Alejandro Renteria didn’t have any paper handy when President Barack Obama inched closer on his way out of the House chamber post-State of the Union. So the quick-thinking Democratic aide stuck his neck out and asked to have something a little unusual autographed: his tie.

US President Obama signing my brother’s tie (Alejandro Renteria) at the State of Union 2015 pic.twitter.com/b9G4UHgtyh

— Robert Rent (@RobertRent) January 21, 2015

“You don’t want me to do that,” Renteria, a legislative correspondent in the office of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told HOH the president warned. But the star-struck staffer insisted, assuring 44, “Yes I do, Mr. President.”  

Per Renteria, the informal rap session was pretty spontaneous.  

“Everyone was trying to get signatures from him, and at the last minute, I thrust my tie out,” he said. “It was definitely unexpected. I was just excited to be there.”  

Renteria said he had never been that close to a sitting POTUS before. “It was an honor just to meet our president,” he gushed.  

The occasion was made even sweeter by his abiding respect for the current commander-in-chief.

@brianstelter not a page, but an honor to meet President @BarackObama! #SOTU @CNNPolitics pic.twitter.com/8p9ClDojVX

— Alejandro Renteria (@AlejandroRent) January 21, 2015

“This is definitely a meaningful moment. He’s one of my role models,” Renteria explained.  

According to Renteria, the nationally televised exchange triggered a flurry of texts and calls from folks wondering if he had, in fact, been a part of history in the making. “One camera angle blocked my face … so people were texting me, ‘Hey, did you see that random guy getting his tie signed?’” he chuckled.  

As for what will become of the presidentially endorsed apparel, Renteria is leaning toward preserving it into perpetuity. “My deputy said, ‘You should definitely get it framed,’” he told HOH.  

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