President Barack Obama salutes while getting of Marine One
and prior to boarding Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base
in Maryland, Monday, Oct. 26, 2009. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Even this early in the Obama Presidency, there is talk of an Obama Presidential Library. And the talk centers around one place: Chicago. More specifically, the Obama's own community of Hyde Park. Here is what Lyn Sweet of the Sun Times had to say.
What is certain about the presidency of Barack Obama--whether one term or two--is that there will be an Obama presidential library some place in the United States. Given that Chicago is Obama's adopted home town, where First Lady Michelle was born and the city where he launched his political career, it is hard to imagine that the library won't be in Chicago.
And it is also hard to imagine that the University of Chicago won't be interested in being the major academic institution affiliated with the library or having the presidential library near the U of C campus in Hyde Park.
Both President Obama and First Lady Michelle--as well as many in their inner circle--have ties to the University of Chicago. Obama taught at the law school and Mrs. Obama was an executive at the Medical Center and at the university. Daughters Malia and Sasha attended the U of C Lab School before moving to Washington.
The President, however, is cool to the idea of even having a Presidential Library and seems more interested in a Jimmy Carter-type of thing: an advocacy center, which fits in nicely with this President.
“He didn’t know if that would be something he would want to do,” said Whitaker, adding that Obama talked about the possibility of a “virtual” library that would avoid paying “homage” to him.
Obama seemed more interested in some kind of advocacy center, along the lines of what Jimmy Carter has done at the Carter Center in Atlanta, said Whitaker, an executive vice president at the University of Chicago Medical Center. The longtime Obama family friend and basketball buddy noted the numerous tracts of vacant property available on the city’s south side, not far from the campus.
Steven Kloehn, a University of Chicago spokesman, said he was unaware of any formal conversations between the university and the White House about the possibility.
Much of this is wishful thinking on the part of the University of Chicago. The final decision is in the hands of one person, President Barack Obama. Chicago City Hall Examiner and The Chicago Grassroots Political Examiner.
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