAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH
Beautiful!!!!!!
It is so nice to see such a lovely family in the White House. America should be proud!!
Leave it to conservatives to bash a family portrait.....The subject was "White House Family Portrait." Oh Kevin, get a LIFE! Get a clue yet? NOT the state of the nation, not your tax dollars (which hasn't changed, unless you're making more than $250K a year)
By the way, great pic.....Can't wait to see the next one for 2012-2016...
Kevin, get a grip. Every president and his family pose for a presidential portrait.
Are you so hateful that you feel the need to bash something so simple (and cheap). Where were your complaints when Bush was allowing Wall Street greed to ruin our country? Where were your complaints when Bush allowed the country's richest to get rich off everyone else? The trillion dollar improper war in Iraq doesn't bother you, but a couple hundred dollars on a traditional family portrait outrages you?
Wow, you're demented.
The president and family make us all proud. This is the best country on the planet....
wonder how much the tax payers paid for this???
Great picture! You make us proud. Greatt family!
Very nice picture! First time in a while I feel good about our president.
This photo is awesome. It really touches the heart!
What a beautiful family. I am proud to be a citizen of this country and proud that in my lifetime I can see a family photo of a person of color as president with their family!
j.r – WAKE UP!!! Our brave men & women have been in Afghanistan because of a "little" thing called 9/11. Fools follow fools – you've got the KING FOOL occupying the White House right now – enjoy it while it lasts...Change is coming sooner than you think. People are already tiring of the fools running the show – Pelosi, Reid, & the "The Socialist"
Just beautiful!! Put a smile on my face.
Nice picture, if you are the family next door. Good looking bunch no doubt, but Annie seemed to be rushed on this. Not a good attempt at showing the First Family. The White House should have rethought this and picked something a bit more presentable. As one other response had indicated, I could have taken this shot. And yes, I am a photographer.
I love Annie's work, always have but boo for Annie on this one. Sorry.
ETBRADFORD, you are a racist! You are the only person who has pointed out color. Grow up!
I don't agree with Betty but who are you guys to tell someone what's un-American? She can feel how ever she wants to feel, that's the beauty of our country. By the way, I wouldn't call the Obamas a normal family... I mean he did go to Harvard. Most of us have no chance... And it's always great to see our President with his family except for the fact the picture is very plain and boring.
I may not agree with what our President stand for but i do agree his a beautiful and loving family.
great photo – sure to be another annie leibovitz classic
Beautiful subjects but the photograph strictly from an aesthetic point of view leaves a lot to be desired. The back ground looks busy and in focus especially the picture frame behind the younger one's head and the porcelain object on the mantle is a bit a distracting and dominates/competes with the subjects.
I would have used a less busy background, moved the subjects away from the background and opened up the aperture more to make the background a bit more out of focus. Not Annie Leibovitz's best.
Sol- you don't even know the difference between "are" and "our." Brian- what are you talking about? I am sure both your ideas for the direction of our country are just great- based on reasearch, facts and insight. Yeah right – more like the ridiculous talking point you happily lap up because they fit your belief system. Before you call me elitist, using our language correctly and seeking out facts are not elitist.
Lovely picture. Perfectly balanced and lit perfectly. Well done!
Im just wondering why he chose not to sit in his thrown while regally wearing his crown or perhaps having his entourage fan him while he holds his one arm and hand straight out slightly tilted up in the air.
What a stunning, beautiful picture!!! I couldn't be prouder of our and my President's Family.
Wow!!! 🙂
Dakotahgeo, M.Div. Pastor/Chaplain
A beautiful family and a perfect example to the whole world is the Obama family.
It is truly a great picture of family, shows strength in having and being a family.
As far as policies go my thoughts are who in the GOP has a bought counter actions or better yet better ideas to the table to solve the problems left by the last President. I haven't heard not one positive idea, approach, or even language to come to a unified decision to fix any of America's problem within the US furthermore the view that the world has of America. I'm not saying I agree with all the President policies, but you have to start somewhere. But by not doing anything but bickering, and being negative nellies about everything the President does solves nothing for no one in OUR country.
This is a beautiful family
Nice pic, nice looking people, and the comments are an interesting portrait of America.
indeed a beautiful family! Congratulations to all americans that changed the history of this wonderful country.
You are a beautiful family. God bless and Peace to you and yours. Just so you know, I have never attempted to write to anyone in a political office. I very much appreciate what you are doing for our country.
Beautiful picture, you feel like to really know them. Wonderful American first family! Quite inspiring.
But....someone in the family is missing..the dog! why???????
proud of our president and his achievements
They are definitely the epitome of an American family. I absolutely love them.
Amazing wonderful depiction of the 1st Family. I think the dog should have been in the photo also.
How can people say he is a bad president? What has he done to show he is bad, nothing but try to fix the mess he was left with? He might not be trying to fix it the way you like, but he is trying.
He has not even been in office for a year but "all of a sudden" the US is in dire straits. What was happening for the 5 years prior to him taking over, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows thats for sure. He was left with a difficult situation. No matter who took office this past year we would be having this arguement. We as Americans all want this instant gratification and miraculous fixes to all our problems but in a lot of cases there isn't one.
Obama can't fix it immediatley, McCain could not have fixed it immediately. We would still have a country that is not at 100% and would have people calling the president terrible. We have to be patient. Give it time people, the problems we have aren't instant fixes! If aftef 4 years he hasn't done anything to make America an even better place to live then we can start to criticize and elect someone else and start this whole argument over again.
A truly beautiful black, American Family.
Wonderful Family Portrait
I do not agree wtih his policies and his methods, but I respect the man and his family, just as I have respected every American president. That being said, its clear that the Obamas are clearly close and love one another, just as was evident for the Bush family.
At IK-
Bush ruinned America. How can Obama ruin our Country in just the short period of time he has been in office. Give me a break, we know this is a great country and great countries can not be ruinned in less than a year.
Open your mind and give it a chance, it can't get no worse the Bush sending us almost into a Depression.
come on where the Dog please you need to take a new picture
Elegant, :). Bo would have fit perfectly with the black and white theme, very beautiful photo. We're very proud.
Hey CNN why don't you post my comments? Where are they?
Simply Lovely! Makes you proud to be an American.
Beautiful family ...
Obama 2012 !!!
Yes , we can
Very nice picture....I wish every family had this love for one another.
It`s a shame , they should have use a professional photograph for THE propaganda :8)
Wonderful Picture! However reading these comments, you definitely see that Republicans are still upset. Let it go and let the President and the family have their moment. The country is finally on track after 8 years of decline!
I'm so very very proud of this family, they can come over for dinner anytime. They make me cry with happy tears!
Michigan
Keep drinking the Kool-Aid, America. Keep drinking it.
What a beautiful family!!!!!!! God Bless them!!!!!!!
Oh Puke!
great pic, beautiful first family, they don't seem uptight, relaxed and loving.
One of the perks of being President is great family pictures!
God bless you and your family, Mr.President.
Mike, how quickly you forgot who caused deaths of american deaths. Who invaded Irag without any reason? AAAAA, George W.Bush's administration. Do you remember him? Or you are suffering short-term memory like FoxNews? Yes, let"s send photos of dead soldiers' families to Bush and Cheney and to FoxNews and maybe they will pay those families, support them financially with the money they stole from the people.
Sandy that was hysterical...Tee Shirt =)
Sorry for you Larry. Only 25% of republicans are puking