article_snippet.sent: When President Barack Obama President Barack Obama dined with a dozen technology business leaders in California four years ago, it was Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt who sat at the head of the table.
article_snippet.sent: President Barack Obama sat on one side, between the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and Facebook pioneer Mark Zuckerberg, but the place of honor was no accident.
article_snippet.sent: In 2007 President Barack Obama had an on-stage cameo with Google's then-CEO Eric Schmidt as part of a presidential candidate series .
article_snippet.sent: Google's then-CEO Eric Schmidt shared the head of the table with the spouse of a venture capitalist whose firm owned 20 per cent of Google, as President Barack Obama President Barack Obama dined with tech leaders in 2011 .
article_snippet.sent: About the same time, White House visitor logs show, Google chairman Eric Schmidt met with Obama senior adviser Pete Rouse.
article_snippet.sent: Schmidt got a prime seat at the table when newly minted President Obama met with a group of CEOs in February 2009 . 'EVANGELIST':
article_snippet.sent: Schmidt ascent in newly minted President Obama's world began in 2007 when the President visited Google's California headquarters for a one-on-one interview, staged for the benefit of the company's employees, then 16,000 strong.