You might get to shake the hand of a future president during a campaign or maybe even be lucky enough to meet a sitting president. But one rarely expects to have the kind of unusual connection with any president that Milwaukee-area native Carl Fuldner has with Barack Obama, who is sworn in as the nation's 44 president on Tuesday, Jan. 20.
Fuldner, now living in Chicago to pursue a PhD at the University of Chicago, rents the Hyde Park apartment in which Obama lived during the late 1980s, while working as a community organizer.
About two blocks away is the storied Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop where Barack and Michelle Obama first kissed.
Presumably, they did it again at some point in that apartment.
Fuldner discovered that he lived in Obama's apartment via word of mouth and then confirmed it via an article on the Web.
As America prepares for the inauguration of its first African-American president, we asked Fuldner what it's like rinsing off in Obama's former shower.
OnMilwaukee.com: How did you come to live in Obama's former apartment?
Carl Fuldner: The answer is actually rather traumatic. This apartment is the third place I tried to rent in Hyde Park. How I lost first place isn't especially interesting. The second apartment, which is about four blocks from here, was managed by the same people that manage my current apartment. I really thought I had that one. My credit check cleared and I sent the lease and security deposit through certified mail in early August. So, I came down from Milwaukee at the beginning of September, ready to move in, and they told me they never received the lease or security deposit, they had no recollection of the agreement, and that the apartment had been rented.
The management guy I'm talking with literally looks at me and says, "Well, it sounds like you're up S**t Creek without a paddle!?" Then he says, with the glint of Chicago in his eye, "We do have one other place. It hasn't been rented for a while -- we finally got it up to code this past weekend."
At that point, most people probably would have seen the writing on the wall and looked for a different company. I went with a buddy to check the place out. As it turned out, they had just done a shoddy job retiling the roof, so the bathroom and living walls were seeping brown water. Still, at that point I wasn't left with much choice, so I signed off on it and hoped for the best.
OMC: How do you know Obama lived there?
CF: I wouldn't discover that Obama lived here until a few weeks later, when another tenant told me he had seen a picture of our building on the local news. I found a Web site that listed a bunch of Obama landmarks in Hyde Park, and sure enough, he lived in my unit. It's funny, you'd think it would have been a selling point for the apartment, but the management company never once mentioned it.
OMC: Can you tell us a bit about the place? Where is it, is it in a building, a house, on a busy street, how many rooms, etc.
CF: It's a one-bedroom in a three-story walk-up with a courtyard in front, which is pretty typical for Hyde Park. The back faces a big shopping center, with a grocery store and a few other stores. As you might expect, the area is teeming with Obama pride -- his current house is about a half mile away. Some of the stores have signed pictures of Obama in the window or behind the counter. The Walgreens next to the grocery store claims to be "Obama Merchandise Headquarters," and features new Obama paraphernalia every week.
My favorite is Wesley's Shoe Corral has a picture in their window of Michelle Obama buying a pair of shoes. You see stuff like that all over Hyde Park. People really show their pride down here, which is great.
CF: I wouldn't say it freaks me out, but it pops into my head a lot. In the beginning, it would mostly be general observations. "I wonder how Obama organized the living room?" or "I'll bet Obama owned a box spring for his mattress." Recently, they've become more specific. Things like, "I've never looked at that radiator from this angle before; I wonder if Obama ever did that." Whereas when I try to imagine him, say, in the bedroom, it becomes this cartoonish image of him laying flat on his back, neatly tucked in with a sleeping cap on and a biography of some important person on his nightstand. I can't help but picture him as the idealized character we seen in the media. Of course, most people don't sleep on their backs -- or at least I don't think they do.
At the same time, thinking about his more mundane experiences can have a humanizing effect on him, which I enjoy. I like to imagine that there were weeks when the apartment became a total mess, and he'd have to rush to throw his dirty clothes in the closet before Michelle came by. I find that thought reassuring.
OMC: Have you checked for loose floorboards or paneling? Maybe he left something behind!
CF: Well, there are certainly a few loose floorboards and panels, but thus far I haven't found any marks that I can say with confidence he made. Many tenants have occupied the apartment in the two decades since he was here, so it's hard to say. Then again, I am probably the first tenant for whom the apartment has this significance, so there could be something left undetected until now.
Living here has certainly affected my day-to-day attitude, in both positive and negative ways. If I am struggling to get out of bed in the morning, I'll think to myself, "Man, Obama probably would have already jogged three miles today." That's mostly a source of inspiration, but it causes some anxiety also. It can be intimidating, you know? Most of the time, it's just inspiring.
OMC: Are you having an inauguration day party in Obama's ex-pad? Maybe giving tours of the place?
CF: I'm not opposed to the idea of tours. I've given some informal ones to friends. No one has sought me out to ask if they could see the place, though.
As for inauguration, someone told me it happens around noon on the 20th? I really don't know if I could justify throwing a party at noon on a Tuesday -- what would Obama think?
It's funny you asked about the shower first. Most people when they first find out I live in Obama's former apartment ask about the bathroom. Partly, I think that is because there is a certain leveling of experience that takes place in a bathroom, so it becomes easier to picture him there. People look more or less the same when they are going about their business in there, you know?
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
