Biden, Obama, Bush, and Clinton joined together in Jackson Park in Chicago before the Obama Presidential Center dedication ceremony. The pool photo, shot by AP’s Pablo Martinez Monsivais, also captured the four first ladies by their side: Jill, Michelle, Laura, and Hillary.
There is no known earlier photograph of these four standing together. The closest precedent was April 25, 2013, at the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, but that frame had Obama, Clinton, and W. Bush and George HW Bush and Jimmy Carter. Biden was not in it.
Backstage produced an already viral moment: George W. Bush slipped Michelle Obama a can of Altoids, a callback to the cough fountain he passed her at John McCain’s 2018 funeral. Obama and Clinton were laughing as it happened. Before the public event, the Obamas personally toured the Bidens, Bushes, and Clintons at the museum, including a photo of the Oval Office and East Room miniatures. Obama’s spokesman described the gathering as warm and kind, with the group hosting families.
The facility sits on nearly 19 acres on Chicago’s South Side, near where the Obamas lived before the White House. It is not a traditionally run presidential library. A privately funded Obama Foundation project that includes a museum, a branch of the Chicago Public Library, gardens, a playground, sports facilities, and a basketball court. The final cost came to about $850 million, making it the most expensive presidential palace to date. Opening to the public tomorrow, June 19, tickets are sold out in October and more than a million annual visitors are expected.
The tower itself was designed to look like four hands joining together, a visual echo of what was happening on stage. Speeches came from Barack and Michelle Obama. The lineup of artists ranged from Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Bono and The Edge, John Legend, Jennifer Hudson, and Common to Christina Aguilera, Eddie Vedder, Marc Anthony, The Thames, and The Roots, closing the night with Stevie Wonder’s hit song “Higher Ground.” The crowd included Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi, Gavin Newsom, Rahm Emanuel, Oprah, and David Letterman, Stephen Colbert, and Conan O’Brien.
Donald Trump was not invited. He previously called the project a disaster, and his absence made today’s draft what it was: four living former commander-in-chiefs of both parties, at the same time, in one of the most divisive periods in modern American politics.
Their faces told slightly different stories. Obama looked warmly engaged, Clinton laughed out loud, Biden managed a gentle smile, and Bush stood his ground.
Thanks for reading. Follow Thought Catalog on Facebook for more stories like this, or check out our website.