Later this month, the Obama Presidential Center will open on the South Side of Chicago. In a preview for the press, NPR and other media toured the building and grounds showcasing the Obama presidency.
It isn’t a presidential library. It’s a campus, with basketball courts, gardens, ball fields, a playground for kids, a Chicago public library branch and an eight- story museum that towers over it all.
The first thing visitors see when they walk into the museum is the word “hope.” It’s one of numerous art installations throughout the facility.
Hope and change were guiding themes of former President Barack Obama’s improbable 2008 presidential campaign that led to two terms in office.
There are floors of exhibits that tell not just the story of the former president and first lady, but also the story of the nation, starting with the Declaration of Independence.
“It begins with the history of our country, the Declaration of Independence, the suffrage movement, slavery, reconstruction, the civil rights movement, all of the different ways in which ordinary people brought about the change that led to his presidency,” said Valerie Jarrett, CEO of the Obama Foundation.
In the Obama Presidential Center Museum, the story of America is that of a nation striving to become a more perfect union, a phrase Obama returned to often in his speeches.
One floor up, the museum details Obama’s first presidential campaign, including the bruising primary election. There’s a whole section of campaign buttons; there are campaign signs, both homemade and mass produced. A documentary-style video with swelling music brings visitors back to the emotion of that time, the promise many felt with the election of America’s first Black president.
The museum’s exhibits include artifacts from Obama’s early life and time in office. Items on display include everything from Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize to a handprint art project he made in elementary school. There’s a replica of the Oval Office, decorated as it was when Obama was there and a display of first lady Michelle Obama’s dresses. And it’s not just couture ballgowns and inauguration attire. There’s also a basic sleeveless dress from Target.
One item that’s missing from the museum is Obama’s tan suit, which he was criticized roundly for wearing. It was unserious, and not befitting the office, critics said. But it became a running joke for Obama supporters and members of his administration.
Apparently it wasn’t as memorable for the former president.
“I asked him about the tan suit and he said, ‘I think I gave it away,'” recalled Jarrett in an interview with NPR. “He wasn’t even positive where it ended up, but he did give it away. So we just have photos, beautiful photos of that tan suit.”
It’s been nearly a decade since President Obama left office but in terms of politics and policy, it’s been several lifetimes. Yet, in the museum, the vibes are very much from that earlier time.
There’s a timeline of President Obama’s accomplishments while in office. The raid that killed Osama bin Laden. The passage of the Affordable Care Act. A number of those listed have since been reversed by President Trump: the Iran nuclear deal, the Paris climate agreement and lifting the ban on transgender individuals serving in the military.
Jarrett said she’s hoping visitors will come away not just nostalgic for what was but motivated to make change, again.
