In a rare joint interview with ABC, timed to the opening of his new presidential center in Chicago, former U.S. President Barack Obama said he now sees himself less as a political player and more as a coach for future leaders. The interview aired overnight between Wednesday and Thursday.
Obama said he is choosing carefully when to intervene in public debate and believes it is time to make room for new forces emerging from American society. He argued that real change in the United States will come from younger leaders who grow through the new center, rather than from him remaining at the center of political combat.
The presidential center, built at a cost of $850 million across 19 acres in Chicago, is intended to serve as a platform for training and developing those leaders. Obama said history moves in cycles and that determined young people will eventually step forward to lead the country. He compared that approach to George Washington, who stepped away from politics at the height of his power so others could take over.
Obama also spoke about the personal balance between his public legacy and private life, saying some supporters want him to be constantly outspoken, but Michelle Obama prefers a quieter life for both of them. Michelle Obama echoed the theme, saying the campaign message of “hope and change” remains relevant and that people need to be “frustrated enough” with the status quo to demand change. She said the presidential center is meant to remind the public that change is possible.
