There’s a new White House Tumblr, and it’s chock full of letters to Obama

Thanks Obama . . . for this sweet new addition to the Tumblr-verse.

President Barack Obama may be in the last year of his presidency, but that didn’t stop The White House from creating a beautiful and heartfelt Tumblr account called “Letters to President Obama” that pretty much lets us read his mail. It’s also a thrilling reminder of how just one simple letter can change so much. 

The site launched this week and they describe it saying, “we’ll highlight letters that Americans have written to the President” offering a look into the way the President’s life and ideology have changed after reading each one. The site will feature, “some of the letters he reads every night, and some of the ways letters from across the country [that] influence our work here at the White House.”

The account’s first post is from Natoma Canfield, a 50-year-old cancer survivor who faced financial struggles with her private insurance company during her battle with the disease. She wrote in her 2009 letter, “I need your Health reform bill to help me!!!! I simply no longer can afford to pay for my health care costs!!!”

The President was so moved by Natoma’s letter, that he reportedly carried the letter with him every single day. He said of her letter, “I carried Natoma’s story with me every day of the fight to pass this law. It reminded me of all the Americans, all across the country, who have had to worry not only about getting sick, but about the cost of getting well.”  

The letter hangs just outside the Oval Office as well, and is now making history again by becoming the inaugural post of the first ever Tumblr site initiated by an in-office president and staff. It is a beautiful start to such an intimate look into the correspondence of a sitting president. It’s also pretty amazing to see how ordinary Americans, with one letter, can inform the policy of an entire country.

As meaningful as the letter was to President Obama, The White House is hoping to spread some of that inspiration around. As we’re in the thick of the presidential campaign, and things are getting ugly on both sides of the aisle, these letters can be reminders reminder that politicians are humans too and the letters we write can make a huge difference.

You can follow The White House Tumblr here, or go straight to the Letters to President Obama here.

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[Images via Twitter, Tumblr, Shutterstock]