Obama Invites Prof. Gates, Sgt. Crowley to White House

The strange saga involving an African-American Harvard professor, a white Cambridge, Mass., police officer and a crash course in racial politics may have reached a (somewhat) happy ending—or at least an interesting one—now that President Obama has invited Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Sgt. James Crowley to the White House to try to work it all out together.

The Boston Globe’s “Metrodesk”:

Harvard law professor Charles J. Ogletree Jr., one of Gates’s lawyers, praised the president, a former student of his, for calling both men.

“I think the president has taken the right approach by trying to make sure we move forward,” said Ogletree. “He’s always had the ability to negotiate difficult conversations, and his steps today are an important step in the right direction. I think the president has given his assessment, which makes a lot of sense, and, however you feel about it, it has reduced the temperature and allowed everyone to move forward in a constructive way.”

Crowley was also pleased by the call, according to a fellow officer who asked not to be identified because he is not authorized to speak publicly about the issue.

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White House / Pete Souza

Working the phone: After ruffling feathers with his comments earlier in the week about the Gates-Crowley run-in, President Obama invited the two men to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.