Former President Barack Obama has mostly confined himself to private life since leaving office last year, declining to comment with any regularity on the choices of his successor. That silence is intentional and strategic, a lengthy New York magazine profile published Sunday night reveals.
Per New York, Obama has at least three significant reasons to keep quiet. First, he's following institutional tradition at a time when many institutions seem to be in flux:
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
The magician who secretly smashed the Magic Circle's glass ceilingUnder The Radar Sophie Lloyd lurked in the all-male society by posing as a teenage boy for nearly two years, but was expelled after revealing her true identity
-
Kate Summerscale's 6 favorite true crime books about real murder casesFeature The best-selling author recommends works by Helen Garner, Gwen Adshead, and more
-
Team of bitter rivalsOpinion Will internal tensions tear apart Trump's unlikely alliance?
-
Saudi crown prince slams Israeli 'genocide' in GazaSpeed Read Mohammed bin Salman has condemned Israel’s actions
-
Trump fills key slots, tapping Congress, MAGA loyalistsSpeed Read The president-elect continues to fill his administration with new foreign policy, environment and immigration roles assigned
-
Haiti council fires prime minister, boosting chaosSpeed Read Prime Minister Garry Conille was replaced with Alix Didier Fils-Aimé
-
Trump tells next Senate GOP leader to skip confirmationsSpeed Read The president-elect said the next Senate majority leader must allow him to make recess appointments
-
Fed cuts rates, chair says he won't quit if Trump asksSpeed Read Jerome Powell was noncommittal on future rate cuts that were expected before Trump won the election
-
Judge revives plea deal for 9/11 suspectsSpeed Read A military judge has ruled to restore the plea deals struck by 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two co-conspirators
-
Harris concedes as world prepares for Trump's returnSpeed Read Vice President Kamala Harris told supporters it was important to 'accept the results of this election'
-
Abortion rights measures go 7 for 10Speed Read Constitutional amendments to protect abortion passed in seven states but failed in three others: Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota
