--- title: President Obama Launches His Own Facebook Page description: By giving a tour of his backyard canonical: https://time.com/4105146/president-obama-facebook-page/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-09T18:33:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T23:04:35.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Obama Launches His Own Facebook Page og:description: By giving a tour of his backyard og:url: https://time.com/4105146/president-obama-facebook-page/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9d6d74d7fbafcdd3/69887030ab6d77307d6a70bc/gettyimages-450558668.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: President Obama Makes Statement To The Press On Iraq og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Obama Launches His Own Facebook Page twitter:description: By giving a tour of his backyard twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9d6d74d7fbafcdd3/69887030ab6d77307d6a70bc/gettyimages-450558668.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 02:10 video:published: 2015-11-09 section: climate topics: White House grounds, national parks, wildlife, climate change, international climate agreement, Paris meeting, environmental stewardship, future generations genre: interview, personal reflection tones: reflective, hopeful, earnest, conversational emotions: hope (medium), pride (low), affection (medium), urgency (low) sentiment: positive audience: American voters, environmentally minded viewers, global climate policy followers, families concerned about the future people: Barack Obama, Malia, Sasha transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # President Obama Launches His Own Facebook Page by Giving a Tour of His Backyard > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=95c48f6f-22fa-4d34-a237-a16c5d5a336c&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: TIME Raw: President Obama Gives a Tour of the White House Grounds [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Raw: President Obama Gives a Tour of the White House Grounds](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/pAaYp7S7.m3u8) (2:10)  _Published 2015-11-09. TIME Raw: President Obama Gives a Tour of the White House Grounds_ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary President Obama walks through the White House grounds, describing the wildlife he has seen there, including a fox and a hawk. He reflects on the importance of preserving national parks and the planet's natural beauty for future generations. He links this to the international climate agreement being negotiated ahead of meetings in Paris and urges Americans to engage with climate change. ## Key points - The speaker says the White House grounds have been his back yard for the last seven years and are also a national park. (00:00) - A fox has been seen on the grounds and has wandered around the Oval Office. (00:13) - A hawk that some children named Lincoln flies around the grounds. (00:17) - The speaker says American leadership has gotten 150 countries to agree that they need to come together on an international framework. (00:52) - The speaker says the countries that agreed represent about 90% of the world's economy and carbon emissions. (00:59) - A meeting in Paris in December is planned to try to hammer out the agreement. (01:09) - The speaker wants future Presidents and Americans to be able to enjoy national parks and the beauty of mountains and oceans. (01:16) - The speaker urges viewers to get engaged about why climate change is so important. (01:47) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:13] Life on the White House grounds. The speaker introduces the grounds as his back yard and a national park with wildlife. - [00:13 to 00:27] Wildlife sightings on the grounds. He describes a fox, a hawk named Lincoln by children, and squirrels that live on the grounds. - [00:27 to 00:52] Preserving parks for future generations. He reflects on protecting national parks and the planet's beauty for his daughters and future generations. - [00:52 to 01:16] International climate agreement progress. He cites support from 150 countries and the planned Paris meeting to finalize an agreement. - [01:16 to 01:47] Passing on natural beauty to future generations. He says he wants future Presidents and the whole world to enjoy the planet's natural gifts. - [01:47 to 02:10] Call for public engagement on climate. He asks Americans to get engaged on climate change so the country can pass on its blessings to future generations. ## Key quotes - [00:05] President Obama: "this has been my back yard for the last seven years" - [00:52] President Obama: "Because of American leadership, we've already been able to get A 150 countries." - [01:03] President Obama: "to agree that we need to come together to create that international framework" - [01:47] President Obama: "You've gotta get engaged about why climate change is so important." - [01:57] President Obama: "Then we can have confidence that we are doing right by future generations" ## Questions this video answers - What wildlife lives on or visits the White House grounds? [00:05] - How many countries have agreed to work on an international climate framework? [00:52] - What share of the world's economy and carbon emissions do the agreeing countries represent? [00:59] - When and where will the international climate agreement be negotiated? [01:09] - Why does the speaker want Americans to engage with climate change? [01:47] by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Updated: Dec 13, 2023 11:04 PM UTCPublished: Nov 9, 2015 6:33 PM UTC TIME Raw: President Obama Gives a Tour of the White House Grounds by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Updated: Dec 13, 2023 11:04 PM UTCPublished: Nov 9, 2015 6:33 PM UTC President Obama wants to make some new friends. On Monday, the President [launched his very own Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/potus/), saying that he wanted it to be “a place where we can have real conversations about the most important issues facing our country.” The White House has focused on a concerted digital communications strategy, with the President joining Twitter earlier this year and gaining 1 million followers in about five hours. By 1 p.m. Monday, 17,000 people had “liked” Obama’s Facebook page. In his first video post, Obama is seeing strolling across the White House lawn and discussing some of the wildlife around it, including a hawk and a fox. He then tells viewers he wants to reach an international agreement to combat climate change. “A lot of what I do is just think about how I want to make sure the beauty of this particular national park but also national parks all across the country will be there for Malia, Sasha, their kids and their grandkids for generations to come,” Obama says. A White House spokesman told TIME that the page will be turned over to the next president. “The President Obama account, like other institutional social media accounts, will be passed over to the next administration,” said Eric Schultz. _With Maya Rhodan in Washington_ ## Transcript [00:00] Hey everybody, so, [00:05] this has been my back yard for the last seven years. It [00:10] also happens to be a national park so there are a lot [00:13] of critters out here too. There's a fox somewhere on [00:15] the grounds because I've seen it, it's wondered around [00:17] the Oval Office. There's a hawk that some kids named [00:23] Lincoln who flies around here. Mostly though, other [00:27] than squirrels, I just look at the trees, enjoy the air. [00:32] And a lot of what I do is just think about How, [00:37] I wanna make sure that the beauty of this particular [00:40] national park, but also national parks all across [00:45] the country and our planet are gonna be there for [00:48] Malia, Sasha, their kids, their grand kids [00:52] for generations to come. Because of American [00:55] leadership, we've already been able to get A 150 [00:59] countries. They represent about 90 % of the world's [01:03] economy and carbon emissions to agree that we need [01:07] to come together to create that international [01:09] framework. And we're gonna be meeting in Paris in [01:13] December to try to hammer out that agreement. [01:16] Because, not only do I want future Presidents, to be [01:19] able to take walks like this. I want to make sure that, [01:23] the American people are able to enjoy the incredible [01:26] national parks, the incredible beauty, the mountains, [01:29] the oceans that have been one of the greatest [01:34] gifts that we've ever received. And I want to make sure [01:36] that. The whole world is able to pass on to future [01:40] generations the God- given beauty of this planet. So [01:44] we're gonna need you to help us on this. You've gotta [01:47] get engaged about why climate change is so important. [01:52] Because if all of America is joining around this [01:57] Critical project. Then we can have confidence that we [02:01] are doing right by future generations and passing on to [02:05] our kids all the blessings that we have received. 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