Intern Picks: 10 Must-See White House Videos

Posted by White House

The other day, we were given a pretty fun assignment: comb through nearly 1,500 White House videos and come up with our favorite ten.

The variety of videos the White House has published since President Obama took office is overwhelming. Along with the President’s speeches and daily press events, there are powerfully candid moments from the light-hearted to the awe-inspiring, clips that make you laugh out loud and behind the scenes material that you can't find anywhere else (for example, a look inside a Cabinet meeting).

So after careful consideration, we are excited to share the first "Intern Picks" of 10 Must-See White House Videos:

10. The President's Order for Stephen Colbert

Go behind-the-scenes with President Obama as he records his cameo appearance on "The Colbert Report." In the segment, he orders Colbert's head shaved, which was promptly executed by General Odierno during a special broadcast from Camp Victory in Baghdad.

Why it’s great: The President is faced with a lot of important decisions on a daily basis, but it’s not every day that he gives an order like this. Also, Stephen Colbert makes an addition to the White House library.

9. Inside the White House: Letters to the President

Every day, President Obama reads ten letters from Americans around the country to stay in tune with their issues and concerns. "Letters to the President" is an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at the process of how those ten letters make it to the President's desk from among the tens of thousands of letters, faxes, and e-mails that flood the White House each day.

Why it’s great: This video provides an intimate look at one of the ways President Obama connects directly with people from around the country daily and it’s moving to see.

8. The Hovercraft

President Obama convinces New York Times reporter Sheryl Stolberg to demo a small hovercraft at Industrial Support Inc., a manufacturing services company in Buffalo, N.Y.

Why it’s great: You don’t need to be President to know that hovercrafts are fun.

7. What Wall Street Reform Means to You

A quick and simple animated explanation of how Wall Street Reform works and what the strongest consumer protections in history will mean for you and your family.

Why it’s great: This animated video makes Wall Street Reform accessible for anyone, and we like that.

6. Jimmy Fallon at the White House

Jimmy Fallon can't believe he's at the White House on the Fourth of July. Watch part of his stand-up performance from that evening.

Why it’s great: Jimmy Fallon is good, but Fallon impersonating Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Cosby, and Robin Williams, among others, during a performance on the South Lawn for the USO, is GREAT!

5. The President visits Ghana

During his visit to Ghana, President Obama reminds the people of Africa of America's commitment to partnership and friendship.

Why it’s great: The music is uplifting, the dancing is beautiful, and the President’s speech is inspiring.

4. Dunk Tank

At the annual White House Congressional picnic, guests are invited to dunk Robert Gibbs, Rahm Emanuel and Peter Orszag. The President also joined in the fun.

Why it’s great: This raw video clip of the President dunking some staff is pretty hilarious. We wonder if this is how the President practices for throwing out the first pitch...

3. The 4th of July at the White House 2010

The White House and the USO celebrate the 4th of July with service members and their families at the Independence Day celebration on the South Lawn. Performers at this year’s celebration included Brandi Carlile, Cedric the Entertainer and the rock band The Killers.

Why it’s great: This video really captures the spirit of Independence Day. It features a montage of the Fourth of July celebration on the south lawn, set to upbeat music and the President’s words on the pride that we share for our country.

2. Inside the White House: Cabinet

President Obama and Cabinet members share their perspectives on their bimonthly meetings in this exclusive, behind-the-scenes video.

Why it’s great: Check your blackberries at the door; this is a glimpse into a tradition as old as our Constitution and our country.

1. Surprise Phone Call

President Obama makes a surprise call to Gail O'Brien, a woman in Keene, NH, that is benefiting from the Affordable Care Act. Gail was previously uninsured and diagnosed with high grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Thanks to the new law, Gail now has insurance through the new Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan that will pay for her treatments, and she is responding very well.

Why it’s great: Gail’s story reminds us of what passing health reform was all about — this video captures a wonderful moment between Gail and the President.

President Obama Announces a New OMB Director: Jacob Lew

Posted by White House

Today, President Obama announced his intent to nominate Jacob J. Lew, generally caled "Jack," to serve as Director of the Office of Management and Budget – the President’s top aide in charge of overseeing the budget for the entire Federal government. Lew, who already has outstanding experience in the position under the Clinton Administration, has been serving in the State Department under President Obama. During him time under President Clinton, 11 million jobs were created, and the federal budget was balanced for the first time since Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. An inherited $290 billion deficit was turned around, and resulted in a more than $236 billion surplus at the end of 2000.

• Read more about Lew in the White House background.

In making the announcement, the President took ample time to commend the service of Peter Orszag, who has held the position during some of the toughest economic and fiscal times the country has seen in decades:

Putting a budget together for the entire federal government is an enormously difficult task, no matter what the state of the economy, but Peter’s job was even tougher. When we walked through the doors of the White House, we not only faced the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, we also faced a $1.3 trillion deficit -- a deficit that was caused both by the recession and nearly a decade of not paying for key policies and programs.
In light of these challenges, Peter’s accomplishments as Director of OMB are even more impressive. He was instrumental in designing and helping us pass an economic plan that prevented a second depression -- a plan that is slowly but surely moving us in the right direction again. Thanks to his innovative ideas and gritty determination, we passed a health insurance reform plan that is not only paid for, but will significantly lower the cost of health care as well as our deficit over the next several decades. In fact, a recent report by independent experts say this reform will cut the deficit even more than the Congressional Budget Office first estimated.
Peter has also helped us single out more than a hundred programs for elimination that have outlived their purposes, and made hard decisions that will save tens of billions of dollars. And he helped draft a budget for next year that freezes all discretionary government spending outside of national security for three years -- something that was never enacted in the prior administration. It’s a budget that would reduce the deficit by more than $1 trillion over the next decade, which is more than any other budget in a decade. And I expect that freeze to become a reality next year.
Peter also shares my view that the long-running debate between big government and small government misses the point; it isn’t relevant to today’s challenges. The real debate is about how we make government smarter, more effective, and more efficient in the 21st century. It’s easy for any institution to get in the habit of doing things the way they’ve always been done. We in government can’t afford that habit -- not only because it wastes taxpayer dollars, but because it erodes people’s belief that their government can actually work for them.
Over the last year and a half we’ve been able to employ new technology to make government more responsive and customer-friendly -- the same way that so many businesses have used technology to make better products and provide better services.
As a result of these efforts, today we’re creating a single electronic medical record for our men and women in uniform that will follow them from the day they enlist until the day they are laid to rest. We’re cutting down the time that it takes to get a patent approved by cutting out unnecessary paperwork and modernizing the process. We’re working to give people the chance to go online and book an appointment at the Social Security office or check the status of their citizenship application. We’re cutting waste by getting rid of federal office space that hasn’t been used in years. We’re closing the IT gap in the federal government, and have created mobile apps that provide nutrition information for your favorite foods or wait times at the airport. And the examples go on and on.

He went on to explain why he is so confident that Lew will be able to carry on this outstanding level of performance:

if there was a Hall of Fame for budget directors, then Jack Lew surely would have earned a place for his service in that role under President Clinton, when he helped balance the federal budget after years of deficits. When Jack left that post at the end of the Clinton administration, he handed the next administration a record $236 billion budget surplus. The day I took office, eight years later, America faced a record $1.3 trillion deficit.

Jack’s challenge over the next few years is to use his extraordinary skill and experience to cut down that deficit and put our nation back on a fiscally responsible path. And I have the utmost faith in his ability to achieve this goal as a central member of our economic team.

Jack is the only budget director in history to preside over a budget surplus for three consecutive years. When Jack was deputy director at OMB, he was part of the team that reached a bipartisan agreement to balance the budget for the first time in decades. He was a principal domestic policy advisor to Tip O’Neill, and worked with him on the bipartisan agreement to reform Social Security in the 1980s.

He was executive vice president at New York University, where he oversaw budget and finances. And for the past year and a half, he’s been successful in overseeing the State Department’s extremely complex and challenging budget as Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources. I was actually worried that Hillary would not let him go. I had to trade a number of number-one draft picks -- (laughter) -- to get Jack back at OMB.