Obama to inmates: It could have been me in prison

(Image credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

published 16 July 2015

President Obama became the first sitting American president to visit a prison on Thursday, when he traveled to Oklahoma's El Reno medium-security facility. While there, the president told the nonviolent offenders he met with that, had things gone a little differently, he could have been the one behind bars, Politico reports.

"That's what strikes me — there but for the grace of God," Obama said. He added, "When they describe their youth, these are young people who made mistakes that aren't that different from the mistakes I made, and the mistakes that a lot of you guys made. The difference is that they did not have the kind of support structures, the second chances, the resources that would allow them to survive those mistakes."

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.

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