I first met Barack Obama in 2003 in Chicago where we have both worked for a long time.  I actively supported his Senate campaign and, in 2006, I encouraged him to run for President.

In February 2007, soon after he officially entered the race, I started to write occasional email messages to friends and colleagues across the country.  I dubbed them “Obamagrams.” 

I am a philanthropist and former investment banker, not a political professional or experienced commentator (see bio below).

Originally, my purposes for writing my Obamagrams were to introduce Barack to those who didn’t already know him and to clarify my own thinking about the nomination process.  I vouched for him based on my own due diligence and later joined his National Finance Committee, a first for me.  In so doing, I tried to generate support for his candidacy and, then, to sustain that support during the inevitable highs and lows of the campaign. 

Following a pause after the election, I decided to continue offering occasional observations about the administration, the economy, and the markets.  I reasoned that it would be a shame if most of us – yours truly included – returned to our pre-campaign postures, barely paying attention to our democracy, largely “outsourcing” it to professional politicians and the self-interested.  

I have written 44 Obamagrams so far.  Some of my readers have suggested that I make them more widely available, so that is why I’m constructing this modest website. Since I wasn’t the only one to conjure up that now obvious Obamagram name, in establishing this repository I am using “ObamagramsByLewis” as part of my URL.

If you have not read any of my Obamagrams before, I recommend that you start with the first one (Group 1, item 1) and then sample the ones written in March 2008 (Group 2, items 2 and 3).  We will post new ones as they become available.

I welcome your comments or suggestions.

Chuck Lewis