We all knew what President Obama was saying when he unintentionally (or intentionally) dissed art history majors during a speech at General Electric plant in Illinois last month, but that doesn't mean he should have said it -- or said it that way. He apologized for those remarks via a response letter to Ann Collins Johns, an art history professor at the University of Texas at Austin who sent an email to the White House the day after his speech, the Washington Post reported.

"Let me apologize for my off-the-cuff remarks. I was making a point about the jobs market, not the value of art history," the president wrote. "As it so happens, art history was one of my favorite subjects in high school, and it has helped me take in a great deal of joy in my life that I might otherwise have missed."

Among other things, Collins Johns had argued that art history encourages "critical thinking," according to the Post.

The speech. Needing an example to show that manufacturing jobs not requiring a formal college education could be equally if not more profitable than the career path of someone holding a bachelor's degree, Obama chose an easy target, art history majors.

"[A] lot of young people no longer see the trades and skilled manufacturing as a viable career," Obama said during the speech. "But I promise you, folks can make a lot more, potentially, with skilled manufacturing or the trades than they might with an art history degree."

In his next sentence, he attempted to clarify, but the damage was already done.

"Now, nothing wrong with an art history degree -- I love art history," Obama said. "So I don't want to get a bunch of emails from everybody. I'm just saying you can make a really good living and have a great career without getting a four-year college education as long as you get the skills and the training that you need."

A bunch of emails he likely did get, though Collins Johns' has been the only one to make the national news. That happened after she posted Obama's response on her Facebook wall. Thus, other letter holders who have chosen to privately cherish their presidential notes may still be out there.