There are two main contenders to host Barack Obama’s presidential library and museum.
Our preferred location, of course, is Honolulu, the place of Obama’s birth and his formative years. The other is Chicago, where he began his political career.
Both cities have a claim to Obama’s considerable legacy, and despite Chica-go’s influence — the mayor is Obama’s former chief of staff, for one — Honolulu deserves serious consideration as the best place to tell the story of Obama’s unique origins. Hawaii can also offer an unparalleled forum for important issues close to the president’s heart: the importance of the Asia-Pacific region, the effects of climate change and rising seas, renewable energy, and the multicultural society that America is becoming and is so well-repre- sented on our shores.
The nonprofit Barack H. Obama Foundation recently announced it will entertain formal proposals from all comers and promises a fair fight.
"No specific site, institution, city or state is advantaged over another at this point," Marty Nesbitt, the head of the foundation, told The Associated Press.
The Hawaii team will make its case very soon, perhaps in the spring. The major decisions from the foundation are expected near the end of this year.
There are 13 presidential libraries, from Herbert Hoover to George W. Bush, that operate under the auspices of the National Archives. Some presidents have more than one facility. Richard Nixon has libraries in College Park, Md., and Yorba Linda, Calif. Bill Clinton’s library is in Little Rock, Ark.; he pursues his philanthropic work through his foundation and Clinton Global Initiative in New York.
Presidential libraries and museums are expensive propositions, running into the hundreds of millions of dollars to build and maintain. They must be built with private funds, and Chicago has the edge in big-money donors. The Archives will maintain the library — the repository of records — and the museum, but separate operations such as a public poli- cy institute must find their own means of support.
Some presidential centers align themselves with universities or other academic institutions. The University of Hawaii, where Obama’s parents attended, could be a partner, along with such institutions as Punahou School, where Obama went to high school. A joint effort with Chicago, such as a museum in both places to bridge Obama’s Hawaiian childhood with his adult career, could help manage the costs.
What purpose a non- library center would serve remains a larger question. The Barack Obama Hawaii Presidential Center Initiative, which is leading the effort to bring the library to Hawaii, is weighing numerous options — an educational center and leadership academy for youth, an institute for leaders to tackle global and regional problems, and of course, a visitors center to tell Obama’s Hawaii story.
What eventually gets built will depend on the president’s wishes, of course. Obama will leave office at the tender age of 55, and will, it is hoped, want to continue some form of public service through a center bearing his name — something more than a building to store his papers.
Obama’s mother, the activist and social scientist Ann Dunham, chose Hawaii as the place to pursue her work and legacy. It would be an honor if her son chose to do the same.
