Along with the private plane, the personal chef and the phalanx of body guards, the highest office in America finally comes with an official Twitter account: @POTUS.
Welcome to Twitter, Mr. President. For real this time.
The White House launched the account, @POTUS, on Monday morning with a tweet crafted by President Obama and sent from the Oval Office, according to the White House.
Hello, Twitter! It's Barack. Really! Six years in, they're finally giving me my own account.— President Obama (@POTUS) May 18, 2015
Here's a photo of President Obama sending the very first @POTUS tweet from the Oval Office. pic.twitter.com/EQGmVAlybh— Kori Schulman (@ks44) May 18, 2015
Obama used the Twitter app on an iPhone to do it, and his first follows were the official White House account and wife Michelle Obama's @FLOTUS account. Within half an hour, the account already had 55,000 followers -- and counting.
In 2013, Obama said he wasn't allowed to use an iPhone "for security reasons."
Unlike the official @WhiteHouse account and the @BarackObama account, which are run by staffers with a few tweets thrown in from Obama that are designated as such with "-bo" as a sign off, the tweets from @POTUS will come exclusively from the president, the White House says.
"The @POTUS Twitter account will serve as a new way for President Obama to engage directly with the American people," read a post on the White House blog. "President Obama is committed to making his Administration the most open and participatory in history, and @POTUS will give Americans a new venue to engage on the issues that matter most to them."
Vice President Biden, using his official @VP account, welcomed @POTUS to the neighborhood:
Hey @POTUS – Welcome to Twitter. See you around the neighborhood. –vp pic.twitter.com/iaUVFtQVpk— Vice President Biden (@VP) May 18, 2015
The First Lady also got in on the action:
It's about time, @POTUS! –mo— The First Lady (@FLOTUS) May 18, 2015
Alex Wall, White House Deputy Director of Online Engagement, said on Twitter that the account will be passed on to future presidents.
Apparently, this was one of the details people found most interesting about the new @POTUS account, including former President Bill Clinton who wanted to scope out the handle "for a friend."
Welcome to @Twitter, @POTUS! One question: Does that username stay with the office? #askingforafriend— Bill Clinton (@billclinton) May 18, 2015