Five days after his appointment, Eban appeared before the UN Security Council, responding . Her body had wasted away and her breathing was labored. (2021, April 12). Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service. Then suddenly a shot of my face flashed up on the TV screen and ABC News announced that I would be the 44th president of the United States. Gibbs isn't looking to be Mr. Gibbs was born in Auburn, Ala., where his parents worked for Auburn University. It was unseasonably warm for Chicago at that time of year, almost in the mid-60s, and as we drove down Lake Shore Drive, Michelle and I were quiet, staring out the window at Lake Michigan, listening to the girls horsing around in the back seat. Ethan Gibbs, 9, hugs his mom Christi Gibbs during an interview about his journey through cancer on Thursday, March 29 in Statesville. One of Carney's toughest jobs was defending the Obama administration in the face of intense criticism over how it handled the 2012 terrorist attack on an American consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that resulted in the death of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others. Facebook gives people the power to. 43 Ethan Gibbs Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images FILTERS CREATIVE EDITORIAL VIDEO 43 Ethan Gibbs Premium High Res Photos Browse 43 ethan gibbs photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more photos and images. TIME takes a look at the associates Obama has chosen to join his cabinet and his roster of senior advisors, President-elect Barack Obama's press secretary Robert Gibbs, In choosing former campaign communications director Robert Gibbs as his new White House Press Secretary, Barack Obama tapped an ultra-loyalist who has spent the past few years wedded to the candidate's side. After consulting with Gibbs [communications director Robert Gibbs] and my Secret Service detail, it was agreed that the press pool downstairs would not be informed, and I took the elevator to the basement level and went out through the garage, turning left down the narrow street that ran behind my grandparents apartment building. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. See? Here are some places that cater to singles in Seoul, Royal castles to luxury getaways: How to spend King Charles III's coronation weekend, New reports say business travel isnt going back to normal ever. Gibbs worked for several Southern Democrats and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee before heading to Chicago to work in Obama's U.S. Senate campaign in 2004. "[20], He was widely blamed by news media executives for "holding hostage" reporters, while Obama and Hillary Clinton met for the first time after a heavily contested Democratic primary season. Outgoing White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs during his daily news briefing at the White House in Washington, Feb. 11, 2011. Who's running for president in 2024? One of the most notable moments in Gibbs' tenure as Obama's press secretary came before the 2010 midterm elections when he lashed out at liberals who were dissatisfied with Obama's first year and a half as president. There were science experiments in the sink. "You could not ask for somebody better in the foxhole with you during all the twists and turns of my candidacy, and then the incredible challenges that we faced over the last two years. | Sterling Gibbs. Over the course of his two years as press secretary, Gibbs has coined some unique phrases that made it to my Twitter quote-of-the day. Trending. This article originally appeared in the December 2014 issue of Popular Science. WASHINGTON (AP) Robert Gibbs, the feisty press secretary whose job as President Barack Obama's chief spokesman and confidant has given him an outsized presence at the White House, announced All Rights Reserved. On vacation, playing basketball with White House staffers, August 2009. Today, the average person shakes hands 15,000 timesin their lifetime. "I don't have a special relationship with the term special relationship. [5], Early in the 2004 presidential campaign, Gibbs was the press secretary of Democratic candidate John Kerry. You OK? I asked. Our forum rules are detailed in the Community Guidelines. My first experience with the small, but rapidly growing movement to eliminate handshaking was in a chiropractic office in Singapore two weeks ago. If youre the candidate, Election Day brings a surprising stillness. Its only relatively recently that women have started shaking hands, meaning theres the awkward decision of whether to go for a shake or a kiss on the cheek when men and women meet for the first time. He formally left the position on February 11, 2011. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site. Pretty much all you can do is wait. " Linda Douglass, campaign spokeswoman, on the close connection between Gibbs and Obama (Washington Post, Nov. 12, 2008), "Robert is the guy I want in the foxhole with me during incoming fireIf I'm wrong, he challenges me. Read more about Robert Gibbs. Aside from the increased potential for the spread of disease with a lingering handshake, it can become very awkward when somebody refuses to drop your hand and/or gaze. Obama's First Year: By the Numbers. 2011 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. Read the rules you agree to by using this website in our Terms Afterwards, Gibbs frequently told reporters and political associates that he and others around Obama kept expecting the popularity to ebb, but it never did. Gibbs, 49, was . designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated If we are going to drop the disease-ridden medieval handshake, it has to be replaced with something. Minnesota [13] Gibbs was replaced by Stephanie Cutter, a former spokeswoman for Ted Kennedy. [3], The appointment of Gibbs by Obama to the post of Communications Chief was met with mild controversy by some critics in the Democratic National Committee, who cited Gibbs' role in the aggressive campaign tactics used to block the nomination of Howard Dean in the 2004 race. Further speculating on what his first day off the job will be like, Gibbs expects he'll watch Sports Center on ESPN and take a bike ride. [31], Gibbs is married to Mary Catherine Gibbs, an attorney, and lives in Alexandria, Virginia with their son, Ethan. Often, Gibbs faced questions he didn't want to answer and would put off reporters by saying he'll get back us, but never did. Barack Obama's Press Secretaries. Before heading to the venue, Axe [chief campaign strategist David Axelrod] asked me gently if I needed help writing a topper to my usual campaign remarks, to briefly acknowledge my grandmothers death. in Political Science in 1993. Born in Auburn, Alabama to two university librarians. White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Planning, Dep. People discussed the subject at parties and at work, signaling their stances with palms planted firmly in their pockets or behind their backs. / CBS News. He then worked for several southern congressmen, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and, briefly, John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign. Sun 17 Nov 2002 20.22 EST. Throughout the world, millions of patients consume probiotic supplements and fermented foods for their perceived health benefits. Gibbs was Obama's press secretary from Jan. 20, 2009, through Feb. 11, 2011. And the satisfaction that they get is seeing that their children and maybe their grandchildren or their great-grandchildren live a better life than they did. Before doing so, Gibbs served as the communications director for Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. He also worked for the Miami Herald during his print journalism career. of The four of us with Maya, still a toddler, smiling in front of a Christmas tree. Using a fistbump reduced the transmission of E.coli by up to 90 per cent. Ethan Gibbs is known for Love of a Lifetime (2017), The Impersonators (2014) and Lightning in a Bottle (2012). The Hungarian physician, Ignaz Semmelweis is credited with discovering the links between hands and handwashing and infection rates, after he observed maternal mortality rates were lower for women treated by midwives rather than physicians, the latter of whom often tended to patients after performing autopsies. National Security Advisor, Iraq and Afghanistan. CHANTILLY, VA- OCTOBER 22: Democratic presidential nominee U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) fists bumps with Ethan Gibbs the son of Robert Gibbs the campaign communication director as he arrives at Dulles International Airport October 22, 2008 in Chantilly, Virginia. "Nothing special," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs when asked what President Obama is doing today to mark the end of his 1st year in office and the . "On Monday, the former press secretary will travel with Ethan Gibbs to school," said Gibbs, looking forward to driving his 7-year old son to school. Talking to the media in June 2008, on the campaign trail in Virginia. Still, handwashing in general wasn't widely practiced until the 1980s. He was Obama's second press secretary and continued in that role following Obama's 2012 election victory giving him a second term. My interests include, music, Netflix, and making lists of my interests on social media. Recent research suggests that the ingestion of bacteria commonly associated with probiotics negatively correlates . Nicole Sykes. According to The New York Times, Gibbs advised Obama on politics, strategy and messaging, and spent more time with Obama than any other advisor. Related Articles Homer references handshakes in both "The Odyssey" and "The Iliad," usually as a display of trust. Join PopSci+ to read sciences greatest stories. Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. (modern). Like a firework or a candle in the wind, the fistbump burns brightly but is gone in an instant. "I didn't have a lot of money, so all I could afford was Gibbs," kidded the president. Some including Boris Johnson prefer to employ diligent handwashing instead. " On his sometimes contentious relationship with the press (The Wall Street Journal, Aug. 28, 2008), "Are you anti-Semitic? Carney announced his resignation as Obama's press secretary in late May 2014. Later, I played basketball (a superstition Reggie [personal aide Reggie Love] and I had developed after we played the morning of the Iowa caucus but failed to play the day of the New Hampshire primary) with Michelles brother Craig, some old buddies and a handful of my friends sons who were fast and strong enough to keep us all working hard. Got a confidential news tip? Yet, many of those cultures shake hands too. Few have sweaty knuckles. There are no more rallies or town halls. Moran has worked for the AFL-CIO, where she coordinated worker oversight of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which has been criticized for stifling union activity and abusing wage and hour rules. I wanted to think that she did look back; that shed reveled in the memory of a long-ago lover or a perfect, sunlit day in her youth when shed experienced a bit of good fortune and the world had revealed itself to be big and full of promise. My grandparents and my eight-year-old mother, laughing in a grassy field at Yosemite. Part of HuffPost Politics. "McDonald's hires former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs", "N.C. State grad tapped as Obama's press secretary", "Carolinas ties key in national campaigns", "White House Communications and Press Secretary positions announced", "Obama names longtime spokesman Gibbs press chief", "Obama spokesman, likely press secretary from Ala", "Auburn High School Band Members 198687", "NC's Robert Gibbs may be Obama press secretary", "New Democratic Group Finances a Republican-like Attack on Dean", "Liberals still steamed at Robert Gibbs Kendra Marr and Abby Phillip", "Teen Killed In U.S. Drone Strike Should Have 'More Responsible Father,' Obama Campaign Official Says", "How Team Obama Justifies the Killing of a 16-Year-Old American", "Yelp Appoints Robert Gibbs to Board of Directors", "Ex-Obama spokesmen Gibbs, LaBolt launch new practice", "Second executive exits McDonald's after its CEO is fired following a relationship with an employee", "House bill would ban companies that get coronavirus aid from lobbying", "Bully Pulpit Interactive acquires The Incite Agency", Administrator of the Small Business Administration, Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Robert_Gibbs&oldid=1152192175, Articles with dead external links from October 2010, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Dep. Boing Boing uses cookies and analytics trackers, and is supported by advertising, merchandise Hyams was born in Pune, India, to Jewish Indian parents. When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. White House reporters are a demanding lot. Obama continues to campaign with election day less than two weeks away. I tried to imagine what she must be thinking, having grown up just a few miles away during a time when there were still many Chicago neighborhoods that Blacks could not even safely enter; a time when office work was out of reach for most Blacks, and her father, unable to get a union card from white-controlled trade unions, had been forced to make do as an itinerant tradesman; a time when the thought of a Black US president would have seemed as far-fetched as a pig taking flight. She was now confined to a rented hospital bed in the living room of her apartment, under the care of a hospice nurse and on palliative drugs. A Southerner and tough fighter, Gibbs has been a passionate defender of Obama who can virtually channel the Illinois senator's thoughts. Gibbs previously worked in similar capacities for U.S. Sen. Fritz Hollings, a Democrat who represented South Carolina from 1966 to 2005, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow's successful 2000 campaign, and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Gibbs was constantly with Obama over the next two years as he began laying the groundwork for a presidential bid. More than 200,000 people had gathered in Grant Park that night, the stage facing Chicagos glittering skyline. Former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs and his wife, Mary Catherine, on Thursday placed their five-bedroom home in Southeast Ravenswood on the market for $1.65 million. Other arguments in favor of handshakes include custom, global acceptance and the importance of human touch and physical connection. Gibbs described those liberals as the "professional left" who "wouldnt be satisfied if Dennis Kucinich was president." And what's the etiquette for turning down a handshake anyway? The Israeli statesman Abba Eban, who has died aged 87, used words, with fluency and accuracy, as his most potent weapons. Over the coming months, he'll continue to offer private advice to Pres. Around 8pm, Axe called to say that the networks had called Pennsylvania in our favor, and Marvin [trip director Marvin Nicholson] said we should start heading to the downtown hotel where wed be watching the returns before moving over to the public gathering at Grant Park. Whitworth also found that a high five transfers half as many bacteria as the handshake (though its perhaps best appreciated by pediatric patients). Best of 2022 Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Top 250 TV Shows Most Popular TV Shows Most Popular Video Games Most Popular Music Videos Most Popular Podcasts. And in this crowd, there are a lot of quiet heroes like that mothers and fathers, grandparents, who have worked hard and sacrificed all their lives. In New Zealand, the native Maoris tap noses and foreheads together. This is historical material frozen in time. The switch will allow Mr Gibbs, 39, to spend more time with his wife, Mary, and their seven-year-old son, Ethan. After leaving the Kerry campaign, Gibbs became spokesman for a 527 political group formed to stop the presidential campaign of Howard Dean. " Shar Hendrick, Gibbs' roommate during Alabama Rep. Glenn Browder's 1996 Senate campaign (Opelika-Auburn News, Nov. 7, 2008), "He's the last person Barack talks to when he's thinking about how to handle reporters' questionsHe completely understands his thinking and knows how Barack wants to come across. Browder recently told AP that he quickly realized Gibbs was not just another college student looking to spend a few months in Washington. I laughed, realizing my daughter was right; save for our motorcade, the six lanes in both directions were completely empty. in response to the TV commentator's questions about Obama's relationship to William Ayers, a 1960s radical. President Barack Obama does a fist bump with Ethan Gibbs, the son of Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, Leicester City vs Everton live: Score and updates from the Premier League, Protesters hand blown off by grenade during Frances largest May Day protests in 30 years, Arsenal's Champions League final dreams end after extra-time heartbreak, King Charless Coronation guest list: a whos who of everyone expected to attend. [Uppdated.]. Scientists have suggested we adopt fistbumps rather than handshakes as a way of greeting each other in a bid to stop the spread of diseases such as the flu. The Obama press secretaries were Robert Gibbs, Jay Carney, and Josh Earnest. Well take the fistbump. The handshake as a daily greeting is much more recent. President Barack Obama does a fist bump with Ethan Gibbs, the son of then Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, outside the White House on April 19, 2009. A study in 2014 found that fist bumps transmitted 90% fewer bacteria than a handshake. Gibbs was Obama's press secretary from Jan. 20, 2009, through Feb. 11, 2011. "Barack Obama's Press Secretaries." Part of HuffPost Politics. When handshakes did take place, the greeting was strangely limp and lifeless two people engaging in an act that neither really welcomed. Transgender cyclist Austin Killips wins women's Tour of the Gila next stop Olympics. View the profiles of professionals named "Ethan Gibbs" on LinkedIn. "This was the longest primary campaign in the history of the Democratic party," Moran told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in August. But each and every day they work hard. . Health CHANTILLY, VA- OCTOBER 22: Democratic presidential nominee U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) fists bumps with Ethan Gibbs the son of Robert Gibbs the campaign communication director as. He began covering the White House in 1993, during President Bill Clinton's administration. It is not unusual for a president to have more than one press secretary. Very few staffers are as close to Obama, so much so that campaign spokeswoman Linda Douglass has referred to Gibbs as "the Barack Whisperer." There are 20+ professionals named "Ethan Gibbs", who use LinkedIn to exchange information, ideas, and opportunities. In fact, when a reporter at his final briefing asked him to assess the president's relationship with the press, Gibbs didn't want to give it away for free. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis. [3] Front Page | Pictures. Gibbs, like his predecessors, conducted himself on the job in the knowledge that he worked for Pres. [21] He assumed the role of press secretary on 20 January 2009, and gave his first official briefing on January 22, 2009. With his mother-in-law, Marian Robinson, on election night. Even at his last briefing he faced complaints that he routinely failed to get back to reporters with answers to questions that stumped him at the lectern. I'd started feeling wary about the gesture since coronavirus cases had begun to slowly tick up in Singapore in mid-February. All rights reserved. HuffPost's top politics stories, straight to your inbox. Whitworth said he would expect the results that his team obtained using bacteria to be the same with viruses. "I didn't have a lot of money, so all I could afford was Gibbs," kidded the president. And like each of his predecessors over the last 30 years that I've covered the White House, it's had its ups and downs. In this excerpt from A Promised Land, the former president remembers the anxious run-up to the 2008 election. In June 2012, Gibbs was appointed to the board of directors of Yelp. As the head of EMILY's, which backs Democratic female candidates who support abortion rights, Moran has said Obama would have to work hard to win over women supporters who felt let down after Clinton's historic presidential bid fell short. "Barack Obama's Press Secretaries." [5], While a student at North Carolina State in 1991, Gibbs became an intern for Alabama's 3rd congressional district Congressman Glen Browder. The READ THE REST, Take a photo of the moon with a Samsung smartphone and it'll be remarkably crisp and detailed. My sister Maya called, saying the doctors didnt think Toot [Obamas grandmother] would last much longer, perhaps no more than a week. Me at the age of four or five, riding on Grampss shoulders as waves splashed around us. In 2004, he headed to Chicago to work in Obama's Senate campaign. Barack Obama Campaign Weeks Away From Election Day. The germ-spreading handshake. He was the youngest representative there. Moran will head the team in charge of getting Obama's message out. Josh Earnest was named Obama's third press secretary after Carney announced his resignation in May 2014. ThoughtCo. Maya was waiting for me when I arrived at Toots apartment; I saw that she had been sitting on the couch with a couple of shoeboxes of old photographs and letters. Around 7.30, Michelle and I cast our votes at the Beulah Shoesmith elementary school, a few blocks from our home in Hyde Park, bringing Malia and Sasha with us and sending them on to school after that. I knew what I wanted to say. On February 12, 2013, it was announced that Gibbs had been hired as a contributor for cable news channel MSNBC. But perhaps it's time to reconsider the tradition one we know leads to illness and disease transmission. [7] His parents, Nancy Jean (ne Lane) and Robert Coleman Gibbs, worked in the Auburn University library system and involved their son in politics at an early age. "Are you shaking hands? Planning a solo trip to South Korea? Join Facebook to connect with Ethan Gibbs and others you may know. A Division of NBCUniversal. Shaking hands may be here to stay, but having an acceptable alternative for those who want it isn't a bad idea. All you need to know about Ethan Gibbs, complete with news, pictures, articles, and videos. [14] For his involvement in this group, Gibbs was criticized during the Obama presidential campaign by some left leaning bloggers.