Wow - this article was so interesting! President Obama has been such a gracious president.
I know, though, that previous presidents have had a similar program because I received one of those letters.
I am sharing my letter from President George HW Bush (the first President Bush). I was a young, patriotic college grad who had just graduated during a horrible recession (1991). None of my graduating friends had jobs, fast food restaurant jobs were even hard to come by, and Gulf War - Operation Desert Storm - was just coming to a close. Back then, (pre-9/11 and pre-Anthrax), you could write to service members and address it, "Any Service Member." I had written several letters and postcards (in calligraphy of course) to service members and had made friends with several and learned a lot about what they were going through. Having completed four years of studying propaganda and persuasion, and being a young adult who thought I knew everything (ha ha), I wrote President Bush a letter telling him what I thought he was doing wrong and what he needed to change to help our country.
Much to my surprise, he responded to my letter - with a handwritten letter! And not only that - he used part of my letter in a campaign speech he gave in NH (my home state). To top it off, he invited me and my parents to a breakfast to meet him and hear the speech! OK - here is the bad part (in hindsight)... I did not go. My husband, then boyfriend, was swimming in the National College Championships in ND that same weekend and I was already scheduled to go. As a young flippy adult would think, I figured I would be married to my future husband for the rest of my life and GHWB would only be president for a short time longer.
But my parents went and met the President and his wife. And I now have this lovely letter as a keepsake and reminder of my young, naive self. It was, however, the first time I thought of the angst our President must go through when hearing from all sides. Since then, I have learned to be more gracious and empathize, no matter the side of politics.
