President Obama struggles with being in the spotlight

Solitary Man: Obama on the campaign trail last August

By Holly Bailey|NEWSWEEK

...Obama is hardly the first president to complain about life in the White House bubble. "I never dreamed such loneliness and desolation of heart possible," wrote Woodrow Wilson. William Howard Taft called it "the loneliest place in the world." Harry Truman spoke of "the great white jail known as the White House," a phrase echoed by Bill Clinton, who called it "the crown jewel of the federal penal system."

Yet Obama seems to have had a tougher time adjusting than Clinton, or even George W. Bush, in part because he can still remember what it was like to be a normal person. Before becoming president, he spent just four years in the U.S. Senate; though he was hardly a stranger to the public, Obama still had a life. If he wanted to take a walk around Capitol Hill, he could—and often did. But Obama's temperament has also made the adjustment difficult. Though outgoing in public, Obama was an only child and spent a lot of time alone (he's described himself as being hermitlike during his days at Columbia University). That hasn't changed. "He likes solitude, where he can just take a moment and collect his thoughts and breathe," says a close Obama friend. "And in this job, there is none of that."

One escape for Obama has been Camp David. He didn't think he'd like the secluded presidential retreat in the Maryland mountains, but he quickly fell for the place when he first visited a few weeks after the inauguration. Away from the press and the public, he and his family can "let loose and be themselves," he told an aide, who related the story to NEWSWEEK. The Obamas have hosted friends from Chicago at Camp David, including the president's best friends, Eric Whitaker and Marty Nesbitt, who played basketball with Obama and his personal aide, Reggie Love. The Obamas have been exploring the retreat's winding trails. "There's lots of open space where he can go for a walk and clear his mind," says Valerie Jarrett, a senior White House aide and longtime friend of the Obamas.

It's tough to feel too sorry for Obama (and he's said he doesn't want you to). After all, he did push hard for the privilege of being trapped in the White House. And it's a pretty safe bet he'll be asking to stay on another four years when his first term is up. But he's made it clear to aides that he doesn't much enjoy the pomp and circumstance that comes with the job. Just after Election Day, Obama went to his transition office in Chicago for the first time. Staffers stood at their desks as he passed, showing respect to the new president. About halfway down the hallway, Obama stopped dead in his tracks. "You know what, guys, this is weirding me out," Obama said, according to an aide. "You don't have to do that every time I walk by." (Aides do refer to him as Mr. President, as tradition requires.) Three months in, Obama is still not used to hearing the "Stars and Stripes" play when he enters a room or concludes a speech—and doesn't particularly enjoy it....