President Obama Mourns The Passing Of New York Yankees Legend Yogi Berra

To See President Biden's 5 Best Jokes At The White House Correspondents Dinner visit The Daily.

President Obama mourned the passing of “jovial prophet” Yogi Berra in a statement from the White House.

In a statement, President Obama said, “Yogi Berra was an American original – a Hall of Famer and humble veteran; prolific jokester and jovial prophet. He epitomized what it meant to be a sportsman and a citizen, with a big heart, competitive spirit, and a selfless desire to open baseball to everyone, no matter their background. Michelle and I offer our deepest condolences to his family, his friends, and his fans in New York and across the world.”

It isn’t enough to quote Yogi Berra’s baseball statistics, including a record that is sure to be unmatched 14 World Series appearances and ten wins. Yogi Berra was more than a baseball player. Out of all of the players from the Yankees golden era who went on to become legends, it was Berra who became an enduring pop culture icon.

Berra became the world’s foremost unintentional philosopher with quotes like, “If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else,” but there was to Berra than the personality.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today summed up Berra’s accomplishments in life, “Yogi is the same man who was nominated to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015. The petition had nothing to do with his playing skills, but Yogi, the man. He volunteered for the Navy and served in World War II, earning a Purple Heart. He befriended African-American players and Latino players when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947. He was an ambassador for Athlete Ally, which promotes LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) rights in sports. He also created a scholarship at Columbia University. The Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center serves 20,000 students with its character education programs.”

Berra was an American original, and he will be greatly missed by all.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association