Reginald L. Love (born April 29, 1981) is an American media editor, former college football and basketball player, and former presidential personal aide. Love served as the special assistant and personal aide, commonly referred to as

body man A personal assistant who accompanies the president of the United States virtually everywhere is generally referred to as a body man or body woman, but in some cases may be referred to as a personal aide. These personal aides to the president a ...

, to U.S. President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

from 2009 to 2011.Going from one tough job to another: Love working for Obama
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, March 12, 2008 In July 2015,

Vice Media Vice Media Group LLC is a Canadian-American digital media and broadcasting company. Vice Media encompasses four main business areas: Vice Studios Group (film and TV production); Vice TV (a joint venture with A&E Networks, also known as Vicelan ...

announced that Love would become an

editor-at-large An editor-at-large is a journalist who contributes content to a magazine. They are typically credited in the publication's masthead, even if they technically are not on staff. The responsibilities of the editor-at-large may change project to proj ...

for its sports site, Vice Sports.

Early life

Love attended high school at Providence Day School in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

. He graduated with a degree in political science and public policy from

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

. While at Duke, he was a two-sport athlete, playing football and basketball. He played

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

for the

Duke Blue Devils football The Duke Blue Devils football team represents Duke University in the sport of American football. The Blue Devils compete in the Division I (NCAA)#Division I-Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic As ...

team on a football scholarship. Love also played forward for the Duke Blue Devils basketball team. He was a walk-on as a freshman, and later became team captain as a senior. He played on the 2001 team that won the NCAA national championship.

Career

Obama administration

Love applied for an internship on

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill is a neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in both the Northeast, Washington, D.C., Northeast and Southeast, Washington, D.C., Southeast quadrants. It is bounded by 14th Street SE & NE, F S ...

in 2006. He was interviewed by

Robert Gibbs Robert Lane Gibbs (born March 29, 1971) is an American communication professional who served as executive vice president and global chief communications officer of McDonald's from 2015 to 2019 and as the 27th White House Press Secretary from 200 ...

, Obama's

communications director Director of communications is a position in both the private and public sectors. A director of communications is responsible for managing and directing an organization's internal and external communications. Directors of communications supervis ...

, for a position in Obama's Senate office. He eventually rose to become deputy political director on Obama's Senate campaign side. He became Obama's personal assistant in 2007, during the 2008 presidential campaign. As Obama's aide, his job was to anticipate any and all of Obama's needs. In reference to the myriad support duties Love performed, Obama referred to Love as his "iReggie", a play on Apple's

iPad The iPad is a brand of tablet computers developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple that run the company's mobile operating systems iOS and later iPadOS. The IPad (1st generation), first-generation iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010. ...

, humorously stating that "I have an iReggie, who has my books, my newspapers, my music all in one place".Education of a President
''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. The magazi ...

'', October 12, 2010 Love and Obama played basketball every day there was a

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

during the 2008 presidential election, and they played regularly in the following years, always on the same side. Love and Obama's friends organized a game of basketball on the White House basketball court to celebrate Obama's 50th birthday. The game featured the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

players

Shane Battier Shane Courtney Battier ( ; born September 9, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player. He also worked for ESPN and recently joined the board of Yext. Battier is best known for his four years playing basketball at Duke, his 13 ...

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. ( ; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is the NBA's all-time leading scorer and ...

Magic Johnson Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. Often regarded as the greatest point guard of all time, Johnson List of NBA players who have spent their entire career w ...

Maya Moore Maya April Moore (born June 11, 1989) is an American social justice advocate and former professional basketball player. Naming her their inaugural Performer of the Year in 2017, ''Sports Illustrated'' called Moore the "greatest winner in the hist ...

Alonzo Mourning Alonzo Harding Mourning Jr. (born February 8, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player who has served as vice president of player programs and development for the Miami Heat since June 2009. Mourning played most of his 15-year ...

Joakim Noah Joakim Simon Noah ( ; born February 25, 1985) is a former professional basketball player. Born in New York, Noah was a member of the France national team and played college basketball for the Florida Gators, winning back-to-back NCAA championsh ...

Chris Paul Christopher Emmanuel Paul (born May 6, 1985), nicknamed "CP3" and "the Point God", is an American professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Regarded by some as one of the greatest p ...

and

Derrick Rose Derrick Martell Rose (born October 4, 1988) is an American former professional basketball player. He played one year of college basketball for the Memphis Tigers before being drafted first overall by his hometown Chicago Bulls in the 2008 NBA ...

in addition to Obama's friends from high school.

Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise, spent his entire 20-year career with t ...

and

Bill Russell William Felton Russell (February 12, 1934 – July 31, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who played Center (basketball), center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. He was t ...

were spectators. Obama has described Love as his "little brother."

Post-White House

Love left the

White House Office The White House Office is an entity within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). The White House Office is headed by the White House chief of staff, who is also the head of the Executive Office of the President. The st ...

to complete his MBA at

Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

in 2012. After graduation, he became a partner and vice president for RON Transatlantic Holdings. Love authored a memoir, titled ''Power Forward: My Presidential Education'', about his time working for President Obama. The book was released in February 2015. In July 2015, Love became an editor-at-large for Vice Sports, in addition to his role at

. In 2019, Love endorsed

Pete Buttigieg Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg ( ; born January 19, 1982) is an American politician and former naval officer who served as the 19th United States Secretary of Transportation, United States secretary of transportation from 2021 to 2025. A me ...

in the

2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries Presidential primaries and caucuses were organized by the Democratic Party to select delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention to determine the party's nominee for president in the 2020 election. The primaries and caucuses took p ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Love, Reggie 1981 births American football wide receivers Basketball players from Charlotte, North Carolina Duke Blue Devils football players Duke Blue Devils men's basketball players Living people Obama administration personnel Players of American football from Charlotte, North Carolina American men's basketball players American memoirists Providence Day School alumni