The Loneliest Job
As the presidency of Barack Obama comes to a close, we are sharing a photo essay 'The Loneliest Job' by Associated Press photographer and Asia-Pacific Regional Photo Editor Charles Dharapak.
It is said that being President of the United States is the loneliest job in the world. The roar of campaign crowds a distant echo, the calls for hope and change have been replaced by the sober business of governing and tough decisions.
From 2008 until 2014, Dharapak covered President Obama and was named "Photographer of the Year” by The White House News Photographers Association in 2012. Below is Dharapak's photo essay.
President Barack Obama alone is accountable for the fragile economy, two wars, and a divided nation on the health care issue. President Barack Obama steps off Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., after traveling to Atlanta, Georgia, Monday, Aug. 2, 2010. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Standing in the rain, President Barack Obama pauses as he makes a statement to reporters at the Coast Guard Venice Station in Venice, La., as he visits the Gulf Coast region affected by the BP oil well spill, Sunday, May 2, 2010. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Barack Obama walks from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Monday, Aug. 16, 2010, as the West Wing is covered in tarpaulin for a renovation project. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Barack Obama is seen between the columns of the West Wing colonnade at the White House in Washington, Monday, July 26, 2010. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Marine One helicopter with President Barack Obama on board flies past the Washington Monument en route to Andrews Air Force Base as he travels to Newark, N.J., Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2010. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Barack Obama walks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington as he returns from a campaign event in Miami, Monday, Oct. 11, 2010. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Barack Obama is seated in his sports utility vehicle as he is driven from Andrews Air Force Base, Md., as his round of golf was ended by a sudden storm, Sunday, July 25, 2010. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
A U.S. Secret Service agent stands watch as President Barack Obama speaks about health care reform, at Arcadia University in Glenside, Pa., Monday, March 8, 2010. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Barack Obama walks to the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington to make a statement to reporters, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Barack Obama walks across the tarmac in a light drizzle in Chicago, Wednesday, April 27, 2011, to travel to New York City for campaign fundraising events. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
The presidential pen awaits the hand of President Barack Obama as he speaks before signing an Executive Order to cut waste and promote efficient spending across the federal government in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
A Uniformed Division Secret Service officer checks the door to the Oval Office of the White House in Washington ahead of an evening meeting between President Barack Obama, House Speaker John Boehner, R- Ohio and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., regarding the budget and possible government shutdown, Wednesday, April 6, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Barack Obama speaks at the Washington Convention Center, Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2011 in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Barack Obama is seated during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Barack Obama emerges from a holding tent before speaking about jobs, Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011, at Georgetown Waterfront Park in Washington. Obama is urging Congress to pass the infrastructure piece of the American Jobs Act. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, are on the first hole as they play golf at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Saturday, June 18, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Barack Obama walks to the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington to make a statement to reporters, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Barack Obama, center, is pictured as world leaders file past before the leaders declaration at the Asia Pacific Economic Summit in Yokohama, Japan, Sunday, Nov. 14, 2010. Pictured are President Hu Jintao of China, President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, Prime Minister John Key of New Zealand, and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Barack Obama leaves the podium after making a statement to reporters about the suspicious packages found on U.S. bound planes in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, Friday, Oct. 29, 2010. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Photos by Charles Dharapak
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Visual artist and Digital Storyteller at The Associated Press
