American personal aide, former college athlete, and media editor
Reginald L. Love (born April 29, 1981) is an American personal aide, former college basketball player, and media editor. Love served as the special assistant and personal aide, commonly referred to as
body man , to U.S. President
Barack Obama .
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4] Love left this position around the end of 2011 to complete his
Master of Business Administration degree at the
University of Pennsylvania 's
Wharton School .
[5] In July 2015,
Vice Media announced that Love would become an
editor-at-large for its sports site,
Vice Sports .
[6]
[7]
Early life
Love attended high school at
Providence Day School in
Charlotte, North Carolina .
[8]
He graduated with a degree in political science and public policy from
Duke University . While at Duke, he was a two-sport athlete, playing both football and basketball.
[9] He played
wide receiver for the
Duke Blue Devils football team on a football scholarship.
[10]
[11]
Love also played forward for the
Duke Blue Devils basketball team . He was a walk-on as a freshman, and later became team captain as a senior.
[12] He played on the
2001 team that won the NCAA national championship.
[13]
Career
Obama Administration
Love, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, and Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett take a ride on camels in Egypt on June 4, 2009.
Love applied for an internship on
Capitol Hill in 2006. He was interviewed by
Robert Gibbs , Obama's
communications director , for a position in Obama's Senate office.
[1] He eventually rose to become deputy political director on Obama's Senate campaign side.
[3] He became Obama's personal assistant in 2007, during the 2008 presidential campaign.
[14]
As Obama's aide, his job was to anticipate any and all of Obama's needs.
[1]
[3]
[15] In reference to the myriad support duties Love performed, Obama referred to Love as his "iReggie", a play on
Apple's
iPad , humorously stating that "I have an iReggie, who has my books, my newspapers, my music all in one place".
[16] Love and Obama played basketball every day there was a
primary during the
2008 presidential election , and they played regularly in the following years, always on the same side.
[17] Love and Obama's friends organized a game of basketball on the
White House basketball court to celebrate Obama's 50th birthday. The game featured the
NBA players
Shane Battier ,
LeBron James ,
Magic Johnson ,
Maya Moore ,
Alonzo Mourning ,
Joakim Noah ,
Chris Paul and
Derrick Rose in addition to Obama's friends from high school.
Kobe Bryant and
Bill Russell were spectators.
[18] Obama has described Love as his "little brother."
[19]
Post-White House
Love left the
White House Office to complete his MBA at
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 2012.
[20] After graduation, he became a partner and vice president for RON Transatlantic Holdings.
Love authored a memoir, titled Power Forward: My Presidential Education , about his time working for President Obama.
[21] The book was released in February 2015.
In July 2015, Love became an editor-at-large for Vice Sports, in addition to his role at
Vice Media .
[7]
In 2019, Love endorsed
Pete Buttigieg in the
2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries .
[22]
References
^
a
b
c Parker, Ashley (May 27, 2008).
"On the Court and on the Trail, One Aide Looms Over Obama" .
The New York Times .
^
Going from one tough job to another: Love working for Obama , Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, March 12, 2008
^
a
b
c Wolffe, Richard (October 29, 2008).
"The man behind the man: Obama and the aide who makes his campaign tick" .
The Guardian .
^ Parnes, Arnie.
"Reggie Love turns 27" . Politico.com. Retrieved March 1, 2012 .
^ Kantor, Jodi (November 11, 2011).
"Leaving Obama's Shadow, to Cast One of His Own" .
The New York Times . p. A24. Retrieved April 23, 2014 .
^
Gold, Hadas (July 9, 2015).
"Reggie Love Joins Vice Sports" .
Politico . Retrieved July 10, 2015 .
^
a
b
"Vice Sports editorial team grows, adds former Obama aide Reggie Love" . Vice Sports. July 9, 2015. Retrieved December 20, 2016 .
^
"Providence Day School" . Providence Day School . Retrieved January 8, 2019 .
^ Dennis, Abby (Duke Sports Information Office) (March 21, 2001).
"Love Balances Football And Hoops" . Go Duke . Retrieved December 20, 2016 .
^ Staff report (April 21, 2011).
"Two-sport athlete charged with DWI" . Duke Chronicle . Archived from the original on March 1, 2013. Retrieved August 16, 2013 . {{
cite web }}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (
link )
^ Martin, Nick (February 4, 2015).
"Love details time with President Obama in new book "Power Forward" " . Duke Chronicle . Retrieved December 20, 2016 .
^
"How Reggie Love Got His Presidential Education" . Wharton School. May 14, 2015. Retrieved December 20, 2016 .
^
"GoDuke.StatsGeek.com - The Official On-Line Home Of Duke Statistics" . statsgeek.com . Retrieved February 9, 2015 .
^
"This is what it was like to be President Obama's 'surrogate son' and 'chief of stuff' " . Business Insider . Retrieved January 8, 2019 .
^
"Obama's West Wing: Can reality match the liberal White House fantasy?" .
The Guardian . January 21, 2009. Retrieved August 16, 2013 .
^
Education of a President ,
The New York Times Magazine , October 12, 2010
^
"Former Duke athlete now starting in the political arena - ESPN" . Sports.espn.go.com. January 16, 2009. Retrieved August 16, 2013 .
^ Chris Mannix (April 4, 2020).
"Inside the Iconic Obama Basketball Games at the White House" .
Sports Illustrated . Retrieved December 20, 2020 .
^ Kornblut, Anne E. (November 9, 2011).
"Reggie Love, Obama 'body man', to leave White House by year's end - Washington Post" . Articles.washingtonpost.com. Archived from
the original on May 7, 2013. Retrieved August 16, 2013 .
^ Wilson, David McKay (October 27, 2014).
"Declassified: The Alumni Files" . Wharton Magazine .
The Wharton School ,
University of Pennsylvania . Retrieved December 20, 2016 .
^
"Interview: Reggie Love, Author Of 'Power Forward' : NPR" . NPR.org . February 8, 2015. Retrieved February 9, 2015 .
^ Phillip, Abby (December 5, 2019).
"Pete Buttigieg scores endorsements from former Obama officials" . CNN. Retrieved December 6, 2019 .
External links
Office Name Term Office Name Term
White House Chief of Staff
Rahm Emanuel 2009–10
National Security Advisor
James L. Jones 2009–10
Pete Rouse 2010–11
Thomas E. Donilon 2010–13
William M. Daley 2011–12
Susan Rice 2013–17
Jack Lew 2012–13
Deputy National Security Advisor
Thomas E. Donilon 2009–10
Denis McDonough 2013–17
Denis McDonough 2010–13
White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy
Mona Sutphen 2009–11
Antony Blinken 2013–14
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Avril Haines 2015–17
Rob Nabors 2013–15 Dep. National Security Advisor, Homeland Security
John O. Brennan 2009–13 White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations
Jim Messina 2009–11
Lisa Monaco 2013–17
Alyssa Mastromonaco 2011–14 Dep. National Security Advisor, Iraq and Afghanistan
Douglas Lute † 2009–13
Anita Decker Breckenridge 2014–17 Dep. National Security Advisor, Strategic Comm.
Ben Rhodes 2009–17 White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Planning
Mark B. Childress 2012–14 Dep. National Security Advisor, Chief of Staff
Mark Lippert 2009
Kristie Canegallo 2014–17
Denis McDonough 2009–10
Counselor to the President
Pete Rouse 2011–13
Brooke D. Anderson 2011–12
John Podesta 2014–15
White House Communications Director
Ellen Moran 2009
Senior Advisor to the President
David Axelrod 2009–11
Anita Dunn 2009
David Plouffe 2011–13
Daniel Pfeiffer 2009–13
Daniel Pfeiffer 2013–15
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Shailagh Murray 2015–17
Jen Psaki 2015–17 Senior Advisor to the President
Pete Rouse 2009–10 Deputy White House Communications Director
Jen Psaki 2009–11
Brian Deese 2015–17
Jennifer Palmieri 2011–14 Senior Advisor to the President and
Valerie Jarrett 2009–17 Amy Brundage 2014–16 Assistant to the President for Liz Allen 2016–17 Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs
White House Press Secretary
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Public Engagement
Tina Tchen 2009–11
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Jerry Abramson 2014–17 Director of Special Projects
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Council on Jobs and Competitiveness
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Cecilia Muñoz 2012–17 Director, Political Affairs
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Office of National AIDS Policy
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White House Staff Secretary
Lisa Brown 2009–11 Director,
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Alyssa Mastromonaco 2009–11
Neil Eggleston 2014–17 Danielle Crutchfield 2011–14
White House Cabinet Secretary
Chris Lu 2009–13 Chase Cushman 2014–17
Danielle C. Gray 2013–14 Director, White House Information Technology
David Recordon 2015–17
Broderick D. Johnson 2014–17 Director,
Office of Administration Cameron Moody 2009–11 Personal Aide to the President
Reggie Love 2009–11 Beth Jones 2011–15
Brian Mosteller 2011–12 Cathy Solomon 2015–17 Marvin D. Nicholson 2012–17 Director,
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Brian Mosteller 2012–17
Chief Technology Officer
Aneesh Chopra 2009–12
Personal Secretary to the President
Katie Johnson 2009–11
Todd Park 2012–14
Anita Decker Breckenridge 2011–14
Megan Smith 2014–17
Ferial Govashiri 2014–17 Director,
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Peter R. Orszag 2009–10
Chief of Staff to the First Lady
Jackie Norris 2009
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