Tom Hanks just doesn’t know how to turn the charm off, does he? When he’s not crashing weddings or posing with drunk college kids, he’s busy doing something thoughtful for today’s most burdened professionals – the White House press corps.
Hanks, like many of us, has a hunch that working the White House beat might require some supplemental energy, so, being The Most Thoughtful Man in America, Hanks got the reporters a gift. And one thing you can be sure of – when you get reporters a gift, your gesture is going to get some publicity.
I don’t know what’s nicer – the barista-level device (those things aren’t cheap!) or the note that accompanied it which read, “To The White House Press Corp: Keep up the good fight for truth, justice, and the American way. Especially for the truth part.”
Man, it’s really hard not to like this guy, isn’t it?
The cartoon included on the note was created in the 1940s, drawn by Pulitzer Prize-winning artist Bill Mauldin. The caption of the piece reads, “Fresh, spirited American troops, flushed with victory, are bringing in thousands of hungry, ragged, battle-weary prisoners. (News item).”
Oh, it merits mentioning that this isn’t the first time he’s gifted a coffee machine to the White House press. Nor is it the second. They must go through these things pretty quickly.
The first coffee maker came following a White House visit by Hanks in 2004, then again in 2010 when he saw his gift was standing on its last legs.
When it comes time to clone a human, I think we found our guy.