FORMER President Barack Obama has kept his distance from the public eye since leaving the White House in 2017.
However, he is returning to the White House for the unveiling of his presidential portrait on September 7, 2022.
Former US President Barack Obama[/caption]
Where is Barack Obama today?
Former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are heading back to the White House on September 7, 2022 for an unveiling of their portraits.
This will be the first time in ten years the tradition will resume since Obama held a ceremony for the former President George W Bush and his wife Laura Bush in 2012.
Stewart McLaurin, the president of the White House Historical Association, told CNN that the Covid-19 pandemic was a factor in delaying the unveiling.
“Covid impacted us two-and-a-half years ago,” McLaurin said. “And I do think it’s important for these (portraits) to be revealed at a time when the public does have access to the White House and they can be seen.”
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The details of the portrait is largely kept secret and won’t be revealed until the ceremony but McLaurin said what will be seen is an “evolution” in what will be seen in the portrait.
“I think this is going to be somewhat of a magical moment. I think it’s going to be an evolution of art,” he said.
He continued, “We’re now in the heading towards the first third of the 21st century.
“And I think in the mind’s eye of most Americans, we see presidential portraits as these very traditional, 19th-century-looking-and-feeling portraits. But art and taste in art evolves and changes.”
more from barack Obama
Did Barack Obama win an Emmy Award?
Obama became the second former president to win an Emmy Award on September 3, 2022.
The award was for his voiceover of the Netflix documentary, Our Great National Parks.
It is a five-part series describing national parks and wildlife throughout the world.
Dwight Eisenhower was the only other president to receive an the Governors Award in 1956 while still in office.
Obama has also won two Grammy Awards for the audiobooks of his memoirs, The Audacity of Hope and A Promised Land.
The Emmy and Grammy awards have brought him one step closer to becoming an EGOT winner – someone who has won an Emmy, GRAMMY, Oscar, and Tony Award.
Only 17 people have become EGOT winners including Audrey Hepburn, Mel Brooks, Whoopi Goldberg, and John Legend.
Barack Obama was elected president in 2008[/caption]
When did Barack Obama first return to the White House?
On April 5, 2022, Obama returned to the White House for the first time since leaving office to celebrate the 12th anniversary of signing his health care law.
“It is good to be back in the White House,” Obama said, via CBS News.
“It’s been a while. I confess, I heard some changes have been made by the current president since I was last year.
“Apparently, Secret Service agents have to wear aviators now. The Navy mess has been replaced by a Baskin Robbins. And there’s a cat running around, which I guarantee you, Beau, it’s funny, would have been very unhappy about.
“But coming back, even if I have to wear a tie, which I very rarely do these days, gives me a chance to visit with some of the incredible people who serve this White House and serve this country every single day.”
He later went on to talk about the Affordable Care Act (ACA), adding that he thought it might have cost him reelection.
He also discussed the new rule that was proposed by the Treasury Department to make the act more accessible to Americans.
“I intended to get health care passed, even if it cost me reelection — which, for a while, looked like it might,” Obama joked.
“The reason we’re here today is because President Biden, Vice President Harris, everybody who’s worked on this thing understood from the start that the ACA wasn’t perfect,” he continued.
“To get the bill passed, we had to make compromises. We didn’t get everything we wanted. That wasn’t reason not to do it.”
If passed, the new rule won’t go into effect until January 2023, but it will reportedly help make health care more accessible and affordable.
When was Barack Obama president?
On November 4, 2008, Obama made history by becoming the first African American elected President, after defeating Republican candidate John McCain.
At the time, he was also the third sitting U.S. Senator to be elected president.
During his first four years, he signed three signature bills, an omnibus bill to stimulate the economy, legislation making health care more accessible and affordable, and legislation reforming the nation’s financial institutions, according to his White House bio.
He also won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, making him the fourth president to receive the award.
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In 2012, Obama was then reelected after defeating Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.
During his second term, he famously started a climate change agreement to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow global warming that was signed by 195 nations.
