This is a big one on the political history anniversary calendar for myself and all of us at what was then the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy (CSD), under the leadership of Dr. Tom Axworthy.  You see, on this date in 2009 the newly sworn-in rookie American President, Barack Obama, had responded positively to an invitation from Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen J. Harper, and would be visiting Ottawa, making Canada the site of his first foreign visit since assuming office a month before. So, those of us at the CSD, along with Kingston MP and Speaker of the House Peter Milliken, his assistant Heather Bradley, and with an assist from Liberal MP Bob Rae, implemented “Operation Obama.” Some background: In the months leading up to Mr. Obama’s Canadian trip, I had been busy editing a new book, to be published by the Queen’s School of Policy Studies and McGill-Queen’s University Press, called In Roosevelt’s Bright Shadow, a collection of US Presidential addresses delivered in Canada, or about Canada in the United States.  It was an important book for the Queen’s community as we were getting it ready in order to help the University mark the 70^th anniversary of Roosevelt’s visit to Queen’s in August of 1938. As soon as it was announced that President Obama was coming to Ottawa, we sprang into action, getting our printer to prepare three special copies.  Speaker Milliken quickly agreed to present the President with one of the copies when he visited Parliament Hill.  For backup, as Peter Milliken told us this might be difficult, we also approached Opposition foreign affairs critic, Bob Rae, who would be part of a brief courtesy meeting along with his leader, Michael Ignatieff, and the President.  Mr. Rae kindly agreed to present our book to the President as well. On the day of President Obama’s trip to Parliament Hill, Peter Milliken worked his magic. When the President stopped into the Parliamentary Library, where he signed copies of his own books for Canada’s collections, Speaker Milliken did the deed and President Obama had our book in hand. Later, Mr. Rae did the same. It was a great moment for us, particularly when Heather Bradley emailed us the photos of the 44^th President and his copy of In Roosevelt’s Bright Shadow later that afternoon. In the years since, I’ve had U.S. Presidents George Bush 41 and George Bush 43, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter sign my own special copy of my book, as have Prime Ministers Harper, Clark, Turner, Mulroney, Chretien, and Turner, along with a few other powerhouses of Canadian-America relations.  When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and past PM Kim Campbell sign my treasure, I will only need to secure the signatures of Presidents Obama, Donald J. Trump and Biden. I often today joke with friends that though President Obama “met” my book, I have yet to meet him.   Over to you Mr. Obama! caption id="attachment_541043" align="aligncenter" width="500" Prime Minister Stephen Harper, President Barack Obama, Parliamentary Librarian Bill Young and Speaker of the House of Commons Peter Milliken/caption caption id="attachment_541042" align="aligncenter" width="500" Notable signatures in Art's book./caption Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist.  He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy.  A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.