title: Obama tan suit controversy
text: # Obama tan suit controversy
  
  * This article is part of a series aboutBarack Obama
  
  Political positions
  
  Electoral history
  
  Early life and career
  
  Family
  
  Public image
  
  Honors
  
  Pre-presidency
  
  Illinois State Senator
  
  2004 DNC keynote address
  
  U.S. Senator from Illinois
  
  2004 election
  
  sponsored bills
  
  44th President of the United States
  
  Presidency
  
  timeline
  
  Transition
  
  Inaugurations
  
  first
  
  second
  
  Trips
  
  foreign
  
  '09
  
  '10
  
  '11
  
  '12
  
  '13
  
  '14
  
  '15
  
  '16–'17
  
  Policies
  
  Economy
  
  Energy
  
  Foreign policy
  
  Europe
  
  East Asia
  
  Middle East
  
  South Asia
  
  Obama Doctrine
  
  Pardons
  
  Social
  
  Space
  
  Appointments
  
  Cabinet
  
  Judiciary
  
  Sotomayor
  
  Kagan
  
  Garland
  
  Supreme Court candidates
  
  First term
  
  First 100 days
  
  Recovery Act
  
  Russia nuclear treaty
  
  Affordable Care Act
  
  Dodd–Frank
  
  Iraq withdrawal
  
  Killing of Osama bin Laden
  
  2011 debt-ceiling crisis
  
  Libya intervention
  
  Afghanistan withdrawal
  
  Benghazi attack
  
  Timeline
  
  '09
  
  '10
  
  '11
  
  '12
  
  Second term
  
  2013 debt-ceiling crisis
  
  Anti-ISIL campaign
  
  Iraq
  
  Syria
  
  Iran nuclear deal
  
  Cuban thaw
  
  Sanctions against Russia
  
  Selma 50th anniversary speech
  
  Paris Agreement
  
  Timeline
  
  '13
  
  '14
  
  '15
  
  '16–'17
  
  Presidential campaigns
  
  2008
  
  primaries
  
  convention
  
  debates
  
  election
  
  2012
  
  primaries
  
  convention
  
  debates
  
  election
  
  reactions
  
  Post-presidency
  
  Planned presidential library
  
  Obama Foundation
  
  One America Appeal
  
  Dreams from My Father
  
  The Audacity of Hope
  
  A Promised Land
  
  Nobel Peace Prize
  
  Others
  
  Thanks, Obama
  
  Tan suit controversy :
  
  vte :
  
  On August 28, 2014, U.S. President Barack Obama held a live press conference on increasing the military response against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria while wearing a tan suit. Obama's appearance on television in the tan suit sparked significant attention and led to media and social media criticism. The issue remained prominent in the media for several days with the issue being particularly widely discussed on talk shows.
  
  ## Background
  
  On August 28, 2014, Obama held a press conference about the situation regarding ISIS in Syria, and how the US military was planning to respond to it. At the conference, Obama said that the U.S. had yet to develop a plan regarding the removal of ISIS, and talked extensively about his concerns in the region. During the conference he wore a tan suit, which up until that point was uncommon for Obama to do.
  
  The light-colored suit was seen by conservative commentator and Fox Business Network host Lou Dobbs as "shocking to a lot of people". The controversy was seen in the context of the slow news season before the run-up to the 2014 election campaign. The suit received mixed reviews from a sartorial perspective.
  
  At the time, the unusual attention given to a male leader's fashion choices was contrasted with that of his 2008 Democratic rival Hillary Clinton's "regular experience" as a woman in politics.
  
  ## Immediate response
  
  Republican Representative Peter King of New York called Obama's wearing of the suit while talking about the economy instead of terrorism unpresidential, and stated that "There's no way, I don't think, any of us can excuse what the president did yesterday. I mean, you have the world watching."
  
  Reporters and political commentators joked about the tan suit, making a play on words of Obama's "yes we can" and "the audacity of hope" phrases into "yes we tan" and "the audacity of taupe." The latter phrase, a take on the title of Obama's presidential campaign book, was recycled from media coverage of a 2010 Oval Office redecoration by Michael S. Smith which featured a prominent taupe rug and furnishings in similar muted colors, playfully criticized by Arianna Huffington among others.
  
  The day after the press conference, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said that Obama felt pretty good about his decision to wear the suit. Fashion designer Joseph Abboud, who had made suits for the president before, praised Obama for the decision, saying that "You don't want to look the same every day of your life. It's boring as hell." Multiple news outlets pointed out how presidents in the past had also worn tan suits, including Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. Still others said that the tan suit commentary was overshadowing the greater implications of the conference, and of the U.S. strategy for combating ISIS.
  
  ## Legacy
  
  Ultimately, the controversy came to be seen as petty and trivial. For Obama, the tan suit controversy became a topic to joke about at future events.
  
  During the presidency of Donald Trump, the tan suit controversy was frequently referred to by Trump critics to draw a contrast between Obama and Trump. These critics contrasted the attention devoted to this trivial issue under the Obama administration with various examples of Trump's actions that broke more substantial political norms while generating less coverage, and argued that the episode illustrated how Obama's presidency was covered in comparison to Trump's.
  
  During the week of Obama's 60th birthday, and near the seven-year anniversary of Obama's tan suit incident, President Joe Biden wore a tan suit for a press conference, which was widely reported as a jab at the initial controversy.
  
  On September 7, 2022, at an event honoring Obama's official portraits unveiled at the White House, Barack Obama joked about the tan suit incident.
  
  