Baller-in-Chief

(From the London Daily Mail)

Lean on me, Mr President: White House releases intimate pictures of Obama’s big day

These insightful pictures provide a fly-on-the-wall glimpse of the hectic beginnings of Barack Obama’s presidency.

Taken in the hours before and immediately after his inauguration, they show how the Illinois senator prepared for the occasion when he was sworn in as America’s 44th and its first black President on January 20.

In the photographs, released by the White House, Obama, 47, appears at times as though he could be any other dad preparing for a job interview or a crucial business meeting.

The day before his swearing-in, Obama calmed his nerves by indulging in his favourite method of relaxation – basketball.

He visited a high school in the capital where he took to the court to shoot a few hoops, perhaps helping to briefly take his mind off the enormity of the task ahead of him.

The day before his swearing-in, Obama plays basketball at Coolidge High School in Washington in an attempt to calm any pre-presidential nerves

Obama has suggested he may remove the White House’s indoor bowling alley and replace it with a basketball court, to be used as an escape valve from the pressures of the top job.