(Kevin Lamarque/Reuters) Then-President-elect Barack Obama with his personal assistant Reggie Love before a flight on November 10, 200
When he's mad, President Barack Obama gets eerily quiet.
Reggie Love, a 26-year-old former Duke University football and basketball star improbably became then-Senator Obama's right-hand man during his first presidential campaign in 2007.
Love went on to work as Obama's
personal aide for five years, crisscrossing the nation with America's
future president, serving him meals, carrying around his luggage, buying
him clothes, challenging him on the basketball court, and babysitting
for his children.
In a new memoir, " Power Forward: My Presidential Education
," Love discusses being by Obama's side "on the ca mpaign trail when
no one believed in him" and in the "seconds before stepping onstage to
be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America."
Love also shared stories of what it was like to upset the president. Here are some of the times Love saw Obama's angry side.Losing Obama's wallet and briefcase
Love carrying bags to a car. In 2007 after a fundraiser in Florida, Love
accidentally misplaced then-Senator Obama's Tumi briefcase containing
his keys, wallet, credit cards, and notes he needed for his coming
debate in South Carolina.
"The plane was airborne, the
bag was missing, and I proceeded to have a full-blown panic attack,"
Love writes. "Sweat began to bleed through my clothes. My heart raced
like a cornered rabbit. In my head I prayed he wouldn't notice, that I'd
have time to find the bag and by some miracle get it back to him before
he realized it had vanished."
Love was able to contact a campaign finance assistant who then notified a Secret Service agent about the missing bag.
The team was able to recover
the Tumi briefcase and send it with a campaign member who was also en
route to watch the debate in Columbia.
"When we landed in Columbia, I
was feeling a modicum of relief, believing maybe disaster had been
averted, maybe this would all resolve without any drama, and it was
precisely at that moment that the candidate turned to me and said, 'Hey Reg, where's my bag?' I went with, 'It's on its way.' ' What do you mean 'on the way? ' he asked. 'It's coming from Florida,' I said. 'You left my briefcase in Florida,' he stated, incredulous."
Love describes what seemed to be the worst part about upsetting Obama, the silence.
"The silence, felt worse than
being reprimanded," Love writes. "As we rode to the Columbia campaign
headquarters without another word passing between us I thought, That's it, I'm fired. I kept hoping he would break the tension and yell at me."
Once they arrived at the campaign office, Obama asked for a private room so that he could have a meeting with Love.
With a calm and "even and firm"
voice, Obama began: "Listen, Reggie, I think you're a great guy. But,
(Obama paused and leaned forward) if you're not up to doing this job, I
can get someone else to do it. You have one job and if I have to worry about all this stuff, then you're not making it easy for me to do my job.
"Get your act together, Reggie. Help me do my job," he said as he rose from the table and walked out of the room.
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