Dear President Obama #252: Is that a touch of gray?

Reporter's Note: One nice thing about writing to the president every day is you know precisely how long he has been in office.

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Tom Foreman | Bio
AC360° Correspondent

Dear Mr. President,

I don’t know if it is just the onset of autumn, (oh, and btw, happy first full week of fall! I forgot to mention it last week) or work, or the kids fully settling into the back-to-school schedule, but Mondays have been particularly tiresome lately. Maybe it’s the economy. We seem to be blaming that for everything else these days, I don’t see any reason why I can’t toss my Monday Blues onto that bonfire.

I’ve always pretty much enjoyed my job, so I tend to lean toward an atmospheric explanation for my ennui: pollen, or sunrise, or barking dogs, or something like that. Anyway, I’m finding it harder than usual to get cranking.

That said I was talking to a co-worker the other day who said she thinks you’re looking a bit more tired too. You can’t worry about that much, and I suppose there is even less you can do about it. It’s not like Congress or foreign affairs can just be put on hold while you grab a nap.

Still, from all indications, the Presidency puts years on whoever holds office at about twice the normal human rate. The Oval Office is like some kind of horrible time machine. You go in one day and come out four years later, but eight years older; or eight years later, and sixteen years older if you double down the bet. I can’t think of a single president who has not aged pretty rapidly. We always have an artist paint an official portrait in which each president usually looks young and full of vigor; do you suppose there is some kind of reverse Dorian Gray effect, and while the painting never ages you get older even faster?

The good part is you are also getting experience at a much faster rate than you could have ever achieved as a Senator. When I was working for World News Tonight, I was quite young for the job, and Peter Jennings called me one evening to talk about it. “You look awfully young. Maybe we should have your hair dyed gray a bit…”

It was a very tough shop to work for, with exacting standards, especially for the young an inexperienced, so my response was from the heart. “Trust me and give it a month,” I said. “This job is putting years on me plenty fast.” Ha! Anyway, a bit of ramble today, but take care of yourself on this tiresome Monday, and call if you can.

Regards,

Tom

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