President Barack Obama landed in Anchorage Monday afternoon at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. He greeted a few hundred Alaskans waiting for him on the JBER runway, including Mayor Ethan Berkowitz and U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan.
Poldine Carlo, 94, of Fairbanks sang a song to Obama in the Koyukon Athabascan language to mark the administration’s decision to change the name of North America’s highest peak from Mt. McKinley to Denali.
Gov. Bill Walker flew with the President on Air Force One. Walker says he got a full tour of the plane and spent about 90 minutes with the president.
“I’ve arrived in Alaska a lot of ways and I’ve gotta say that was the most enjoyable,” Walker said. “It was really fun, a good experience, a good opportunity for me to have some very meaningful discussions with the president.”