Hawaii is having a hard time naming things after Barack Obama

President Obama vacations in Hawaii on Jan. 1, 2015

(Image credit: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)

published 26 December 2015

Each year, President Obama and his family vacation in Hawaii, the state he was born in. But the Aloha State isn't exactly ripe with landmarks honoring the country's first Hawaiian commander-in-chief, as The Washington Post explains:

Obama's return to the place of his birth also calls to mind an embarrassing record of legislative stumbles: Since 2009, Hawaii's politicos have sought to name two schools, an abandoned lot, a scenic overlook and two state holidays after Obama. An effort to put the 1960s-era cinder-block apartment building — where he lived — on the National Historic registry also fell short.For now, the most famous thing that bears Obama's name here is the "Snowbama," a shaved ice that's a mix of lemon, lime, cherry, and passion guava flavors and sells for $4 at Island Snow, one of the president's favorite vacation haunts. [The Washington Post]

"Because he's still president, it felt a little goofy and opportunistic for people to run around trying to honor him as if his public service was already complete," Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) told the Post.

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Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.