By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Analyst

June 29, 2009 – President Barack Obama sent a handwritten, private letter to the family of Michael Jackson over the weekend, expressing his condolences. 

Following the announcement Thursday of Jackson’s unexpected death, reporters pressed for a reaction from the commander-in-chief.  During Friday’s briefing,  White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters:  “I talked to him about it this morning.  Look, he said to me that obviously, Michael Jackson was a spectacular performer, a music icon.  I think everybody remembers hearing his songs, watching him moonwalk on television during Motown’s 25th anniversary.”

“But the President also said, look, he had — aspects of his life were sad and tragic.  And his condolences went out to the Jackson family and to fans that mourned his loss,” Gibbs added.

On Sunday, David Axelrod, senior adviser to the president told NBC’s Meet the Press; “the president has written the family and has shared his feelings with the family.”  

“The president obviously believes that he was an important and magnificent performer,” Axelrod said.  “Obviously, he led a sad life in many ways as well, but his impact is undeniable,” he said.

There are no plans for the president’s “private” letter of condolences to be released to the public.

While the investigation into the “King of Pop’s” death continues, Dr. Conrad Murray, Jackson’s personal physician and the last man to see him alive, was interviewed by homicide detectives over the weekend.  While he has hired a high-powered attorney to represent him, investigators said he has been helpful filling in the last  hours of the singer’s life. 

Murray, a cardiologist, was living at Jackson’s home in Los Angeles when he suffered cardiac arrest.  The family has requested a second autopsy and is awaiting those results.   

The Jackson family has gathered at the family home in Encino, Calif., to start plans for MJ’s memorial and decide if it will be public or private.   The Jackson family patriarch Joseph released a statement saying, “In one of the darkest moments of our lives we find it hard to find the words appropriate to this sudden tragedy we all had to encounter.

“Our beloved son, brother and father of three children has gone so unexpectedly, in such a tragic way and much too soon. It leaves us, his family, speechless and devastated to a point where communication with the outside world seems almost impossible at times.”

Tribute celebrations are already planned in Detroit and New York and more are expected around the world in addition to the family’s memorial in Los Angeles.