Former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, returned to the White House on Wednesday to unveil their official portraits.
Former US first couple Barack and Michelle Obama returned to the White House on Wednesday for the unveiling of their official portraits.
Happening Now: President Biden and the First Lady host former President Obama and former First Lady Obama for the unveiling of their official White House portraits. https://t.co/JLgH6y9h6B
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 7, 2022
Recent history indicates that incumbent Presidents host their predecessors for the unveiling and addition of new portraits to the White House collection, but this tradition was not observed by former President Donald Trump.
The White House collection dates back to the country’s first President George Washington and unveiling ceremonies which began in 1979 are traditionally light-hearted bipartisan events, no less so this year with incumbent and predecessor remaining very close friends.
It was a rockstar welcome for the Obama’s on their first joint-return visit to a White House they occupied for 8 years, for a tradition skipped by their Republican successor but resumed under Obama’s former Vice President and the current Commander-in-Chief.
“We always knew Barack Obama. We always knew what you do, what you thought was right, even if it was going to cost you politically, you know, we trusted him. All of you in this room, we believed in him. We counted. And I still do. And I still do because president. That’s why the country elected you twice. It’s why you’ll be considered one of the most consequential presidents in our history, along with one of the most consequential first ladies. You know, Michelle, he knows. We all know he couldn’t have done it without you.”
The event was last observed when the Obama’s hosted former Republican first-couple President George W. and Laura Bush in 2012 for their portrait unveilings.
And for the first time, the collection will now feature two black people after the historic election of Obama in 2008.
Obama had this to say: “When Michelle and I had our portraits unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery a few years back, I said that as far as I could tell, no one in my family tree had ever sat for a portrait before. I certainly had not. And now all of a sudden, we’ve done it twice. But these portraits have a special significance because, as Joe mentioned, they will hang in the White House alongside portraits of other presidents and first ladies dating back to George and Martha. So it was important to find the right people to paint them. I want to thank Sharon Sprung for capturing everything I love about Michelle, her grace, her intelligence, and the fact that she’s fine.”
I want to thank Robert McCurdy for his extraordinary work on my portrait. Robert is known for his paintings of public figures, and I love how he paints people exactly the way they are. Take a look at the process behind creating the official White House portraits: pic.twitter.com/oZb6ov4uwr
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) September 7, 2022
These portraits – organised by the White House Historical Association since the 1960s – adorn the walls of various rooms throughout the White House with the current administration saying the latest additions would serve as forever reminders of the power of hope and change.
“The portraits hanging in the White House Chronicle all the runners in that race. Each of us tasked with trying to bring the country we love closer to its highest aspirations. When future generations walk these halls and look up at these portraits, I hope they get a better, honest sense of who Michelle and I were. And I hope they lead with a deeper understanding that if we could make it here, maybe they can too.”
With the former first lady Michelle Obama telling this audience of friends that the portraits were about telling a fuller story of the country despite divisions that persist.
“As much as some folks might want us to believe that that story has lost some of its shine, that division and discrimination and everything else might have dimmed its light. I still know deep in my heart that what we share, as my husband continues to say, is so much bigger than what we don’t. Our democracy is so much stronger than our differences. And this little girl from the South Side is blessed beyond measure to have felt the truth of that fuller story throughout her entire life. Never more so than today.”
History made…. again.
