Obama Vows Not To Smoke In White House

December 8. 2008

Obama and Hillary Clinton

President-elect Barack Obama has been a smoker for many years. He has not quite kicked the habit yet, but is vowing not to smoke in the White House, as it is not permitted.

Guess who brought the no smoking ban into effect – Hillary Clinton during her husband's presidency in the 1990’s. See, Hillary’s already burning him, pardon the pun (kidding).

However, he should quit smoking.

Obama says he won't be smoking in White House

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama failed to give a straight answer when asked on a U.S. talkshow on Sunday whether he had managed to quit smoking.

In a country where cigarettes are responsible for one in five deaths and smoking costs tens of billions of dollars in health care, Obama has been under pressure to set an example by giving up his reported two-decade-old habit…

Noting that the White House was a no-smoking zone, Brokaw asked Obama, "Have you stopped smoking?"

"I have," Obama replied, smiling broadly. "What I said was that there are times where I have fallen off the wagon."

"Wait a minute," Brokaw interjected, "that means you haven't stopped."

"Fair enough," Obama said. "What I would say is that I have done a terrific job under the circumstances of making myself much healthier. You will not see any violations of these rules in the White House."

The White House no-smoking rule was imposed by former First Lady Hillary Clinton, now Obama's nominee for secretary of state.

http://www.reuters.com