How the White House Reads Every Letter it Gets

Video written by Ben Doyle

[StonegateCreations]

I wrote a letter to President Carter when he lost reelection and received a thank you for your support letter. It was a big deal to me being an 8 yr old and still have it framed.

[annafraidahutman]

Back in third grade, after reading Flat Stanley we each had to send a little Stanley cutout by mail to someone out of the city, asking them to carry him around for a week and take pictures with him. A kid in my class declared she was sending hers to President Obama, and I thought she was joking. But she did, and a few weeks later she got an envelope filled with pictures of Obama carrying her decorated Stanley around the White House, in the Oval Office, at meetings, with his family, etc. I thought that was really sweet that he'd do that for some random kid

[DiannaCarney]

I actually sent an email to the White House because I was concerned over the chemicals in my town water and the dumping of waste in water near me. It took over a month, but I got a response that informed me of who I should contact for more information. I then did get a response from those folks! Very neat to see the process at work.

[neptune]

I like how this channel is just turning into “Sam tells Amy to go do something so Sam can talk about it”

[JohnMcGing]

My sister in law worked in that office for years during 2nd Bush. They took it all quite seriously. Lots of institutional pride over their mission.

[tcoren]

It's a crime that the description doesn't actually list amy (or the actual writer ben) as assistant postmaster

[ThatRandomGuy]

I think the White House reads all its letters by looking at the letter and reading.

[presidentheodoreroosevelt]

I emailed Obama once to see if he had any words of encouragement for my friend while she went through radiation. I had heard that Presidents read 10 letters a day and my kid brain went “ok cool” and then stole my mom’s laptop. A year later, my family got a message on our landline’s answering machine from the Obamas’ office where they asked for me by first, middle, and last name and explained that the Obamas had personally read my letter and wanted to help me out. In the end, they sent my friend a personal note and some books to help her through her treatment, and I was banned from unsupervised computer access.

[kinggnikiv]

1:45 Trump essentially got a free lawn mowing coupon in the mail and i dont blame him for cashing in on it

[AbsolXGuardian]

When I was in kindergarten and going through a very strange president special interest phase, I sent a letter to Obama. Since my dad used to be a day trader, one of the things I complimented him on was his...anti great recession policies. Of course to me that was "good job of getting the stock market out of the toilet" with a drawing of a stock market line climbing out of a toilet. I hope the staffer got a good laugh from the unusual praise from a child.

In return I got a signed glossy photo of Obama, which hung in my room for the next several years.

[perkytxgirl]

I sent a letter to President Carter when I was a child - yes dating myself, I know - and I did indeed get a reply and it was clear someone really read it. Not actually from the President, but still a reply.

[Auraborias]

“Your letter isn’t ticking” that one had me busting out laughing

[crypticnomad]

There is a whitehouse veteran's hotline phone number that actually works really well. I've been dealing with the VA since 2006 and I've had 3 problems with the VA that I couldn't seem to get resolved via normal channels. All 3 times I called that hotline the issue was resolved within a few days after having spent weeks trying to resolve it myself through the normal channels. Basically that phone number reverses the typical chain of command and flows from the top down vs bottom up

[sesmeltz]

I sent a letter to the President as a kid for a school assignment. I got back a signed portrait. I’m certain it was mass produced, but it meant a lot. I’m considering doing the same with my young son and, if this is still done, collecting a string of presidential portraits for him.

[megm]

I wrote a letter to Bush when I was about 8, and absolutely flipped out when I got a letter back. Got a bunch of stickers off his dog Barney and showed it off to my whole fourth grade class.

[bradymartin]

I sent a simple graduation announcement to the White House when I was in high school. I expected to get a simple mass produced congratulations card they send to everyone. Imagine my surprise when a few months later I get a personalized letter that was hand signed by the President and First Lady.

[johnfinkbiner]

A fun special case -- if you send a birth announcement to the White House you will get a response. I believe they respond to wedding announcements too. Not all that useful, but it makes a fun scrapbook item.

[TheNascarfan]

Looks like the HAI team got fooled by the modern New Salem, IL as opposed to the historical one that Lincoln lived in based on their placement of it on the map.

[Bryzerse]

How long until Amy replaces Sam entirely

[JamesGilbert_]

At this point, I mostly watch these videos to discover what task Amy is told to do.