Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

President Obama? I didn’t think it possible, says James Naughtie

Barack Obama
Barack Obama

Throughout his career as a political correspondent – including a spell at The Washington Post in the 1980s – James Naughtie reckons he has travelled to the USA more than 200 times.

It has given him a unique insight into the country and its people, and the chance to interview some of the country’s most important political figures.

That included a young political candidate stuffing envelopes through doors in Chicago.

“In 2004 I remember interviewing Barack Obama who was at the time fighting for a Senate seat but completely unknown nationally,” said James.

“He was stuffing envelopes through doors with Michelle. He told me, ‘I’m just a skinny guy with a funny name’.

“I asked if the BBC could have an interview and he was very gracious – but on one condition. Could we do the interview outside?

“I didn’t realise at the time but it’s because he couldn’t go for a few minutes without a cigarette.”

After his interview, James spoke with civil rights leader Jesse Jackson – who said Obama would one day be president.

“I said that yes, Obama is very eloquent and very clever but, come on, he’s not even in the US Senate. Anyway, four years from that day, which was late October of 2004, Obama was on the verge of becoming president.”

Although he recognises the parlous state of the US, Naughtie still holds it in great affection.

“It is a labour of love because I have a very warm relationship with the country,” he said. “I have had some of my happiest days there. It’s got more verve and sparkle and vim and vigour than pretty much anywhere else.

“I’m not sour about it. I hope I see it with clear eyes. I’m very in tune, I think, with the country. I think I get what makes it tick. What’s interesting at the moment is it’s not a regular beat.”