Obama, presidents past and future, pay tribute to Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali.
(Image credit: AP Photo/John Rooney)

"Muhammad Ali was The Greatest. Period," President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama said in a statement Saturday, following Friday's death of the boxing legend. "If you just asked him, he'd tell you ... But what made The Champ the greatest — what truly separated him from everyone else — is that everyone else would tell you pretty much the same thing." Obama said that he has a pair of Ali's boxing gloves and a framed picture of the boxer standing over Sonny Liston, "roaring like a lion," in his private study, in honor of the "man who fought for what was right," even when it cost him. "Muhammad Ali shook up the world," the first couple said. "And the world is better for it. We are all better for it."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.