zt任期内的美国总统

任期内的美国总统（一）

贝拉克•奥巴马作为非洲裔美国人的民选总统开启了新的历史。当他和他的家人在一月搬进白宫的时候，他们的生活将会戏剧性地改变。但是，关心美国总统的日常工作的事将会完全一样地继续下去。

源文档 <http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/01/president/christopher-morris-photography>;
Inside the Presidency
Barack Obama made history as the first African American elected President. When he and his family move into the White House in January, their lives will change dramatically. But the day-to-day operations of caring for the President of the United States will remain remarkably the same.

1

乔治•W•布什总统准备离开阿克拉机场上的“卡迪拉克一号，结束对加纳的国事访问。特勤人员泄露了伴随元首周游世界的特制豪华轿车的几个细节，仅仅是，传说这辆披甲轿车重达1万磅，还携带自备氧气以防毒气攻击。
President George W. Bush prepares to exit Cadillac One on the airport tarmac in Accra, concluding a state visit to Ghana. The Secret Service divulges few details about the custom-built limousine that travels the world with the Chief Executive, but the armored car is rumored to weigh some 10,000 pounds and carry its own oxygen supply to protect against poison gas attacks.

2
 
美国总统是世界上最公众的形象之一，同时，政府的能力和传统给他的生活蒙上了神秘面纱，受到几个形影不离、滴水不漏的特勤高手的严格控制、高度保护着他的行程（上为在贝宁）。
The President of the United States is one of the world's most public figures, yet the power and tradition of the office veil his life in a tightly controlled, highly protected enclave (above, in Benin) that few outsiders ever see.

3
 
一个特勤司机驾驶轿车通过阿克拉的市郊。这辆总统的座骑的车头前常常飘扬着两面。在美国老家，旗子用总统的标志旗配成一对。在国外旅行期间，裔象上面访问加纳这个国家一样，总统的标志旗换成了到访国的国旗。
A Secret Service driver steers the President through the outskirts of Accra. The President's car always flies two standards on its hood. At home the United States flag is paired with the presidential seal. During trips abroad, as on this state visit to Ghana, the presidential standard is replaced by the flag of the host nation.

4
 
退役的特勤人员约瑟夫•拉撒沙说，在国外保护总统需要提前数月作出详细的计划，和随机应变的能力。在加纳的一个靠近总统停留的地方，一位保镖队成员扫视着威协。
Protecting the President abroad requires months of detailed planning and the ability to improvise instantly, says retired Secret Service agent Joseph LaSorsa. Near a presidential stop in Ghana, a counterassault-team member scans for threats.

5
 
在阿克拉的科托卡国际机场的贵宾室里，加纳领导人等候着总统和第一夫人的到来。已经跟随元首到访过很多地方的摄影师克利斯托弗•玛丽丝说，总统到达时间推迟了片刻，“每一个人都按他的时间表旋转，这意味着大量的等候，即使你是一个大摄影师也同样。”
Ghanaian leaders await the arrival of the President and First Lady in a private room at Accra's Kotoka International Airport. The President's time is scheduled down to the minute, says photographer Christopher Morris, who has traveled extensively with the Chief Executive. "Everyone revolves around his schedule, which means a lot of waiting, even if you're a big shot too."

6

在加纳科托卡国际机场，特勤人员擦洗着总统的豪华轿车，以便把它装到空军运输机上运回华盛顿。
Secret Service agents wash the presidential limousine at Kotoka International Airport in Ghana before loading it onto an Air Force cargo plane for the trip back to Washington, D.C.

7

特勤人员在测量匈牙利机场的地面。“一些政府为你提供全方位的支持，” 拉撒沙说：“在另一些地方，如果发生某些事，你会象一个荒岛上的人一样。”
Secret Service agents survey the grounds of a Hungarian airport. "Some governments give you a world of support," LaSorsa says. "In other places, if something bad happens, you are like a man on a deserted island."

8

即使那些在空军一号上的人员也很少有人看过总统的座仓（右）。仅仅只有特勤人员和几个精心挑选的乘务员可以例行公事地经过那些仓门。
Even those who fly on Air Force One rarely see the President's quarters (at right). Only Secret Service and select stewards routinely pass those doors.

9

在安德鲁斯空军基地，元首从海军一号登陆，前面就是空军一号的舷梯。德怀特•艾森豪威尔是乘坐直升机的首位总统，它让总统离开白宫而摆脱交通堵塞的长车阵。
The Commander in Chief disembarks from Marine One at Andrews Air Force Base, on his way to board Air Force One. Dwight Eisenhower was the first President to ride in helicopters, which allow Presidents to leave the White House without traffic-snarling motorcades.

10

一块仪式上的红地毯正好展开在这个地方，同时一位军人仪仗队员站在白宫的南门廊，可以预见日本首相福田康夫就要离开。首相是2007年总统邀请的39位外国领导人之一。
A ceremonial red carpet is rolled precisely into place, and a military honor guard stands at the South Portico of the White House, anticipating the departure of then prime minister of Japan, Yasuo Fukuda. The prime minister was among 39 foreign leaders received by the President in 2007.

11

每一位来访者的到达或离开都是预定好的，并作了安排，还有观察者。从总统的直升机或海军一号的窗户看去，聚集了一群人观看总统从南草坪离开。
Every arrival and departure is scheduled, ordered, observed. Seen from the window of the presidential helicopter, Marine One, a crowd gathers to watch the President lift off from the South Lawn.

12

Keeping the boss on schedule, the President's "body man" squints through a peephole into the Oval Office, preparing to break up a meeting. Jared Weinstein's title is Special Assistant to the President. Valet, confidant, mind reader, the 29-year-old rises at 4 a.m. and lives at the Chief Executive's elbow, ready with a pen, an iPod, or the name of the President's next visitor.

13

In the sit room the President prepares for a videoconference with Iraq's prime minister. Only staffers with the highest clearances are allowed in the White House Situation Room, a high-tech command post where experts brief the President on national security issues from looming hurricanes to terror threats.

14

A West Wing side table holds a note (unclassified), written by the President, and an official White House pen. Putting ink to paper has been part of the Chief Executive's job ever since George Washington wielded a goose quill. Harry Truman remarked that he signed his name 600 times a day. President Bush, following in the tradition of his father, is an inveterate thank-you-note writer, known to scribble dozens of missives in a day.

15

A White House steward delivers a tray of refreshments to a meeting in the Oval Office. The mansion's annual $12.8-million budget pays for its 90-plus staff members, from curators, florists, and calligraphers to pastry chefs, carpenters, and plumbers. An assortment of other White House jobs are filled by workers assigned from various government agencies, such as the stewards, who are Navy mess management specialists, and the gardeners, who are employed by the National Park Service. The President, however, pays for food he and his family and personal guests are served privately.

16

Ghosts of Presidents past are everywhere in the White House. The principal reception salon, where Pope Benedict shared an 81st-birthday cake with the President and First Lady, has been adorned in blue since Martin Van Buren dictated the color scheme in 1837.

17

Generally, the greensward behind the White House is off-limits for staff and press. "It is the first family's backyard," says former chief usher Gary Walters, a refuge that offers the President and his wife room to bid farewell to Pope Benedict XVI.

18

Tourists visit the White House Red Room, a first-floor parlor that once served as an antechamber to the Cabinet Room. After visiting hours, the velvet ropes come down, and the area is used as a sitting room and occasionally as the setting for small dinner parties. "Though the house is well finished, it's wrong to say the President lives opulently," says retired chief usher Gary Walters. "There is very little privacy in the White House."

19

Escape from the glare of the global spotlight, a grand view of the capital city, and space to relax have made the White House solarium a favorite of every first family since the room was created from an attic during renovations undertaken by Grace Coolidge. "It's less formal, really the only room in the house not filled with antiques," Gary Walters says.

20

Avid bowler Richard Nixon had a single-lane alley installed in the basement in 1969. As with many such White House renovations, private contributors were called upon to foot the bills.

21

The Commander in Chief's golf bag stands at Camp David's lone practice hole just in case the President wants to hit a few balls. Dwight Eisenhower named the rustic retreat in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains after his grandson. The Defense Department calls it Naval Support Facility Thurmont: Groundskeepers, carpenters, electricians, even the President's Camp David cooks are all sailors. A handpicked unit of Marines secures the 130-acre compound.

22

As conceived by William Howard Taft, the Oval Office symbolizes a President's role at the center of his administration, personally involved in the people's business. It is an emblem of American democracy, underlined by the orderly succession of its occupants. "Whether you are Republican or Democrat, your fate is tied up with what is done in this room," Truman said in his farewell address. "The President is President of the whole country."

23

Romping ground for first family pets, the South Lawn lies under a scrim of snow and scattered dog toys. Soon two terriers will follow their master home to Texas, and a new President will move into the White House.