The opening of the Barack Obama Presidential Center on Juneteenth and Father’s Day weekend was full of celebration, nostalgia, and recognition of a political figure who remains one of the most talented communicators Democrats have produced in a generation. Best throwback Thursday I’ve seen in a long time. I was even happier that the rain held off, making an already beautiful day in Hyde Park even better.
Looking at the photos from the event, it felt less like the opening of a presidential library and more like a reunion tour for an era many Democrats desperately want to return to.
The guest list was a who’s who of Obama-world alumni, elected officials, television personalities, and people most recognizable from the fundraising emails asking you to “donate now.” Many have spent the last decade trying to recreate some version of Obama’s appeal. Some have been more successful than others.
What struck me wasn’t who was there but who wasn’t.
The enduring criticism of Obama’s political legacy has never really been about policy. It has always been about succession. The only Democrat Obama ever truly got elected was Barack Obama.
That may sound unfair until you look around at today’s Democratic Party. Many of the people who attended the opening were supporting characters in the Obama story. Very few feel like direct heirs to it. Which raises a harder question: how does someone who was a child during Obama’s presidency form a meaningful connection to his message today?
The answer cannot come from a building.
The entire point of Donald Trump’s political rise was, in part, to erase Obama’s place in American history. He failed. Obama remains one of the most consequential political figures of the 21st century. But preserving a legacy and extending a legacy are not the same thing.
The challenge facing Obama is the same challenge facing the Democratic Party itself. A movement cannot survive forever on memories of its most successful leader. At a certain point, nostalgia turns into hero worship, and hero worship becomes a substitute for honest evaluation. We should be able to celebrate Obama’s accomplishments while also acknowledging the mistakes and blind spots that helped create the political environment we inhabit today.
Eventually, every successful political movement has to produce new leaders capable of inspiring people in their own right.
At the opening ceremony, I saw many people who had once orbited Obama’s political universe. What I did not see were many national figures who could convincingly claim to be products of it.
The Obama Presidential Center will preserve a story.
Whether anyone can continue it remains an open question.
Joshua Cooper
Oak Park