The Buddha in Obama’s pocket

BY ROD MEADE SPERRY| JANUARY 18, 2016

In Friday’s White House-produced YouTube video, President Obama addressed a number of things — including what’s in his pockets. It turns out that, along with a rosary gifted to him by Pope Francis, a small Buddha statuette, given to him by a monk, is often found on the president’s person.

Obama, in White House video, shows the tiny Buddha statuette he "carries around all the time."

“Ever since I started running for office, people started handing me things […] lucky charms, or keepsakes, or things that meant something to them.” All of these items go into a big bowl, the president says, and he carries some of them with him “to remind me of all the people I’ve met along the way and the stories they’ve told me.”