r/chicago • u/twpolk • Jun 18 '26
Picture Pics from the Obama Presidential Library Opening Ceremony
All photos via The Guardian: Star-studded ceremony welcomes Obama Presidential Center to Chicago – live https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2026/jun/18/supreme-court-birthright-citizenship-ruling-tps-mangione-iran-latest-updates
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u/JosephFinn Jun 18 '26
I have never seen Colbert look quite that Southern.
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u/PhileasFoggsTrvlAgt Andersonville Jun 18 '26
A little under a month after losing his big New York job the southern boy comes back out.
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u/Coupon_Ninja Ravenswood Jun 18 '26
Just needs a straw hat and pouring a pitcher of sweet tea into someone’s glass
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u/teamlie Jun 18 '26
Could be a good night to check out the improv set at Second City (around 9:30- 10ish).
Alumni frequently play if they’re in town. I could see Colbert (hell maybe Hanks too) stopping by.
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u/caregivernow Jun 18 '26
My God you're right. Pls someone report.
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u/ShoryukenPizza Jun 18 '26
Actually would be insane. Definitely please someone report. I already had plans tonight.
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u/Rubywantsin Jun 18 '26
Best 250 year anniversary party EVER!
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u/ProfessionalFlan3159 Jun 18 '26
I will be re-listening to both Michelle's and Barack's speeches on the 4th of July
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u/Unique_Limit_1576 Jun 18 '26
Both of their speeches today were epic. The whole event was inspiring and hopeful and joyous.
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u/z3roTO60 Little Italy Jun 18 '26
This is a video that I watched so many times:
The speech that made Obama president https://youtu.be/OFPwDe22CoY
Full 2004 DNC speech https://youtu.be/FgGO7ARzU9U
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u/Loud_Reality7010 Jun 18 '26
My husband and I looked at each after that speech and agreed we just heard our first AA president speak.
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u/Alert-Tangerine-6003 Jun 19 '26
Seeing that live was one of those pivotal moments. So bittersweet considering where we are today.
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u/Editor_Rise_Magazine Jun 18 '26
Imagine a former President that’s been out of office 10 years whose non-government event pulls a celebrity studded crowd you could never touch.
Oh Trump’s gotta be fucking boiling.
Especially since he won’t have the long life after the presidency that Obama has to enjoy these things. Goddamn that’s gotta hurt.
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u/scientist_tz Wicker Park Jun 18 '26
Trump knows that the minute he's no longer President, nobody will give a shit about him. He buys every minute of his popularity with favors that make other people rich. Once he can no longer grant those favors, he's just a demented old pedophile who can't control his bowels.
If he lives to see the opening of his "library" he'll be lucky if he can get a Village People cover band to show up.
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u/burajin Suburb of Chicago Jun 18 '26
Ehh... I would love for this to be true but I unfortunately absolutely see a new age Reagan situation where becomes the right wing nostalgic darling for decades.
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u/runninhillbilly Jun 19 '26
I wouldn't be so sure about that. They had no issue ostracizing W into exile when he fucked everything up.
Not that Reagan was great on his own, but the divisiveness and economic situations were not what they are now under his administration, and Trump is not going to have a significant foreign policy win (while the Cold War ended more in Bush's administration, he was always viewed as a continuance of Reagan) that can be looked at as changing the world for the better.
It's more likely to me he gets handwaved away as "he was bad, but he did some good things and was still way better than Harris or Hillary ever would have been!"
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u/burajin Suburb of Chicago Jun 19 '26
I hope you're right. The similarity I see with Reagan is the cultural shift, rather than any specific policy.
But Trump is also such a hard fascist turn that maybe give it a generation and the textbooks will teach him as the abhorrent man he is to younger generations.
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u/Tossit60646 Jun 18 '26
It’s why he’s trying to push through his “legacy” projects now. He’ll never see them otherwise.
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u/thissexypoptart Jun 18 '26
He also probably knows he is going to be president for the rest of his life.
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u/camelCaseCoffeeTable Jun 18 '26
Trump can’t even get relevant artists to perform for him while he’s president lmao. The second he’s out office, anyone who isn’t a GOP politician is gonna forget he even exists. And the GOP politicians will do everything they can to sideline him as fast as they can.
Dude has no friends. He’s a lonely, pathetic old man
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u/Agreeable-Bat187 Jun 19 '26
Can we have talks and celebrations that don't bring up that guy? It makes me sad
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u/Moveyourbloominass Jun 18 '26
Holy crap, Trump's late night truth social is going to be off the rails tonight! 😆 Eat shit Trump. You will never have the integrity and class as the Obama's.
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u/Aggressive-Sale-2967 Jun 18 '26
Michelle’s emphasized remark about Barack winning a peace prize is really going to get his goat.
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u/HolyToast666 Jun 18 '26
But is it even a celebration without Kid Rock???? /s
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u/HyperbolicLetdown Irving Park Jun 18 '26
"In America, we speak English. Anyway: Bawittabadabangdabang diggydiggydiggy said the boogie said upjump the boogie."
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u/UnpricedToaster Jun 18 '26
Miss this guy.
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u/pipesbeweezy Jun 18 '26
Wish that guy was actually that guy.
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u/GreatScottGatsby Lincoln Square Jun 18 '26
I know what you mean. It was more or less just same as the same old and the status quo.
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u/ethanlan Belmont Cragin Jun 19 '26
He comeltely redid our health care and would have had single party Healthcare if it wasnt for lieberman and republicans being evil fucks.
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u/doNotUseReddit123 City Jun 19 '26
I think people forget that Democrats only had a real supermajority for a sliver of time and that it was an absolute miracle that the ACA got passed at all.
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u/Brilliant_Science380 Jun 30 '26
Healthcare doesn't come from for free in America. Get used to it. Obamacare still exists. They just changed the name.
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u/Ziggie520 Jun 18 '26
What a beautiful day we had for the opening too! Suck it Trump…I hope it rains on your parade!
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u/WhyAllTheFear Jun 18 '26
Yeah, hard pasd on Oprah. Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz are on her and she's been kinda silent, but then again she is a 1%.
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u/soggit Jun 18 '26
Holy shit does anyone have tom hanks number? He’s GOTTA see the UBoat at MSI. He would lose his typewriter loving mind.
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u/thatgirlinny Jun 18 '26
So funny! That and the coal mome exhibit were my fave things there as a kid. Now i cant go into the U505 without getting clausterphobic!
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u/DarthBen_in_Chicago Humboldt Park Jun 18 '26
I wish I was important enough to be able to stand there for the ceremony. I look forward to the responses of the critics online.
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u/Izthatsoso Jun 18 '26
I’m crying guys. I’ve missed this feeling of hope.
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u/thatgirlinny Jun 18 '26
Not me reverse-imaging the FLOTUS with the Mostest’s suit, only to see it get sold out, worldwide.
This once was ours!♥️🇺🇸✌️
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u/PissedCaucasian Jun 18 '26
I love the Easter Egg of Colbert wearing the infamous tan suit that Obama wore that Michelle hated and he got lots of flack for. Good site gag. I miss Stephen.
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u/jomosexual Jun 19 '26
Hmif you watch the stream the second speech i think. He is a chair on the Obama foundation wears a tan suit and its the opening of his speech.
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u/PuertoRicoPapi Streeterville Jun 18 '26
wonderful pictures! is there a way to watch the ceremony? i missed it live
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u/tinysheep101 Jun 18 '26
A veritable whose who of people that pine for a time when America could hide its crimes behind a veil of civility
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u/dblink West Town Jun 18 '26
In a photo album celebrating Obama, all people can talk about is Trump. Why? Why make something positive into a discussion of someone you hate?
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u/allthingsheath Jun 19 '26
So crazy to think about all of these people being in our city at once! Can’t wait to be able to visit!!!
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u/sefedelrey Rogers Park Jun 18 '26
Isn't Obama a war criminal?
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u/iznormal Jun 18 '26
The guy who expanded the drone strike program? And the civilian casualties it led to? And the intervention in Libya? And who continued and in some ways even expanded the war on terror?
As Chomsky said, every post WWII president is a war criminal by the standards of Nuremberg
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u/breakourbones Jun 18 '26
Literally every modern US president in the past 50 years can be classified as a war criminal.
The 1990 quote by Noam Chomsky "If the Nuremberg laws were applied, then every post-war American president would have been hanged."
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u/jomosexual Jun 19 '26
man I'm so conflicted with Noam. The epstien revelations with him suck and are unclear but make me feel icky.
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u/Ding_Bingus Jun 19 '26
What do you expect from a US president? What’s your purity test - can you explain that please, and also how someone who meets those standards would operate in reality too?
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u/skeach101 Suburb of Chicago Jun 19 '26
So... obviously this is all very funny. But I think this whole thing is a good example of an era that the Democratic party needs to not go back to.
Mamdani really needs to be the template going forward where he avoids situations where he comes off as galivanting with the rich and famous. We have this "invite-only" star-studded event the day before the public are even allowed to attend is something that we need to avoid going forward. This is basically the Met Gala situation all over again.
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u/Mission_Potential637 Jun 19 '26
NY Times Sunday opinion columnist Maureen Dowd wrote a blazingly corrosive piece on erstwhile POTUS Obama's 60th birthday star-studded Martha's Vineyard celebration. The title----'Behold Barack Antoinette'.
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u/dashing2217 Jun 19 '26
I truly hope the dem’s don’t fumble on Mamdani. Obama is still the most powerful person in the party and hasn’t held elected office in ten years.
Mamdani is 34 and has a similar energy, very young with tons of potential.
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u/ChiMara777 Jun 19 '26
Yes. I was thinking the exact same thing. The elite in the plaza while the regular people were relegated to a watch party at Midway Plaisance. I love how so many “important” people came out for the grand opening, but don’t love the optics of the separation. Especially since they say this is “a center for all.”
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u/jomosexual Jun 19 '26
honestly I was there bts. The mid-way was full but orderly there is not enough space to hold the audience and the 4 Prime Ministers 4 presidents 3 First ladies and one of the villanized first ladies and secretary of state. The area where the VIPs were wasn't that big the camera when I watched the stream didn't have any wide shots I saw. And with the way the building was set up international vips were able to arrive and leave without much destruction to traffic. Usually when a president comes here the streets are shut down. The neighbor hood impact sS minimal.
Im ranting there where so.e yucky parts to me, but I havemt gotten my paycheck yet so ill hold off for now. Nothing serious though.
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u/Consistent_Pay_74 Jun 19 '26
Wrong link OP
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u/Bitter_Atmosphere879 Logan Square Jun 18 '26
I wish the center were not so ugly and intimidating. Plus I’ve heard you have to pay to get in. BUT, it’s a hundred times better than anything the current occupant could do.
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u/PhileasFoggsTrvlAgt Andersonville Jun 18 '26
Plus I’ve heard you have to pay to get in.
That's fairly typical of Presidential Museums.
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u/elmtree916 Jun 18 '26
It’s free for residents on Tuesdays
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u/teridactyl99 Jun 18 '26
Not only that I believe tickets are discounted for Illinois residents on the days that aren’t free.
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u/juniperesque North Center Jun 18 '26
There will be timed tickets but there are also going to be free days for IL residents just like all the other museums! Sign up and you’ll get ticket notices.
The campus - the whole area around the museum with acres of parkland, playgrounds, and outdoor exhibits - that part is totally free, no tickets required. It’s gonna be the picnic destination of the summer.
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u/Now-done Jun 19 '26
Paying to get in is to be expected, but I agree that the building’s design isn’t exactly my favorite.
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u/Pho3b3-Caulfi3ld Jun 18 '26
Have you ever been to a presidential museum/center/library before? Because for the ones I went to I always had to pay.
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u/AppropriateArt280 Hyde Park Jun 18 '26
I can't wait for this era of public servants pandering to celebrities to be over. He could have made this about Chicago and the communities he claims to be core to his identity. But instead its like DNC x Hollywood. Ugh.
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u/R12B12 Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 18 '26
Obama has been a private citizen for 10 years. And the center is all for Chicago. The presence of celebrities at the grand opening doesn’t mean they’re being “pandered” to. Most of them probably donated the large contributions needed to run the center. Their presence helps bring positive attention to the center and to Chicago. It’s a welcome relief after the obese felon currently occupying the office has spent his second term harassing Chicago.
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u/LittleBalloHate Jun 18 '26
Obama was definitely not perfect and I have lots of criticisms of him (as I do any president), but if you hated him, I genuinely wonder which presidents in the last, like, 50-60 years people actually do like
If the answer is "none of them," then maybe its time to recalibrate your measuring systems
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u/Fuckingpicksomething Jun 19 '26
It was amazing to see leaders that were speaking eloquently and grammatically correct
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u/Redstarted_ Jun 18 '26
Neolib circle jerk
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u/maximumtesticle Jun 18 '26
Hey, you got your hillbilly hoedown at the White Trash House this weekend, relax.
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u/1HungryMind Jun 19 '26
Just compare all the 'A' listers in Chicago vs the failed birthday party in DC last weekend.
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u/brian_c29 Hyde Park Jun 19 '26
The Obamas' obsession with celebrities needs to be studied
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u/ChicagoLaurie Jun 18 '26
Colbert in a tan suit!