'Is Barack Obama A Nice Person?' - Answers From People Who've Actually Met Him

"Is Barack Obama a nice person when there isn't a camera around?"

So asks a thread on Quora, a popular question-and-answer website where users must register with a real name.

Heartfelt responses poured in, from people who interacted with him in passing to one person who had an intimate relationship with Obama.

Some crossed paths him when his political career had barely registered on the radar and some when he had become the most powerful man in the world.

The stories paint a candid picture of a man so often in the limelight that it's hard to make out exactly what's real and what isn't. It's one thing to put on a public persona as a powerful politician. It's another to have a genuine personality when no one is looking.

Here were some of the responses:

Jason W. Wells, CEO; Natl. Advancements Proactive Safety; Former Special Agent; Ph.D Candidate:

During my tenure with the U.S. Secret Service, I was part of (then) Senator Barack Obama's protection detail from March 2007 until November 2008, on his election night. I was chosen as part of a "round robin" detail where agents were selected at random from their field offices to spend time with a candidate on the campaign trail to keep him safe. This protection detail is known as C.N.O.S. (Campaign Nominee Operation Section) and is basically the rotation that the U.S. Secret Service goes through during the Election season. Sen. Obama was given protection unusually early due to the volume of threats that he was receiving. The rotation consisted of being out on the road with him 24/7 for three week intervals, home for six weeks, and then back out again. It was like this for 18 months.

I made it a point to remain unbiased in my political opinions when asked about Mr. Obama while on this assignment. I also tend to judge others by how they treat me rather than how they expect to be treated. I will say that, personally, I have differed on many of President Obama's stances in politics. I do not support much of his political agenda.

With that stated.... Senator Obama, Mrs. Obama and their two daughters were always extremely cordial and appreciative for everything that we provided them. They were engaging with us, asking us about our families and making sure that we were provided for. On numerous occasions, Mr. Obama would ask me how my wife was doing (she was pregnant with our first child), and wished her the best. I never, never saw him belittle another person, I never witnessed him do anything behind his wife's back..... For all of my political differences with Barack Obama, I will be the first to say that he is a very decent man.

Kevin Watts:

When he was running for Senate here in Illinois back in 2004, I was at Chicago's Union Station to take a train out to work. It was about 6 am. Candidate Obama was by himself, no entourage, shaking hands and chatting with commuters. I shook his hand and he asked me what I was doing, where I worked, etc. He was genuinely interested in what I had to say. I spoke to him about healthcare (I was freelancing at the time and had very poor coverage) and he offered some thoughts and smart discussion, rather than "I'm going to fix it all". I liked him immediately and felt he had a certain presence. I do remember thinking he would go far...I just didn't realize how far, how fast.

Barb Rosenthal:

I sat next to Barack Obama on a plane headed from DC to Chicago in 2004. It was a late Thursday afternoon, and Congress was headed home for their usual 4-day work from home weekends. We were both desperately late for the last flight out, and running down to the gateway where we hoped they would hold the plane. Since we were so late, the gate attendant told us to just grab any open seats in the last 2 rows. He outsprinted me, but still waited like a gentleman inside the plane and offered me my choice of remaining seats in the last row. I was floored. We exchanged pleasantries, and he proceeded to bury himself reading for the remainder of the flight. When it came time to deplane, he again stood up, asked me which was my bag so he could help retrieve it from the overhead bin, and proceeded to place it in the aisle for me. I think that more than qualifies him as a nice guy in real life!

CC Judge, Retired attorney:

One of my nephews was appointed to serve as a Senate Page in 2007, during Barack Obama's first presidential campaign, so he got to see all 100 Senators behind the scenes, for months.

My nephew, like his father, is very politically conservative, so I wasn't surprised when he had a number of critical comments to make about various liberal Democratic Senators he'd observed regularly or perhaps even served on occasion during his term as a Page (Senate Pages are typically expected to serve the Senators who are members of the same party as the Senator who'd sponsored their appointment, although my nephew said that Senators sometimes asked Pages to do things for them without asking their party "affiliation", and Pages were often assigned to do tasks to be carried out without regard anyone's party affiliation, such as opening the doors separating the Senate Lobby from the Senate Chamber, when Senators were hurrying into the Senate Chamber for a vote).

...

He admitted he had two favorite Senators, both of whom were liberal Democrats (to his surprise and his father's everlasting shock).

One was Senator Robert Byrd, whom he said made a point of getting to know every single Page, by name. He had a lot of affectionate stories to tell about Senator Byrd.

The second one was Barack Obama, whom he said was exactly the same, off-camera and on, and unfailingly polite to every person, no matter what their position, high or low, and no matter their party.

He said that one of the things all the Pages had appreciated about Obama is that Obama was the only Senator who never forgot to thank the Pages responsible for opening the doors to the Senate Chamber, no matter how fast he was running into the Chamber to vote, no matter who else was with him. My nephew said that most of the Senators simply ignored the Pages who were on "door duty" when entering or exiting the Chamber, but Obama never did.

Obama also, according to my nephew, like Senator Byrd, often took a few minutes when things were calmer to chat with the Pages about their families and their experiences, which very few Senators ever bothered to do, aside from, usually, the Pages from their own states.

He said he felt Obama was completely genuine, even if he didn't agree politically with Obama on many matters.

Marie-Lynn Richard, Former Mgr/Guide at Musee de l'Amerique Francaise (Seminaire de Quebec):

I met Barrie and his mom Anne when he took her to Quebec City for Mother's Day in 1992 (or 1991). He walked into the welcome building next to the Basilica. It was a standalone office back then. He asked about the building and museum, we chatted for 3 minutes, he signed my Museum guestbook and was on his way. He was impressive enough so that, in 2008, I instantly recognized him during the Town Hall meeting debate with Sen. John McCain. He does something interesting where he will smile when you ask him something, continue to write, and then look at you with an answer. There is really nothing much to say about Obama when you are a nobody and you get to meet him in private, he is exactly as nice as he is when the cameras are on him.

• Read the rest of the responses here.

Image: President Barack Obama hugs Stephanie Davies, who helped keep her friend, Allie Young, left, alive after she was shot during the movie theater shootings in Aurora, Colorado. via White House Flickr