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Lot 158
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President Obama's doodles while deliberating on his new economic team in 2012
President Obama's doodles while deliberating on his new economic team in 2012
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Description:

Obama Barack

Small square note sheet, 3" x 3" doodled by Barack Obama with notes, squares, names and circles. Accompanied by impeccable provenance which will include a signed statement by Samuel Sutton, President Obama's personal valet, who worked in such capacity in the White House under both the Obama and the George Bush administrations. The statement affirms his prior ownership and a description of the piece with an image.

Through a bit of sleuthing, it was possible to decrypt Obamas seemingly random, meandering doodles and instead glean that the President was engaged in a highly decisive moment leading into his speech held in Washington in 2012. The sheet of scribbles all represented individuals who Obama was considering for his "Economic team", while preparing for his thoughts on a second term as President.

Obama's doodle of "NEC-POLICY" refers to the National Economic Council (NEC) which was established in 1993 to advise the President on U.S. and global economic policy. It resides within the Office of Policy Development and is part of the Executive Office of the President. By Executive Order, the NEC has four principal functions: to coordinate policy-making for domestic and international economic issues, to coordinate economic policy advice for the President, to ensure that policy decisions and programs are consistent with the President's economic goals, and to monitor implementation of the President's economic policy agenda. The NEC is comprised of numerous department and agency heads within the administration, whose policy jurisdictions impact the nation's economy. The NEC Director works in conjunction with these officials to coordinate and implement the President's economic policy objectives. The Director is supported by a staff of policy specialists in various fields including: agriculture, commerce, energy, financial markets, fiscal policy, healthcare, labor, and Social Security.

Meanwhile Obama also noted three people on the sheet, "Mike Froman" an American lawyer who ultimately was to serve as the U.S. Trade Representative from 2013 to 2017. He was Assistant to the President of the United States and Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Affairs, a position held jointly at the National Security Council and the National Economic Council. In that position he served as the United States sherpa to the G7, G8, and G20 summits of economic powers.On May 2, 2013 President Barack Obama nominated him to succeed Ambassador Ron Kirk as the U.S. Trade Representative. He was confirmed on June 19, 2013.

"Roger Altman" which was also penned and underlined numerous times by Obama. The President interviewed him as a potential candidate to replace Larry Summers as his National Economic Council director, a job that ultimately went to Gene Sperling.

And "FINK", the name at the very top and one which Obama also circled was no doubt Larry Fink of BlackRock, who Obama was considering as part of his Economic team in 2012 to replace Timothy Geithner. As part of his second campaign Obama was reviewing a new taxation structure he called the “Buffett rule” to ensure the rich pay more tax, cut tax rates for middle class families, stop the “war on women,” prevent a rollback of environmental protection, reform immigration laws and, not to be outdone by his Republican challenger, crack down on China. The big ticket item on the docket for the new campaign will be the so-called “fiscal cliff.” Some $450 billion of tax increases and about $1 trillion of spending cuts kick in come January 2013. If the post-Nov. 6 election session of Congress does anything, it is likely to delay the start date, throwing the issue right into the lap of the new president. “Whether it’s done now or in the lame-duck session, Congress is going to have to extend it, say 100 days or so, at least enough time to get it done,” says Larry Fink, chief executive of BlackRock, the fund manager overseeing $12 trillion of assets, who is also one of Wall Street’s most influential Democrats. “And it’s going to be the big priority for whoever gets to be president."

Based on the notes Obama scribbled on this sheet, and the "H" at the top denoting the symbol for "Hilton", one can place this note sheet emanating from around his speech at the Washington Hilton in 2012 during which he was thinking about the various people noted in his doodle for his upcoming "Economic team" with thoughts further down the road to his campaign and new administration. So what we have here are not random thoughtless doodles, but instead a President who was instead preparing and reflecting. The United States was still raw from the subprime scandal and the enormous costs to dig out of that mess without having the country fall into a Depression. Creating a new economic team would have been highly energizing for a re-election campaign. An incredible piece with impeccable provenance.

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