Presidential legacies can mean abstract lists of accomplishments in office or hopes for doing some good after you are part of the rarified club of ex-presidents. President Obama is focusing on both, seeking out ideas over late-night dinner and drinks with tech billionaires, writers like Toni Morrison and Malcolm Gladwell, and stars like actress Eva Longoria — and that was just one night in February, The New York Times reports.
Obama's post-presidency plans center around a high-tech presidential library in Chicago that will allow the Obama story to be experienced virtually around the globe, to some extent, and building up a foundation that will allow him to make a difference in some areas, with likely candidates including prison reform, peaceful diplomacy, and working to make government more responsive and effective, report Michael D. Shear and Gardiner Harris. Obama and his allies eventually hope to raise at least $800 million for the effort. If that sounds like a lot of work, the planning doesn't sound so onerous, according to Shear and Harris:
The heart of the post-presidential planning is Mr. Obama's own outreach to eclectic, often extraordinarily rich groups of people. Several aides close to Mr. Obama said his extended conversations over the lengthy dinners — guests say his drink of choice at the gatherings is an extra-dry Grey Goose martini — reminded them of the private consultations Mr. Obama had with donors and business leaders as he sought to build a winning campaign. [New York Times]
Steven Spielberg has reportedly signed on to help come up with narrative frames for the presidential library. But if Obama has landed on a set of areas to concentrate on when he's a private citizen again, he isn't sharing the details. "His focus is on finishing this job completely, thoroughly," said senior adviser and confidante Valerie Jarrett. You can read more at The New York Times.
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.
-
Google avoids the worst in antitrust rulingSpeed Read A federal judge rejected the government's request to break up Google
-
Supreme Court allows social media age check lawSpeed Read The court refused to intervene in a decision that affirmed a Mississippi law requiring social media users to verify their ages
-
Nvidia hits $4 trillion milestoneSpeed Read The success of the chipmaker has been buoyed by demand for artificial intelligence
-
X CEO Yaccarino quits after two yearsSpeed Read Elon Musk hired Linda Yaccarino to run X in 2023
-
Musk chatbot Grok praises Hitler on XSpeed Read Grok made antisemitic comments and referred to itself as 'MechaHitler'
-
Disney, Universal sue AI firm over 'plagiarism'Speed Read The studios say that Midjourney copied characters from their most famous franchises
-
Amazon launches 1st Kuiper internet satellitesSpeed Read The battle of billionaires continues in space
-
Test flight of orbital rocket from Europe explodesSpeed Read Isar Aerospace conducted the first test flight of the Spectrum orbital rocket, which crashed after takeoff
