Hal O'Brien

Nicholas Kristof has a piece in the New York Times titled, "Obama and the War on Brains." Lead paragraph:

"Barack Obama’s election is a milestone in more than his pigmentation. The second most remarkable thing about his election is that American voters have just picked a president who is an open, out-of-the-closet, practicing intellectual."

This was particularly clear a few cycles ago, when Democrats rejected Bill Bradley because he was too smart, followed by a large national suspicion of Al Gore for being too smart.

But it reminded me of a different aspect of Obama that's not getting much play.

He's the first president in a loooooooong time who goes "home" to a big city -- Chicago. Consider the list:

Bush 43 -- Crawford, TX
Clinton -- Little Rock, AR
Bush 41 -- Kennebunkport, ME
Reagan -- "Rancho del Cielo" in the Santa Ynez mountains NW of Santa Barbara, CA
Carter -- Plains, GA
Ford -- Grand Rapids, MI and Rancho Mirage, CA
Nixon -- either San Clemente, CA, or Key Biscayne, FL
LBJ -- Johnson City, TX
JFK -- Hyannisport, MA
Eisenhower -- Gettysburg, PA
Truman -- Independence, MO
FDR -- Hyde Park, NY

...etc, etc.