In honor of Inauguration Day, I thought I’d revisit a post I did 4 years ago about various members of then-President-Elect Obama’s staff who happened to be photographed holding notebooks. (Yesterday’s New York Times Magazine also looked back at that photo series in an article about Obama’s first term from the viewpoints of some of these staffers.)

The full text and images of my 1/19/2009 post follows:

In yesterday’s New York Times Magazine, there was a photo essay called “Obama’s People,” with portraits of the President-elect’s various cabinet members and staff. I couldn’t help noticing that a few of them were photographed with their notebooks!

Here’s Eugene Kang, 24, Special Assistant to the President. His notebook is the highlight of the photo! It sort of looks like a Moleskine Cahier, but I don’t think it is– wrong color, and it looks like it has more of a pocket in the back. Can anyone identify this notebook?

This is Mark W. Lippert, 35, National Security Council Chief of Staff. His notebooks– 2 of them– look kind of like the larger-size Moleskines, but again, wrong color. I think they must be some other brand.

Here we have Peter R. Orszag, 40, Office of Management and Budget Director-Designate. It’s a little harder to tell, but he seems to have a small notebook or two in his shirt pocket. They could be the same type as Eugene Kang’s above.



Will notebooks have a prominent place in the new administration? Perhaps Barack Obama will start carrying a Moleskine if he’s forced to give up his trusty Blackberry!