Some very attractive photos of the Obamas have just been published.

I discussed them with David Koch and Melissa Doyle on "Sunrise" last week. Among the points I made in the discussion were, first, that the US First Family is very much a family on display. Daughters Malia and Sasha are international celebrities in their own right.

This is very different from Australia where the Prime Minister's wife may get some media attention but little media attention is given to the children. My guess is that most Australians could not provide the names the Rudd or Howard children. That side of a politician's life is seen by the Australian mass media as being "off-limits".

This difference goes to the heart of the role of the US President: he (or eventually she) is both head of state and head of government. The head of state represents all that is good, noble and true within the country (Australia has the Queen and Governor-General to do that), while the head of government is the cheap, shoddy, wheeling-dealing politician (for which Australia has a prime minister).

I think that the UK-Australian model is the better one because the two roles are different. By running the two roles together, the US expects too much from one person and his family. For example, at the time of Nixon's scandal over Watergate and Clinton's scandal over Monica Lewinsky, Americans were torn between respecting their head of state while wanting to get rid of the head of government who had acted so badly.

Second, the Obamas are an unusual couple by African-American standards because at least 80 per cent of African-American children are raised by single parents (usually the mother). President Obama himself comes from a broken family. Michelle's father stayed with the family for all his life (and he and his wife raised very successful children).

We now know that well before they decided to head for the White House, the Obamas had a clear determination to show that an African-American couple can stay together and raise a good family. The Obamas are therefore particularly important role models for African-American families as role models.

Now please enjoy the photos which were sourced from msnbc on Friday May 29th, 130th day of the Obama Presidency.  See video coverage of msnbc at the Whitehouse here and more still pictures here.

Dr Keith Suter