President Obama Traces His Love of Basketball to an Xmas Gift from his Absent Father
EmailOne of the most significant Christmas presents President Obama ever received was a basketball from the father who was largely absent from his life, the president told Oprah Winfrey. This and other Xmas revelations are part of "Christmas at the White House: An Oprah Primetime Special," set to air Sunday night on ABC at 10 p.m. ET. A web video preview can be seen HERE. Asked his favorite Christmas gift as a child, the president recalled a 10 speed bike and then said, "I do remember the one time I met my father he was visiting during Christmas and he gave me a basketball and – the degree to which I came to love basketball – it wasn't until much later in life that I realized, ‘Actually, he gave me that basketball.' I think there was some cause and effect there in terms of the degree to which I just ended up taking up the sport as a kid who didn't know his dad." The First Lady's favorite childhood gift was "a metal doll house with plastic furniture … I remember I really didn't know how to set up a house so I had all the furniture lined up along the walls as opposed to nestled around the fireplace, but I loved that little doll house." Pressed by Winfrey, the First Lady said she had an Easy Bake Oven "but you know once you run out of the mix it's like you're done with it." The president says he's a better gift-giver than the First Lady: "Here's the general rule, I give nicer stuff than I get," he said. "No way," said the First Lady. "I gave you good gifts last year." One doesn’t have to be a biped to get a gift, though, the Obama's reveal. "Bo has a stocking," said the First Lady. "Santa loves Bo, too." Winfrey said in a statement released by Harpo, her production company: "From the very first day they moved into the White House, I started calling Robert Gibbs and asking not for the first interview because number one, I didn't think I was going to get the first interview for the first 100 days — but I wanted an opportunity to sit down with them in a comfortable setting that all of America would be familiar and relate to. So I started asking when they first moved in to do a Christmas Special, because I wanted to be at the White House during Christmas time and to experience their first Christmas in the White House. So this has been in the making for a very, very long time." – jpt
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the worst part of the internet is when tea party people will turn this somehow against the president.
Posted by: Fox News Light | December 12, 2009, 2:44 pm 2:44 pm
To Fox News light,
I am not sure why you think so… This doesn’t have anything to do with the public option or health care in general.
By the way FNL… seen the latest polls on what the public REALLY wants? No?
Just gonna shove that Obamacare down our throats for our ‘own good’.
Posted by: Denbo | December 12, 2009, 3:57 pm 3:57 pm
“…when tea party people will turn this somehow against the president.”
I will try! If President Obama gives receiving a basketball from his father the credit for his love of basketball, I wonder what spending 5 years under the mentoring of Frank Marshall Davis as a youth, years studying the principles of Saul Alinsky and 20 years of mentoring by the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. deserve credit for?
Posted by: James Danley | December 12, 2009, 4:13 pm 4:13 pm
“If President Obama gives receiving a basketball from his father the credit for his love of basketball, I wonder what spending 5 years under the mentoring of Frank Marshall Davis as a youth, years studying the principles of Saul Alinsky and 20 years of mentoring by the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. deserve credit for?”
Just a few of the things that make you go hmmmmmmmm!
Posted by: ceeLeelee | December 12, 2009, 4:19 pm 4:19 pm
I really don’t care.
Posted by: LongT | December 12, 2009, 4:23 pm 4:23 pm
Was the gift of a basketball mentioned in one of his two memoirs?
Posted by: The Audacity of Copenhagen | December 12, 2009, 4:24 pm 4:24 pm
Did you mean “disgraceful?”
It’s not moral will, it is stupidity.
Don’t worry, we have the feeling that he will figure it all out in November 2010. :D
Posted by: ceeLeelee | December 12, 2009, 4:26 pm 4:26 pm
Whats so cool about this President is that he has the moral will to ignore you racist, ignorant, hateful, and flat-out disgraceful tea party idiots.
________________________________
Hear, hear!
Posted by: tierra | December 12, 2009, 4:28 pm 4:28 pm
I sure hope he dribbles better at basketball than he dribbles in the Whitehouse.Gonna be a big mess to clean up for the new tenants in 2012!!
Posted by: basketball for dummies | December 12, 2009, 5:01 pm 5:01 pm
Back to the story….I will be watching this year as we do have a Mature President in that house.
Posted by: sara | December 12, 2009, 5:03 pm 5:03 pm
To: : tierra
This president has absolutely no moral compass, much less any integrity. Ignoring what people think of him – absolutely not. A narcissist can’t do that and that is why we see glimpses of his rage. If you don’t believe, google narcissistic personality disorder…and while you are at it, look up sociopathic personality disorder. What a bumpy ride the next 3 years will be! Also, the president is to represent ALL people…..not just leftists.
Posted by: Butterflylady | December 12, 2009, 5:15 pm 5:15 pm
Xmas?……..So, there wasn’t enough room for the full name of the holiday…CHRISTmas????? Was that Obama’s idea or ABC’s????!!!!!!
Posted by: hopeforthefuture | December 12, 2009, 5:45 pm 5:45 pm
lmao look at all the Republicans and conservatives in here. Can’t man up and admit what’s happened to their party and their sociopathic George W. so they attack the other side. The Party of No is becoming more pathetic and irrelevant by the month.
Posted by: SLADE99 | December 12, 2009, 6:31 pm 6:31 pm
I wonder when it will occur to the Obama WH that the over-exposure (what barack got for Christmas!! Bo has a stocking!!!) is turning people away. Oh, it’s not an Opray special that is doing it, it’s the myriad of speeches, the non-stop campaign mode, the over-reaching legislation (that all appears stalled at the moment). I imagine even his supporters are starting to roll their eyes a bit, even if they don’t want to make that known publicly. From a communications standpoint, I don’t see the wisdom in this non-stop Obama exposure. The last thing I would think Obama would want is to become a perpetual late-night punchline. I am not an Obama supporter, but I do respect the office of the presidency and I cringe at the fact that our president is starting to look like a has-been hollywood icon.
Posted by: kelli | December 12, 2009, 6:42 pm 6:42 pm
Too bad the conservatives can not stomach that the president and dems will be in power for 7 more years! We have a big agenda: health care, No Child Left Behind, Climate Change, the economy and more. Can’t wait to watch this special tomorrow evening!
Posted by: DM | December 12, 2009, 6:45 pm 6:45 pm
I wonder when he will do something to curb Goldman Sachs abuse of the financial system, and get rid of the dysfunctional army of private mercenaries in the Middle East?
Posted by: Johnny Bohner | December 12, 2009, 7:01 pm 7:01 pm
This story reminds me of my own family. My father abandoned us (wife, 3 kids) when I was 5. My brother was 7. My brother spent the next 30 years looking for our father.
In my brother’s mind, our father HAD to have been driven away because he could not accept that our father could just not love us enough to stay.
I can’t help but wonder if President Obama doesn’t have some of that same emotional baggage for a father that walked away from him and his mother.
Posted by: malcat | December 12, 2009, 8:18 pm 8:18 pm
If Obama was quoted saying the word Christmas and the Prime Time Special is entitled “Christmas at the White House” why does ABC insist on referring to it as Xmas?
Posted by: Tom | December 12, 2009, 8:24 pm 8:24 pm
malcat (8:18 PM); Me too! Our father walked away when I was 5. Raised by maternal grandparents. My younger brother found him later in life. It was a waste of time. People I guess handle it in different ways. As for me, I was tested in the military as being very ‘adaptable’, so I believe this is why it didn’t impact me. I’ll baggage free. Oh well, such is life.
Posted by: LongT | December 12, 2009, 8:37 pm 8:37 pm
So while he was studing the Koran as a young boy he was celebrating Christmas. Seems odd.
Posted by: oboy | December 12, 2009, 9:08 pm 9:08 pm
Oh, can’t you just stuff the political comments on both sides for a while. I didn’t vote for this President (I’m a Bushie) but can’t you let him say something once in a while of a personal nature? I liked what he remembered.
Posted by: Patricia | December 12, 2009, 9:18 pm 9:18 pm
DM, you do realize No Child Left Behind was Ted Kennedy’s baby right?
Posted by: whatsgoingonhere? | December 12, 2009, 9:35 pm 9:35 pm
Why isn’t ABC reporting about the thousands of protesters in Copenhaven?
Posted by: CW | December 12, 2009, 9:43 pm 9:43 pm
Anyway, his answer to Oprah’s question is just a lot of rambling. Without his speech writer and telepromter he can’t speak a coherent sentence.
Posted by: whatsgoingonhere? | December 12, 2009, 9:44 pm 9:44 pm
So glad that Oprah is retiring. I hope she will just go away.
Posted by: Danny | December 12, 2009, 10:12 pm 10:12 pm
Another media elite lovefest. Why do they get a prime time special? And Oprah of all people! C’mon. Thank God the nation realized it made a mistake and will vote these jokers out over the next 2-3 years. Obama, Biden, Pelosi, Reid….incompetence defined!
Posted by: Jim | December 12, 2009, 10:22 pm 10:22 pm
Does anyone know if Obama mentions the basketball story in either of his books? Or, why would his Muslim father send him a Christmas present?
Posted by: The Audacity of Copenhagen | December 12, 2009, 10:33 pm 10:33 pm
Without his speech writer and telepromter he can’t speak a coherent sentence.
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We’ve all seen the President give long, detailed answers to many questions in interviews and news conferences.
Your parents must have put you to bed early.
P.S. – saw footage tonight of Bush Jr. in the movie Men Who Stare at Goats, and was reminded just how good it is we’re not there any more.
Posted by: tierra | December 12, 2009, 11:28 pm 11:28 pm
Audacity of Copenhagan (10:33 PM); Why bring up the obvious. You’ll ruin the moment.
Posted by: LongT | December 13, 2009, 12:47 am 12:47 am
Enough with the teleprompter nonsense! Have you ever seen the guy talk off the cuff? He’s good at it.
Consider the way that people trot out this teleprompter story over and over, completely ignoring what total nonsense it is. They keep accusing Obama of not being able to have an original thought, all the while proving that *they* can’t have an original thought. Ironic.
Posted by: isaac32767 | December 13, 2009, 1:00 am 1:00 am
2 wars, unemployment at all time high, cap and tax, health tax issues, people losing their homes not to mention the deficit and all Obama does is think about basketball and taking vacations at taxpayers expense. People are suffering and this is the person that boasted of hope and change…Hope and change for who?????
Posted by: bailedout | December 13, 2009, 2:03 am 2:03 am
Enough with the teleprompter nonsense! Have you ever seen the guy talk off the cuff? He’s good at it.
Consider the way that people trot out this teleprompter story over and over, completely ignoring what total nonsense it is. They keep accusing Obama of not being able to have an original thought, all the while proving that *they* can’t have an original thought. Ironic.
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Exactly. It’s a cheap shot parroted line that has no substance, but the right wing continues to push it. It’s part of a continued attempt to smear the President regardless of truth.
Posted by: tierra | December 13, 2009, 3:12 am 3:12 am
LOL !
That’s really funny..
Posted by: mjishernameo | December 13, 2009, 8:16 am 8:16 am
There we go again, with those made up childhood memories !
Is anybody really still falling for them?!
I can not stop from shedding tears ( from laughing , of
course).
Posted by: 2smart4u | December 13, 2009, 9:08 am 9:08 am
Obama calls it Christmas
Oprah calls it Christmas
The name of the broadcast is called “Christmas at the White House”
Why does ABC insist on calling it “Xmas”?
Posted by: Tom | December 13, 2009, 11:11 am 11:11 am
Enough with the teleprompter nonsense! Have you ever seen the guy talk off the cuff? He’s good at it.
Posted by: isaac32767 |
He’s so good at it that he can go to Copenhagen and give a speech that W could have given and the left swoon.
Posted by: Foghorn Leghorn | December 13, 2009, 1:14 pm 1:14 pm
“X” mas? Really?
Posted by: hetrack | December 13, 2009, 1:35 pm 1:35 pm
I think Obama needs to get over being an abandoned child. I think he needs to stop trying to be loved. I think he needs to be a little bit more FDR. He needs to go on the offensive, just say thta spending is what we MUST do to create jobs, remind the world of the debt versus GDP ratios during WWII, how in WWII the government employed nearly an entire generation of men, fed, housed and clothed them, bought everything our factories produced and had the most successful R&D projects in plastics, radar and nuclear energy and those discoveries propelled us into the lucrative 50′s. Obama needs to be more like the indulged only son of a hovering mother _ FDR. If he wants jobs to be created ,he needs to invest FAR more in this economy. He needs to tell folks this is NOT the time to stop investing but he doesn’t have the gumption. He’s forever the abandoned child looking for everyone to love him. He needs to be the man who grew from the child who never heard the word “no”. we need an FDR right now. not an Obama.
Posted by: seriously | December 13, 2009, 1:47 pm 1:47 pm
Obama and the Dems have no clue,yet people like tierra and Fox News Light still try to defend them.2010 and 2012 elections will show how much the American people are upset with the whole lot, Pelosi, Reid, Dodd, Frank, Rangel and Obama .
Posted by: Johnny L | December 13, 2009, 1:49 pm 1:49 pm
Obama and the Dems have no clue
__________________________________
We all saw 8 years of Bush, Cheney and the Republicans and we saw what that did to the country – and the absolute mess they left.
It is only the dimwitted who think voting Republican again will somehow be different.
Posted by: tierra | December 13, 2009, 3:09 pm 3:09 pm
It is only the dimwitted who think voting Republican again will somehow be different.
Posted by: tierra |
Ironically, after a half century of Democratic control of education at the federal level, the country is full of dimwits.
Posted by: Foghorn Leghorn | December 13, 2009, 3:19 pm 3:19 pm
Why does ABC insist on calling it “Xmas”?
———
Tom, I would say ABC did it because it ‘fits’ in the space.
Did you know that Xmas is not offensive to Christians who have learned the history of the ‘X’? Xmas was created recognizing the first letter of the Greek word for Christ.
Although some non-Christians and Christian-haters use Xmas in a derogatory manner, I ignore them as fools and leave them to God’s displeasure.
Posted by: malcat | December 13, 2009, 3:49 pm 3:49 pm
Why didn’t Oprah ask Barack why the basketball story didn’t make it into his two memoirs or how his Muslim father and atheist Mother celebrated Christmas?
It appears to be a false memory.
Maybe the basketball really came from his grandparents, but that wouldn’t have made it a special enough memory, would it.
Oprah should have asked more questions.
Posted by: The Audacity of Copenhagen | December 13, 2009, 5:06 pm 5:06 pm
It appears to be a false memory.
Posted by: The Audacity of Copenhagen | Dec 13, 2009 5:06:35 PM
_______________________________________
How would you know?
I’ll answer that for you – you don’t.
You’re just scraping the barrel for low-life smear tactics.
Posted by: tierra | December 13, 2009, 5:50 pm 5:50 pm
He had to put good ol’ dad in there some where since he left him out of the Nobel Peace Prize speech.
Posted by: d | December 13, 2009, 6:21 pm 6:21 pm
what a lovely memory of fast Xmas gift.i never forget when i get my fast Xmas gift form my Father that was cycle.
Posted by: Enhanced Kre-Alkalyn | December 14, 2009, 12:40 am 12:40 am
“Does anyone know if Obama mentions the basketball story in either of his books? Or, why would his Muslim father send him a Christmas present?”
Since this seems to be one of the few times his father visited, perhaps the gift was like that of many oft-absent fathers and not necessarily connected to Christmas (though a young Barack may have thought so).
But hey who needs Occam’s Razor when you have Right Wing Crazy.
Posted by: Ryan C | December 14, 2009, 6:45 pm 6:45 pm
Machelle should give her husband one more evening with Larry Sinclair,for Christmas
Posted by: gartano | December 15, 2009, 8:32 am 8:32 am