Obama friends find ways to stay close

“Okay, Eric, you need to plan to be in DC the first six weekends of the presidency,” Jarrett, soon to be a senior White House adviser, told Whitaker, he recalled.

In the presidential campaign, the Obamas had a “no new friends” rule, surrounding themselves with a coterie of familiar faces. Even if the Obamas lift that rule in Washington, newcomers are unlikely to replicate the intensity of this group’s ties, formed over more than a decade by births and deaths, Scrabble games, barbecues and vacations, but also by shared beliefs about race, success and responsibility.

Back when the Obamas were hardly the most prominent members of the group, they became not just one another’s friends but also one another’s supporters, forming a network that eventually helped Obama on his way to a Senate seat and then the presidency.

“We knew Barack running for President would be hard on him and Michelle, but we didn’t realize the impact it would have on us,” said Whitaker.