Souza snapped that shot on August 9, 2010, but it didn’t make any prominent appearances in the mainstream press until mid-2012, when it appeared in The New York Times Magazine. “And we’ve often joked about it since - that it was the first time in history only black people were on that helicopter.” Related Stories 53 Historians Weigh In on Barack Obama’s Legacy “We joked that it was Soul Plane,” says Burton. Stare at it a second longer, though, and a subtle distinction comes into focus: Everyone onboard is black. In many ways, it’s a banal shot - just another photo for the White House Instagram feed, showing the president and his aides busily attending to matters of state. Obama’s former deputy press secretary, Bill Burton, is looking on too, with just the mildest hint of a grin on his face. Barack Obama, twisted around in his seat, is listening to a conversation between his then–body guy, Reggie Love, and Patrick Gaspard, one of his then–top advisers. Valerie Jarrett, dressed in a suit of blazing pink, is staring at her cell phone. The setting is Marine One, and it features a modest cast of five. There is a photo by Pete Souza, the White House’s canny and peripatetic photographer, that surfaces from time to time online.
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