The Obama Presidential Center held its grand opening ceremony Thursday, with an A-list lineup of celebrities and every living former president joining the Obamas for the event. The former president and first lady each delivered speeches celebrating the United States, calling on Americans to overcome the challenges the country faces and calling out the current administration without ever saying President Trump’s name.
Michelle Obama celebrates husband, calls for audience to choose hope
The Obama Presidential Center opened with a ceremony that included speeches from Michelle and Barack Obama. The former first lady used the first part of her speech to acknowledge the couple’s daughters, Malia and Sasha, who joined them on stage for much of the event, and to sing the praises of her husband.
Mrs. Obama reminded the audience and her husband how he displayed grace in the face of personal attacks such as “The claims that a U.S. senator and constitutional law expert wasn’t qualified for the job, the lies about your birthright, your faith, your patriotism, the outrage when you stated the biological fact that if you’d had a son that he too would be Black.”
Michelle celebrated her husband for brushing off these attacks while he was “doing the people’s work, rescuing our economy, expanding health care, ending a war, ordering the bin Laden raid, saving an auto industry, winning a peace prize.”
While celebrating President Obama’s accomplishments, Michelle also acknowledged the challenges facing the country currently, including economic hardships and social and political divisions.
“Failing to see the humanity in all people puts us all on a slippery slope,” Mrs. Obama said, while urging the audience to reject cynicism.
“Hope is a choice,” she said. “Whether or not we use our voices to speak up is a choice. Voting is a choice. Being a decent human being is a choice. Believing that we still hold the power to build a country that reflects us all is a choice.”
Barack Obama calls on U.S. to live up to its principles
President Obama later took the stage for his own speech, which recounted his long history in Chicago, highlighted anecdotes of ordinary Americans’ accomplishments and concerns, and spoke about the challenges facing American democracy and the place of the United States in the world.
Noting the upcoming 250th anniversary of American independence, Obama noted how the country’s founders created a political system with “no kings or lords, no serfs or subjects, but only citizens, each of us free to pursue our own version of happiness and able to determine our collective faith through an elected representative government.”
Acknowledging that “America has made its share of foreign policy mistakes,” Obama called for a foreign policy that promotes democracy, cooperation, human rights and environmental responsibility “instead of trying to dominate and bully and squeeze every advantage just because we can.”
Former presidents, A-list musicians celebrate Obama legacy
Though many of their remarks seemed to be calling out the current administration, the Obamas never mentioned the name of President Trump, who was not invited to the event.
The Obamas were, however, joined by every living former president and first lady: Bill and Hillary Clinton, George W. and Laura Bush, and Joe and Jill Biden.
The ceremony included a variety of musical performances from artists including Jennifer Hudson, Christina Aguilera, Tems, John Legend, Common, Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, Bono and the Edge of U2, and Bruce Springsteen.
Stevie Wonder closed out the event, reminiscing about predicting Obama’s presidency when he met the then-senator in 2004 and performing several songs, including bringing many of the previous acts together for a rendition of “Higher Ground.”
This final performance capped an afternoon of celebration of President Obama’s legacy and calls to action to uphold the principles of the United States.
While the details of the official celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States have undergone significant changes and the withdrawal of many of its acts, the Obama Presidential Center opening took on the character of a celebration of the country and its history.