The president has to be kicking himself over this one.
As his term in office comes to a close, it seems as if Barack Obama may have missed out on a pretty spectacular opportunity. Earlier today, the president was told that he had been allowed to sleep in the White House this whole time, after he spent nearly two full terms living in a hotel by Reagan National Airport.
Sorry, Mr. President, but it’s true. You really blew your chance on this one.
Having booked an extended stay at the airport Hilton upon his inauguration back in 2009, Barack and his family have resided in an atrium-view room with two double beds and complimentary wi-fi for the past eight years. But earlier this week when a senior advisor asked the president why he had chosen to live by the airport instead of the White House, you could tell that Obama hadn’t realized the choice was his to make until that very moment.
Yes, Obama’s accomplished a lot over the years, but he’s got to be wondering how much more progress he might have made living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. He would have had a lot more time to work on signature policies like the Affordable Care Act if he hadn’t wasted so much of his mornings commuting from the airport to the Oval Office on the D.C. Metro. There’s no doubt the countless Hilton Rewards Points Obama has accrued is a nice perk, but that doesn’t soften the blow of leaving the neoclassic mansion built exclusively to house the commander in chief and his family empty for two full terms.
This is something Obama is going to regret for a long time to come.
“Nobody ever explicitly told me that I could live there until now,” said a clearly disappointed Obama, as he waited patiently for a set of fresh towels. “While Sasha and Malia love being on the same floor as the pool here, I now wish we had stayed at the lavish, 20,000-square-foot private residence in the White House for the past eight years. One time in 2011, I slept underneath my desk after a late night, and I was worried someone was going to find me there in the morning and yell at me. Now I’m being told we apparently have a personal chef and dozens of butlers. This sucks.”
Sorry, Barry, but this one’s kind of on you. Our advice to whoever the next president is? Don’t miss your chance like he did.
