Right Face

To the left: a little reminder that Barack Obama didn't invent the photo op with troops. He does, however, appear to be determined to perfect the art.

And tonight from West Point you should see an example of the state of the art. If all goes well it will look easy - but behind the scenes it's anything but. Making it look easy is the business of the pros, and requires tight coordination between the White House, news reporters, technicians, and a cast of thousands. For those interested in a possible career in that service, or even those interested in a bit of how it's done, here's a look at just that, and a few lessons learned along the way.

President Obama to the troops: "You guys make a pretty good photo op!"

An obvious truth, and a great laugh line - and the troops chuckled on cue. That visit to Osan Air Base in Korea came at the end of President Obama's Asian tour, so certainly the president was due for a bit of lighthearted cheer.

Perhaps even overdue. Previous photo ops with troops had certainly been far from lighthearted affairs. The Asian trip was sandwiched between two - the first at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska, where the mood remained somber: "Two days ago, we gathered at Fort Hood and we honored 13 Americans taken from us," the president told the troops assembled there. "Soldiers and caregivers; mothers and fathers; husbands and wives; sons and daughters, brothers and sisters."

But it was a speech about strength and recovery, and the president praised the troops for "the spirit that I see in all of you" - including their sense of service, their sense of responsibility, and "your sense of unity -- coming from every corner of the country, from every color and every creed and every faith and every station -- to take care of each other, and to serve together, and to succeed together, as Americans."

It seems easy - but the president is a pro, and no one rises to even the lowest elected office without the ability to hit the right notes in a public speech. But there's a tremendous amount of stagecraft involved in such an event, and a fine but hard-to-define line between the right way and the wrong way to put on such a show. While much of that is intangible and intuitive there are aspects of the job that can be learned. Those who aspire to careers as White House public affairs team members or New York Time reporters would do well to note a great "do and don't" example of the difficult balance found in the New York Times.

The occasion was coverage of the president's recent trip to Dover for his photo op with the flag-draped caskets of servicemembers killed in Afghanistan. The "don't" version could be found in a quote from the Times' original story:

The images and the sentiment of the president's five-hour trip to Delaware were intended by the White House to convey to the nation that Mr. Obama was not making his Afghanistan decision lightly or in haste.

Of course they were - but you don't ever actually put that in writing, even if it's a direct quote from the White House press release or your friend on the PR team. Fortunately someone at the White House or the Times was able to accomplish a face-saving rapid rewrite, and the original quote was changed to a fantastic "do" version: "The image of the commander in chief standing on a darkened tarmac, offering a salute to one of the soldiers, highlighted the poignancy of a decision he is facing."

And the Times more than made up for that fumble with last weekend's coverage of Joe Biden's trip to Iraq last Fourth of July. "Emanuel also had the bright idea of sending Biden to Iraq for a July 4 photo op with the troops," we learn. And according to the Times, Biden handled Rahm's task like a pro.

Biden shook every hand, and threw his arm around every shoulder -- hundreds and hundreds of them. "How are you, man?" he cried, with fresh joy, to each table of soldiers. "Did you get a picture of me?" A soldier said politely, "Look this way, sir," and Biden, who has the blinding white teeth of a starlet, whirled around with a huge smile.

In years past Multi-National Corps-Iraq has celebrated the July Fourth holiday in Baghdad by putting on the largest re-enlistment ceremonies in history, the 2008 version beat the record set a year before. You couldn't pay the New York Times to cover a story like that, but those events made for great sound bites: "I'll always remember the message you've sent to the adversary," MNF-I Command Sergeant Major Marvin Hill told the 1200 newly re-enlisted troops, "the same guys and girls who've been kicking your butt for the past five years signed up for some more." But for whatever reason there would be no re-up ceremony for Biden's visit. Instead a ceremony more in tune with the Obama administration's emphasis on the military as diverse, multi-cultural institution was staged.

"It was quite a sight," the New York Times Magazine reported in this week's cover story on the July Fourth event, "crisp ranks of African and Asian and Latino men and women lined up beneath a giant American flag hanging from the ceiling."

The optics were everything the White House could have hoped for. Biden traveled to Al Faw Palace, a gigantesque Saddam Hussein-era structure once used for Baath Party functions, in order to administer the oath of American citizenship to 237 soldiers who had joined the military as immigrants.

And certainly to Rahm's relief, the closest Biden came to a gaffe was a subtle confession that he felt people might ridicule his national pride: "As corny as it sounds," he told the assembled troops, "damn, I'm proud to be an American."

Rahm's a pro, too - but he had to have been a little nervous when Biden (perhaps feeling the need to portray himself to the room full of multi-hued warriors as more than just a clean, articulate white man with the blinding white teeth of a starlet) went off script, sharing one of his favorite war stories highlighting his long experience with the troops. In this there I was tale, taking place years before during a visit to war-torn Kosovo, Biden describes how he was able to lecture his driver about the greatness of America, and his nation's failures:

"I was reminded of when I was deeply involved early on in the Balkans. It was in Kosovo...

"I had a Kosovar driver. He was very proud to drive a United States Senator around.

"As we headed out to Bondsteel, it was a rainy day. There was a slight hill to get up to Ft Bondsteel, and it was rutted and muddy and hadn't been paved yet. One of the things that I saw was all the construction going on... cranes and bulldozers... and this Kosovar driver very proudly looked out the window and he said, 'America! America!' - pointing to all the activity on the top of the hill.

"Just then we came to the guard post, and standing there - I looked to my right - was a female colonel, a black captain, a white sergeant, and an Hispanic - literally - an Hispanic private. And I pointed and said, 'No - there's America. That's America. And until you understand it here you will never be free.'"

And while they might have been on edge, obviously no one panicked or "accidentally" unplugged the mic, and as it turned out the story wasn't even close to some of Biden's more regrettable moments on stage. When a guy like Biden speaks, you keep professionals standing by.

When it comes to putting on a great PR photo opportunity, you might think the nation's military academies would have perfected the art, that President Obama has nothing to worry about in that regard as he prepares to address the nation from West Point. But even those who's job is to teach still have things to learn.

And we can all learn something from this recent example from Annapolis. It's another great do and don't lesson - and a fantastic reminder that Rahm Emanuel, the president, or the vice president shouldn't have to personally be involved in the photo op in order for those in charge to do the right thing.

Just a few weeks ago, alert Naval Academy leadership noticed that the volunteer members of an Academy color guard lacked color. For routine occasions with no real media coverage that's not necessarily a big deal, but the event this particular squad had volunteered and prepared for was a World Series game. Fortunately, before it was too late,

Senior staff members reviewed the names of those who wanted to go, all white males, and decided that the group should better reflect the academy's diversity.

...so two of the white guys were tossed off the team, and some non-vols were selected to go in their place.

"Two white, male members of the color guard learned Oct. 28 they were being replaced with a white woman, Midshipman 2nd Class Hannah Allaire, and a non-white man, Midshipman 2nd Class Zishan Hameed, on orders of the school's administration, according to an internal e-mail message provided to Navy Times by an academy professor."

As it turned out, the color guard still ended up all white because the male replacement forgot parts of his uniform.

Most embarrassing (imagine if Joe Biden's Kosovar driver was watching) - especially when you consider that

Academy leaders, on their official Web site, call diversity "our highest personnel priority."

A minor flub, perhaps - it's not like baseball is a national pastime in America any more. But perhaps that lack of attention to detail (or expectation of personal responsibility) is another reason President Obama chose West Point rather than Annapolis as the backdrop for his speech on Afghanistan.

We hope you've learned a bit from our presentation. But enough lessons for now - showtime is nearly upon us. As you view the president's speech tonight (and we'll have it available here - you're welcome to join us, but we'll be more focused on what he says than the theatrics involved) remember that although it looks easy, it isn't. A million little things can go wrong, even when there's literally an Army involved in making it right.