Behind the scenes: Letters to President Obama

Tom Foreman has written nearly 1,300 letters to President Obama on AC360.com. He has done them every day since the January 2009 presidential inauguration— weekends and holidays, too.

“I thought, well, when he gets inaugurated, I’ll write 10 days of letters to him saying what I think,” Tom said. But he didn’t stop at 10, 100 or even 1,000 letters. A short-term project has seemingly turned into a hobby for the veteran journalist. Tom said he’s never received a response from the White House but that’s never discouraged him from writing about a myriad of topics.

Some letters explore hot-button political issues and others discuss subjects as light-hearted as Tom's annual family Mardi Gras celebration. Tom frequently invites the President to contact him in return but that hasn’t happened.

Tom hopes that his daily letters encourage support and respect for the position of President of the United States, regardless of the sitting president’s political affiliation.

Tom said he will continue to write to the president every day until the end of this term. He is unsure if he’ll continue after the election in November. Although he admits, “If I write the first [letter] on the first day of the next term, I’ll probably write the whole term.”