Thank you, again, for your letter. If you have faith in yourself and work hard to pursue a productive path, you can affect not only your own life but also the lives of those close to you. Your story will remain on my mind in the years ahead.
Sincerely,
Barack Obama
From: Ms. Yvonne Arnetta Wingard
Submitted: 7/9/2016 3:21 PM EDT
Address: Augusta, Georgia
Dear President Obama,
My name is Yvonne Wingard, and I am an 18-year-old, African American female. With all of the recent events occurring around this country, many people are scared. Many people are concerned. They are afraid and don’t know what to do or where to turn. What is even worse, is that many who share the same skin color as me are the most fearful.
I am terrified for my life. As a black youth, it is painful and heartbreaking seeing so many posts and hearing so many news reports of people killed or severely hurt because someone automatically saw them as a threat for being black. It should not be illegal to be black in this country, nor should it warrant suspicion or excessive force.
I am simply asking for change and reform. I am asking that all of the leaders of this nation look at all of the news and terror occurring everywhere and realize that something needs to be done to reform our broken system.
I have the utmost respect for our officers. They risk their lives every day to serve their communities and apprehend those who deserve to face the consequences of their crimes. We need to keep cops armed in case of dangerous situations, but we also need to find ways to train them to know the correct measures of protocol in situations where bullets are not needed to calm the situation.
I have to live my life in fear that an officer will try to kill me simply because he sees me as a threat. I have to fear that someone will think I’m a criminal or thug or thief simply because I’m walking down the street. I have to fear even attending protests or marches because I’m afraid someone will try to shoot me or hurt me simply because they don’t want to see me and my people fighting and crying out for justice.
My people are hurting. We are scared. We are afraid to be in our own skin. I am asking simply for our leaders in power to come together and find ways to improve our police and criminal justice system. Thank you for your time and consideration, and I hope that you will find it in your heart to do what is truly best for your constituents, and this nation, as a whole.
Thank You,
Yvonne Wingard
Submitted via whitehouse.gov
11/13/2016 7:10 PM
Anne — Bunting
Dear Mr. President,
Thank you for saving my life. My name is Anne — Bunting. In 2008, I was diagnosed with Heart Failure (HF) and had a pacemaker implanted. I was in the final stages of HF. I did well until 2012 when my heart began to fail again. By July, 2013, I was once more in the final stages of HF. I was told I needed a heart transplant and was put on the list. That’s when we discovered that my individual insurance policy (I was self-employed) did not cover a heart transplant.
The only way to save my life was to implant a Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD—like Dick Cheney). A few hours after that surgery, the doctors realized the right side of my heart was dying. So they went back in and implanted a VAD on the right side of my heart. I was the first person at that hospital to survive this surgery and go home.
My heart was powered by 2 pumps run by computers and batteries which were attached to me at all times. I lived with those pumps for 9 months. Then in 2014, the Affordable Care Act came into being and abolished the restriction on pre-existing conditions. I was able to get an insurance policy that covered heart transplants and was put back on the list. 10 days later, I received the gift of life through a heart transplant. So, I tell everyone that you saved my life and I truly believe that.
You and the First Lady have both been wonderful leaders. Thank you both for what you have done for our country and its people.
And thank you again for saving my life.
Anne Bunting
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
December 9, 2016
Ms. Anne — Bunting
Dear Anne:
Thank you for your kind words and for taking the time to share your moving story with me. It’s clear you have faced tremendous challenges over the last few years, and I am glad to hear the Affordable Care Act helped you to get a heart transplant when you needed it most. Your story highlights how the Affordable Care Act has been life-changing for so many Americans. And in some cases, even life-saving. As a result of so many more people having coverage, we’re avoiding an estimated 24,000 deaths annually. And countless other Americans are living better lives because they’re receiving the care they need and deserve. It is why I worked so hard to pass health reform in the first place.
Again, thank you for writing and for your support. Michelle and I send our very best.
Sincerely,
Barack Obama
08,21,2016
Dear President Obama,
Remember the boy who was picked up by the ambulance—in Syria? Can you please go get him and bring him to — — —. Park in the driveway or on the street and we’ll be waiting for you guys with flags flowers and balloons. We will give him a family and he will be our brother. Catherine, my little sister will be collecting butterflies and fireflies for him. In my school I have a friend from Syria, Omar, and I will introduce him to Omar and we cam all play together. We can invite him to birthday parties and he will teach us another language. We can teach him English too, just like we taught my friend Aoto from Japan. Please tell him that his brother will be Alex who is a very kind boy, just like him. Since he won’t bring toys and doesn’t have toys Catherine will share her big blue stripy white bunny. And I will share my bikke and I will teach him how to ride it. I will teach him additions and subtractions in math. and he smell Catherine’s lip gloss penguin which is green. She doesn’t let anyone touch it.
Thank you very much! I can’t wait for you to come!
Alex
6 years old
Donald W. Molloy
United States District Judge
August 4, 2016
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
RE: Douglas George Jensen
Cause No. CR 03–27-M-DWM
Dear Mr. President:
I assume there is little chance that you will personally see this letter. Even so, I want to express my gratitude and appreciation to you for commuting the sentence of Douglas Jensen. On August 16, 2016, I will have reached my 20th Anniversary as a federal district judge. The life sentence I imposed on Douglas Jensen has haunted me for more than half of that time. Your commutation of his sentence finally eases my conscience and the struggle within me that was caused by following the law even when it was unjust. Thank you.
With great respect,
Donald W. Molloy
U.S. District Judge
From: Ms. Dawn Benefiel
Submitted: 8/12/2016 9:30 AM EDT
Address: Indianapolis, Indiana
Dear Mr. President, I am a 44 year old woman who moved back to her hometown of Indianapolis IN from Southern California three years ago. I come from a mixed race blended family that began back in the late 70’s. I was the only white child that walked to school. Back in the day, Indianapolis Public Schools had huge bussing campaigns to comply with desegregation. I was teased by the white kids since I didn’t take the bus and I was beaten up by the black kids on the way home from school for that same reason. I still remember my 4th grade teacher who let me stay after school and sing with her until all the kids left. She knew I was tormented. She also had m
e sing in front of our class. All those kids that did not like me. I sang “The Greatest Love of All”. This was long before Whitney Houston recorded the song. But it was my favorite song. I closed my eyes and sang that song with everything I had. For that few minutes, I forgot all the hatred in those staring eyes. I imagine that being the leader of the western world feels a lot like that. I told you that story because it bears reference to something I am about to say. Eight years ago, I worked on your campaign in Orange County CA. Not much, just worked the phone banks, went out to voter registration tables and talked to people about Barack Obama. You spoke to that 9 year old girl in me. You made me believe there is hope for our flawed country. You reminded a very jaded generation x that it is OK to hope, to believe in the good. You were our JFK. After 8 years, you still inspire. You and your wife remind me every day. You did what you set out to do. I just wanted to thank you for leading with grace and dignity. For closing your eyes and ignoring the hate and doing what you felt was right for our Nation. No one knew when you were elected, what we were about to face as a nation. No one knew how badly we needed someone that could ignite and inspire and stand tall. I don’t believe there was anyone else who could have done it better. With all of the ugly things you may hear, I just wanted you to know that you have made a difference. Tears filling my eyes right now because I am sure I am not expressing exactly what I set out to. I suppose just to say, thank you for speaking to that little girl who faced so much hate and prejudice and giving her someone to believe in. With much respect and admiration, Dawn Benefiel.
From: Mrs. Heather Wells
Submitted: 9/21/2016 2:37 PM EDT
Address: Kokomo, Indiana
Dear Mr. President as you are coming to the end of your second term I wanted to share with you a story about the night you were elected. I am a nurse at an Indiana hospital. Due to being short staffed I was called and asked to work on election night. I agreed to come in as long as I could vote first. Late that night I received an admission from the ER. The patient arrived to the floor and I went in to see him. He was a black man who was about my age that was HIV positive and no longer responding to treatment. When I walked in to greet him he had the election coverage pulled up on the television. I introduced myself and noticed his Obama shirt right away. I asked if he had the opportunity to vote and he said that he refused to come to the hospital before he did. I laughed and pointed to my “I Voted” sticker and told him I said the same thing. I proceeded to pull open my scrub jacket and showed him my “Obama Mama” t-shirt and told him not to worry he was in good hands. We had a laugh and I proceeded to admit him. There weren’t a lot of patients on the floor so I was able to spend a little more time just talking to him. He told me that he had contracted HIV from IV drug use and that he had lived a rough life. He had two daughters at home and worried about their future. We discussed how much it meant to us for you to win the election. He shared how it gave him hope that his daughters might be able to grow up in a world where it didn’t matter what race or background you came from, and that maybe one day they would have an opportunity to be president. We both laughed at that, because who would ever think a woman would get that opportunity (Boy I wish he could be here today to witness the possibility!) We spent most of that night laughing and sharing stories while we watched the votes roll in. When the final votes were tallied and the official announcement was made I am proud to say that I sat in that room with him and we held each other and cried tears of joy. Your election meant so much to me, because I truly believe in you. Your election however meant so much more to him. It meant hope, a promise that his daughters would be ok, security for their future. We spent the rest of the night celebrating he passed away 2 days later. I like to think that the moment we shared was one of his last good times on this earth. I will forever be grateful to that man for all of the hope he instilled in me for the future. Thank you Mr. President for being a part of that.
From: Mrs. Myriah Lynn Johnson
Submitted: 9/22/2016 2:21 PM EDT
Address: Lakeland, Florida
22 September 2016
Mr. President,
I feel compelled to write you as I sit and watch a great tragedy unfold. You see, I am the one thing no parent wants to be, a Gold Star Mom. On July 12th of this year I lost my son, SPC Alexander Johnson, to a self-inflicted gunshot wound. All I’m left with is to wonder why. He was a bright and talented young man with a beautiful fiancé and a large & loving group of family and friends. Alex, however, didn’t want to address the fact he was suffering from depression. I don’t and won’t ever know what prevented him from seeking help, but I do know one thing. He was afraid of the stigma around mental illness. He was afraid he would lose something that has been his lifelong dream. That he should just be “Army Strong”. To “be a man” and just “suck it up”. All of these pressures prevented him from seeking treatment. Treatment which could have saved his life.
I have since been inundated with staggering statistics, that more of the young men and women in our armed forces are taken by suicide than in combat. Numbers range from 18 to 22 per day. 18 to 22 families that are shattered. 18 to 22 parents who lose a child, fiancés and spouses who lose their partner, children who lose their parent, brothers & sisters their siblings. What is worse is I have seen story after story of soldiers & sailors sent away from VA treatment facilities for any number of reasons. This has to stop. We heed to destigmatize mental illness.
Seeking help is not weakness, it is a show of strength.
As a parent I beg you to consider finding a way to allow both active duty and veterans to seek low or no cost mental health treatment at any available facility, not just a VA facility. If it could save even one family from going through what we are it would be worth it.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Myriah L. Johnson
Gold Star Mom and Proud American
August 4, 2016
Dear President Obama,
Eight years ago, you came to UNC-Chapel Hill to speak—you weren’t president yet, but after hearing you speak, we all knew you would be soon. I want to thank you for that day. You were running a campaign based on hope rather than fear, and I want you to know that, for the 12-year-old-girl whose father had died suddenly just one week before your speech, your message was invaluable. I can’t pretend to have understood, at the time, everything you said—nor can I tell you that I remember all of it. But the message—that we, as Americans, have a disposition that tends uniquely toward a hope that the future can look better—has stayed with me, from that day when I needed most to hear it all the way to the present.
I’m 20 now, and I’m actually a student at UNC-Chapel Hill. Sometimes, when I’m walking across campus, I still think of your visit. This November marks the first presidential election for which I can vote, and it’s certainly shaping up to be an unusual one. I wish, of course, that I could vote for you, but instead I’ll vote with your message in mind. Some of the popular political rhetoric right now is bent on using fear to create divisions and suggest that the narrative of hope is not worth striving for, and I just wanted to be sure that you heard from at least one more member of my generation that these fear-based strategies are ineffective. One of the reasons for the failure of fear (for us, anyway) is that we got to grow up listening to you.
I hope you never have days where you feel discouraged or ineffectual, but just in case you do, please know—you’ve done something remarkable for my generation. You helped show us that there exists far more power in hope than there does in fear. We learned that from you, and that knowledge and belief cannot be taken away. (And even if I can’t speak for all my peers, I can speak for the 12-year-old girl who saw you that night one April. I haven’t forgotten.) I don’t know what’s coming next or what my generation will one day have to accomplish, but I think you’ve prepared us well for it. We’re not throwing away our sh
ot.
Congratulations on all you’ve accomplished these past eight years. It means so much, in so many ways. Thank you.
Best,
Nell Ovitt
Chapel Hill, NC
Dear President Barack Obama,
I am Noor Abdelfattah. Born in Chicago in November of 97’, I was blessed enough to grow up on Chicago’s North Shore. Growing up as a child of a Muslim immigrant, I truly realize how privileged I am to live in the greatest country in the world. My grandfather left his homeland in 1951, the year my father was born, in search of his American dream. My father would not meet his own father until he was sixteen years old. Coming to this country with very little, my father was unable to attend college. However, he would spend long hours working low-paid jobs in order to provide for his family. Both my parents and five older brothers faced many difficulties before I was born.
At age seven, my oldest brother was caught in a Chicago gang fight where he took a bullet in the face. Today, that same brother is thirty-three years old and a graduate of University of Michigan Law School. The sacrifices my parents endured for their kids allowed us to prosper within our educational careers. Together, the educational institutions we have attended include University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, Northwestern University, University of Michigan, and Loyola University Chicago.
Growing up, my parents have always taught us to treat everyone with respect. Although I grew up Muslim, my parents sent my siblings and I to Catholic high schools that placed us in an environment different than our own. Being the only Muslim in my class, I was allowed to interact with people who were raised different than myself. The opportunities my parents have given me allowed me to enter college open minded. I have met people I consider friends from all over the world.
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