Politicians and Their BlackBerrys: A Doomed Love Affair?

By Barrett Holmes Pitner

July 4, 2012 | 8:00 a.m.

As BlackBerry usage in the nation's capital is on the wane with many residents switching to Android or iPhone devices, National Journal takes a look at prominent politicians who cannot live without their BlackBerrys.

President Obama drops his BlackBerry while walking to greet well-wishers after he steps off Air Force One in Memphis, Tenn., on May 16, 2011. (CHARLES DHARAPAK/AP)

Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., works on his BlackBerry in the Senate Reception Room following his agreement to support health care legislation, on Dec. 19, 2009. (HARRY HAMBURG/AP)

President Obama uses his BlackBerry alongside first lady Michelle Obama in the first half of an NCAA basketball game between Oregon State and Towson in Towson, Md., on Nov. 26, 2011. (PATRICK SEMANSKY/AP)

White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer, right, and political director Patrick Gaspard check their BlackBerrys on the South Lawn of the White House as they accompany President Obama to Wilmington, Del., on Oct. 15, 2010. (CHARLES DHARAPAK/AP)

Then-South Carolina gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley, right, and her husband, Michael Haley, read a message on her BlackBerry, while watching the returns come in at the Capital City Club in Columbia, S.C., on June 8, 2010. (BRETT FLASHNICK/AP)

This image of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton casually using her Blackberry while staffers frantically buzz around her displayed a calm under pressure that helped make the Texts From Hillary tumblr page incredibly popular. (DIANA WALKER/TIME)

President Obama checks his BlackBerry as he is seated with first lady Michelle Obama during the Carrier Classic NCAA basketball game between North Carolina and Michigan State on the flight deck of the USS Carl Vinson in Coronado, Calif., on Nov. 11, 2011. (SUSAN WALSH/AP)

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D.N.Y., hands off her BlackBerry as Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., watches before the start of a news conference on Capitol Hill, on Dec. 9, 2010. (HARRY HAMBURG/AP)

Secretary of State Clinton checks her BlackBerry alongside South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan, right, as she attends the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan, South Korea on Nov. 30, 2011. (SAUL LOEB/AP)

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