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Posts Tagged ‘Michelle Obama’

The U.S. Secret Service provided security for Pope Benedict XVI at the Papal Mass in Washington, D.C., on April 17, 2008. Although the agents have no official uniform and can be seen wearing anything from tuxedos to blue jeans, they are often identified by their dark sunglasses, listening devices, and lapel pins bearing the agency's gold star logo.

The United States Secret Service uses code names to refer to the President of the United States, his family, other officials, and places. Originally, these code names were designed to protect sensitive communications, back in the day before restricted communications were routinely encrypted. Nowadays, there is no need to keep these names secret. Nevertheless, The Secret Service who guards the First Family and other U.S. officials continues to use the code names for clarity, brevity, and tradition. (1)

The U.S. Secret Service Star Logo. The U.S. Secret Service protects the President and First Family, other officials of the U.S. government, and visiting dignitaries.

General Code Names

President of the United States:  POTUS

First Lady of the United States:  FLOTUS

Vice President of the United States:  VPOTUS

The Obamas

Barack:  Renegade

Michelle:  Renaissance

Malia:  Radiance

Sasha:  Rosebud

The Bushes

George W.:  Tumbler

Laura:  Tempo

Barbara:  Turquoise

Jenna:  Twinkle

The Clintons

Bill:  Eagle

Hillary:  Evergreen

Chelsea:  Energy

The Bushes

George H.:  Timberwolf

Barbara:  Tranquility

The Carters

Jimmy:  Deacon

Rosalynn:  Dancer

Amy:  Dynamo

Secret Service agents respond to the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley Jr. on March 30, 1981. President Reagan took a bullet in the abdomen but made a full recovery.

The Reagans

Ronald:  Rawhide

Nancy:  Rainbow

The Fords

Gerald:  Passkey

Betty:  Pinafore

The Nixons

Richard:  Searchlight

Pat:  Starlight

The Johnsons

Lyndon:  Volunteer

Lady Bird:  Victoria

Lynda Bird:  Velvet

Luci Baines:  Venus

 

A motorcade carries President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jackie Kennedy through the streets of Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Texas Governor John Connally and wife Nellie ride in front of the Kennedys.

Secret Service agent Clint Hill stood on the running board of the car behind the Kennedy’s limo.
Agent Hill heard the first shot that hit President Kennedy. Mr Hill is the figure in the famous Zapruder film of the killing which shows him climbing onto the back of the president’s limousine. “I heard the first shot, saw the president grab his throat, lurch left, and I knew something was wrong,” recalled Hill in the book, The Kennedy Detail. Jackie Kennedy can be seen crawling out the back of the car onto the trunk to get help for her slain husband, slumped in the seat.

Agent Hill got in the back seat with Mrs. Kennedy and the president and shielded them with his body on the way to Parkland Hospital.

The Kennedys

John F.:  Lancer

Jackie:  Lace

Caroline:  Lyric

John Jr.:  Lark

Other Individuals

Queen Elizabeth II:  Kittyhawk, Redfern

Prince Charles:  Unicorn

Frank Sinatra:  Napoleon

Pope John Paul II:  Halo

Sarah Palin:  Denali

John McCain:  Phoenix

Places

The White House:  Castle

The Capitol:  Punchbowl

 

(1)  Source: Wiki “Secret Service Codename

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The Obamas being received at Buckingham Palace by Queen Elizabeth II

The Obamas being received at Buckingham Palace by Queen Elizabeth II

The Huffington Post is taking a survey on the purpose of Queen Elizabeth’s bag. Don’t forget to vote. Here is a close-up of Queen Elizabeth receiving Michelle Obama at Buckingham Palace on April 1. Inquiring minds want to know:

Why does the Queen carry her purse around her own home?

For more on the Queen’s handbag habit, read another post on this blog, “What’s in Queen Elizabeth’s Purse?”

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Michelle Obama with Queen Elizabeth

Michelle Obama with Queen Elizabeth

I’ve been blogging about the Obamas and their state visit to London and Buckingham Palace. There has been much discussion on and offline as to whether or not Michelle Obama was out of line when she touched the Queen. Royal protocol dictates that no one touches the Queen.

In my recent post, “Michelle Obama Hugs Queen Elizabeth,” I gave the first report of the touchy-feely action in royal quarters – that Michelle initiated the contact by placing her hand on the Queen’s back. Now, though, according to Vanity Fair Online, it may have been Queen Elizabeth who started the touching by slipping her right hand around Michelle’s waist. (The New York Times confirmed this on April 3.)

‘A mutual and spontaneous display of affection and appreciation,’ was how a Buckingham Palace spokesman hastened to describe it.

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Queen Elizabeth and Michelle Obama at Buckingham Palace

Queen Elizabeth and Michelle Obama at Buckingham Palace

 As I mentioned in my recent post, “President Barack and Michelle Obama Give Queen Elizabeth an IPod,” the Obamas have visited Buckingham Palace and met with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. As the two couples mingled with other diplomats in London for the Group of 20 Meeting, First Lady Michelle Obama reached out and touched the Queen on her back. The Queen responded warmly, wrapping her right arm around Michelle’s waist. Those listening to the two women say that the Queen remarked on how tall Michelle is. They also were looking down and talking about their shoes.

Everyone’s buzzing about this historic moment: Michelle Obama touched the Queen! Royal protocol demands that no one touch the Queen. Even her royal consort, Prince Philip, must walk several paces behind her when the two are in public.

First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and General Charles DeGaulle at a dinner at Versailles, France, June 1, 1961.

First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and General Charles DeGaulle at a dinner at Versailles, France, June 1, 1961.

All this attention to the Obamas and their first visit to  Europe as the First Couple takes me back to 1961 when President John Fitzgerald and Jacqueline (pronounced JAK LEEN’) Bouvier Kennedy made a state visit to France. Jackie Kennedy mesmerized the French with her style and elegance. She spoke fluent French and boasted a paternal French bloodline (Bouvier). Jackie was so charming that she even won the heart of President Charles DeGaulle, a man not easily conquered. At a dinner at the Elysee Palace, DeGaulle talked extensively to Jackie, then turned to President Kennedy and said,  “Your wife knows more French history than any French woman.”

Jackie Kennedy so upstaged John on their trip overseas that the President joked, “I am the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris.” Upon the Kennedys’ return to America, their popularity soared. The American public – and the rest of the world – had fallen in love with Jackie. To this day, she remains an American idol.

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Apple iPod

Apple iPod

Oops!!! Someone on the Obama team goofed.

In my last post, “What’s Playing on Queen Elizabeth’s iPod?“, I reported that President Barack and Michelle Obama had given the Queen a new, full-loaded iPod as a gift. The royal monarch, who turns 73 on the 21st of this month, gave the Obamas a signed portrait of herself.

Obviously, the Obama team didn’t do extensive research when selecting an iPod as a gift for the Queen, not that there’s anything wrong with giving her an iPod. It’s just that she doesn’t need one! She already has an iPod. She bought one for herself back in 2005. Australian news outlet Fairfax Digital carried the June 17, 2005 announcement on its website:

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II has dipped into the royal purse to snap up an iPod, a report said today.

Britain’s biggest-selling daily The Sun said the 79-year-old sovereign had bought a six-gigabyte silver model for £169 ($400.05).

The pocket-sized digital music players can hold up to 10,000 downloaded songs.

Queen Elizabeth II with son Prince Andrew when he was 7.

Queen Elizabeth II with son Prince Andrew when he was 7.

Queen Elizabeth’s second son Prince Andrew, fourth in line to the throne, was reported to be behind the move, having bought his mother a mobile phone and taught her how to use it in 2001.

“The Queen loves music and was impressed by how small and handy the iPod is,” a royal insider told The Sun.

“Obviously it is quite complicated to download songs, but I’m sure one of the courtiers will do it for her.

“Prince Andrew will probably also help out because he’s a real dab hand with gadgets.”

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Queen Elizabeth Jiving to Her New IPod

Queen Elizabeth Jiving to Her New IPod

In London for the Group of 20 Meeting (see last post), President Barack and Michelle Obama visited Buckingham Palace yesterday. The Obamas gave Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip a fully-loaded engraved iPod, with music and videos.

According to the Associated Press, the following songs were loaded onto Queen Elizabeth’s  iPod:

“Oklahoma!”
“If I Loved You,” Jan Clayton, “Carousel”
“You’ll Never Walk Alone,” Jan Clayton, “Carousel”
“There’s No Business Like Show Business,” Ethel Merman, “Annie Get Your Gun”
“Once in Love with Amy (Where’s Charley?),” Ray Bolger
“Some Enchanted Evening,” “South Pacific”
“Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” Carol Channing, “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”
“Getting to Know You,” Gertrude Lawrence, “The King and I”
“Shall We Dance?” Gertrude Lawrence, “The King and I”
“I Could Have Danced All Night,” Julie Andrews, “My Fair Lady”
“I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face,” Rex Harrison, “My Fair Lady”
“The Party’s Over (Bells Are Ringing),” Judy Holliday
“Maria,” “West Side Story”
“Tonight,” “West Side Story”
“Seventy Six Trombones,” “The Music Man”
“Everything’s Coming up Roses,” Ethel Merman, “Gypsy”
“The Sound of Music”
“Try to Remember,” Jerry Orbach, “The Fantasticks”
“Camelot,” Richard Burton
“If Ever I Would Leave You,” Robert Goulet, “Camelot”
“Hello, Dolly!” Carol Channing
“If I Were a Rich Man,” Zero Mostel, “Fiddler on the Roof”
“People,” Barbra Streisand, “Funny Girl”
“On a Clear Day (You Can See Forever),” John Cullum
“The Impossible Dream,” Richard Kiley, “Man of La Mancha”
“Mame,” Charles Braswell
“Cabaret,” Liza Minnelli
“Aquarius, Ronald Dyson, “Hair’
“Send in the Clowns,” Judy Collins, “A Little Night Music”
“All That Jazz,” Chita Rivera, “Chicago”
“One,” “A Chorus Line”
“Tomorrow,” Andrea McArdle, “Annie”
“Don’t Cry for Me Argentina,” Patti LuPone, “Evita”
“And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going,” Jennifer Holliday, “Dreamgirls”
“Memory,” Elaine Paige, “Cats”
“The Best of Times,” George Hearn, “La Cage Aux Folles”
“I Dreamed a Dream,” Aretha Franklin, “Les MisDerables”
“The Music of the Night,” Michael Crawford, “The Phantom of the Opera”
“As If We Never Said Goodbye,” Elaine Paige, “Sunset Blvd.”
“Seasons of Love,” “Rent”

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The Obamas met Queen Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip, at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday, April 1. The two couples exchanged gifts. The Obamas gave the queen an engraved iPod. The Queen’s new music player came already loaded with some Broadway show tunes and videos of her 2007 visit to Washington and Virginia.  The Obamas also gave the Queen a rare songbook signed by the composer Richard Rodgers. The British royals gave signed silver-framed portraits of themselves to the Obamas, their standard gift for visiting dignitaries.

The Obamas Visit Buckingham Palace. Note that the Queen has that purse in her arm although she is at home!

The Obamas Visit Buckingham Palace. Note that the Queen has that purse on her arm although she is at home!

If you enjoyed this post, you might also like the following:

“Queen Elizabeth’s Grandmother Had the Gimmies”
“What’s in Queen Elizabeth’s Purse?”
“What’s Playing on Queen Elizabeth’s iPod?”

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