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- [00:00]
Narrator/Announcer
Indiana University strengthens tomorrow's workforce with practical real world experience. IU grads make a difference in your community, serving as teachers, nurses and engineers who rise to tomorrow's challenges and meet them. Learn more at iu.edu impact
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Valerie Jarrett
Bloomberg Audio Studios Podcasts Radio News the former President
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Interviewer 1
Barack Obama is opening his Presidential center. The official opening coming mar. Excuse me, on the 18th with the public allowed to start accessing it. On June 19, we had a chance to catch up with Valerie Jarrett, the longtime adviser to the President who is now the CEO of the Obama Foundation. We asked her about the legacy of the 44th President of the United States and what this means for the city of Chicago.
- [00:53]
Valerie Jarrett
We are very excited to open the Obama Presidential center this week. I think that it is very timely on the 250th anniversary of the birth of our country. And in fact, our museum begins on the ground floor not with the election of President Obama, but rather with the Declaration of Independence and tells the story of all the zigzags of our country, from the suffrage movement to civil rights going back to slavery, then reconstruction, the immigration rights movement, the LGBTQ rights movement, all of the different movements in our country and zigs and zags and progress that we took that led to the President's election and then the story of his presidency. And so the timing is just right.
- [01:37]
Interviewer 1
The timing is right. It's also somewhat auspicious. We talk about that arc of our country from the signing of the declaration of independence 250 years ago, of course, to that night back in 2008 with Obama just a few miles away in Grant park giving that victory speech. There are some will say that that arc of history in 08 and the eight years that came after it might have been our peak. How do you answer that?
- [02:02]
Valerie Jarrett
Oh, quite the contrary. We are always a work in progress. And in fact the outside of the business of the building says that we are all responsible for that glory of glorious task of continuing to improve our nation. In the middle of our plaza we have an arc designed by Martin Purier, the arc of the moral universe that does bend towards justice. But it's a long arc of the universe and it bends over time as we each push incrementally and it sometimes zigs and zags, but it does bend. And so now we haven't peaked. We're just beginning. Compared to most democracies, we're still a baby.
- [02:38]
Interviewer 2
Well, absolutely hear what you're saying, of course, that you think about the arc of time and progress. It certainly isn't linear here. But I do want to talk a little bit more about this moment that Romain brought up because, you know, you think about how it's been 13 years since we saw the last presidential library dedication. What a 13 years that has been. And now, of course, this opening is happening at a time when you think about some of the policies that President Obama really made his landmark and are really known for have been sort of dismantled over the past several years. And I wonder, you know, what this moment feels like right now.
- [03:14]
Valerie Jarrett
Well, I'm very excited because our opportunity now is to instill in people a sense of hope that ordinary people can still do extraordinary things. And so the status quo is not going to be permanent. It never has been in our nation's history. And so the question is, are people ready to take up the baton and run the next mile? And that's how our country has always made progress. And I talk about the zigzag zags because that's been the history of this country. And so in this moment, we want people to still feel hopeful. We want them to feel that they have the capacity to make the world a better place, that we have more in common than we have differences, that we welcome people to the campus who have different ideas than we do and let's have a debate without being disagreeable. Let's all work to actually strengthen our democracy. That's our message and that's what we think. People will feel this sense of hopefulness when they leave the campus and come back time and time again.
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Interviewer 2
Well, Valerie, you mentioned different ideas, and I do want to bring up President Donald Trump directly here because my understanding is that this opening, it will be the first time that a sitting president won't be at the center stage in a modern presidential library and museum opening. And you have said publicly that President Trump has not been invited to the opening ceremony that is this week, but that you would welcome him for a tour. So I am curious, is that an invitation that you have extended at this point and have you gotten a response?
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Valerie Jarrett
It's an open invitation and we have not yet heard a response. And look, keep in mind, this is a celebration for all the folks who enabled President Obama to serve our country for all eight years successfully. We have the construction workers who worked on this campus and we have an alumni who worked on the campaign and in the administration. We have our generous supporters coming. We have state and local and federal elected officials who all in supportive of President Obama. So this is a celebration for them. But when to the public? Well, then of course, Everyone is welcome.
- [05:11]
Interviewer 1
Valerie, I do want to talk about the physical structure itself. We talk about the 13 presidential libraries that had opened officially. We should point out that this particular one is actually not the official library. Most of those records are going to be at a site in Maryland. Was there a reason why the council made this decision to kind of circumvent, or at least not to go through the National Archives in the traditional sense of having an actual library and making this more of a, quote, presidential center or museum or however we want to characterize it?
- [05:46]
Valerie Jarrett
Yeah. So President Obama is the first digital president. We have the ability to digitize all of his presidential records, which we are paying for. And the National Archives is doing that. And so all of his records, all of them will be available online. In addition to that, for people who still like to feel a piece of paper, they'll be able to go to the archive led Obama presidential Library that houses all those papers and see them. But when they come here instead, they can experience a Chicago Public Library for our children. Why are we, why would we take up space on our campus in the middle of this incredible city with paper when it could be digitized? And so, yes, it's different than all the other presidential libraries, the time that we're in. So in a sense, we have the best of both worlds. You can go online and access all of the President's records. We have borrowed from the National Archives, certain artifacts and records, and then the rest of the records will be available in Maryland. And so, yeah, it's the where we are, I think with the availability of technology and we were able to design a broader campus. It has an athletic center, the public library mentioned, not a tor. Music, studios, restaurants, retail stores, all blending into the urban fabric. And it's the first presidential center that's located in an urban area.
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Interviewer 1
I grew up in Hyde park, right on 49th. And I, you know, I'm very familiar with what Jackson park is and what it used to be before the center came into place. I used to, you know, every day leave St. Thomas and we went over to the point and hang out there. This is also altered physically, the Frederick Law Olmsted map of what Jackson park was. And I know there was some controversy in that. And I am curious as to what you think the overall net benefit will be of this larger footprint of the reimagining of Jackson park overall. Is that going to benefit the community, the surrounding community, or is that solely for the benefit of the Obama Foundation?
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Valerie Jarrett
Great question. And I grew up here too. I grew up on 49th street and rode my bike through Jackson park and hung out over at the Point. So you and I had a very similar experience. And this is a net benefit. We got rid of Cornell Drive, which you will remember was that six lane highway that separated Jackson park from the Museum of Science and Industry. And so with all of our buildings, we have added 3.7 acres of open space. So there's far more open space on the site now than there was before. And we have world class playgrounds and the athletic center and the library and walking trails and a vegetable garden and picnic tables and barbecue pits. And so, yes, if you ask the surrounding community, as we did a few weeks ago at our public hearing, is the community thrilled by what we have produced? Absolutely. Absolutely. We have enhanced this Olmsted design park. We've restored the women's garden on the north side of the property. We've built another park across the street. Owned and managed now by the Chicago Park District, it is the most accessible park in the city of Chicago. When you add all of that together. Absolutely. I would much rather be a young person today riding my bike through the, through the Obama Presidential center than the experience I had at Jackson park many years.
- [09:09]
Interviewer 2
Well, Valerie, you mentioned, you know, all of the different features that will be on this campus. The vegetable garden. There's also an NBA regulation basketball court, as I understand. I mean, at this point I'm curious what was left sort of on the cutting room floor because it sounds like again that we're talking about quite an expansive campus. What didn't actually make it in to the final here?
- [09:31]
Valerie Jarrett
Well, we are still a work in progress. We are going to have more books in the library, both the Presidential Reading Room and the Chicago Public Library. We're going to have more art. We haven't talked about the art yet. We have 28 original commissioned pieces of art, 26 of which will be in the public space, free spaces. So we are an art exhibit as well, which reflects the rich diversity of talent that we have and the artists who've done amazing pieces of art. And so we're going to add to that. We have room for a special exhibit that will be located inside of the museum that's yet to come. So we're just getting started. We have programs that have yet to be developed that will be on our campus. We have a terrific weekend coming up with programming and lectures and music and dance and balloons and bubbles for the kids. It's going to be a great time and we just have to duplicate that throughout the year.
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Interviewer 1
I do have to ask you, Valerie, just about the political climate and the security measures that may need to be in place. Obviously, Obama's legacy has been criticized by a lot of folks for, let's just say, a variety of reasons. There have been a lot of threats directed towards his family, towards his legacy, and some questions as to whether such an expansive monument to his presidency might become a target for those who maybe weren't necessarily happy with what he brought to this country. How do you assure that not only the people coming to visit there are going to be safe, but everything that you've built will remain intact as intended?
- [11:09]
Valerie Jarrett
Well, I want to just say this is not a monument to President Obama. It's really a testament to, to all of the people who work so hard to create the legacy that he's had so far and who are going to be a part of the legacy going forward reflected in all these changemakers who we're going to help. Our first objective is to ensure everyone is safe. That's, that is our first priority. And you can imagine that we're going to do everything that we can to make sure that we do keep people
- [11:37]
Interviewer 1
and last question, Valerie, just so we don't end on a down note like that, I am curious, I've gotten a look at a lot of the exhibits in there and I am curious. You were basically Obama's longest serving adviser, continuous serving adviser. I am curious from your time over those eight years in the White House, specifically what is kind of that one moment that really stands out that I guess you look back on and makes you feel like those eight years for you was worth it.
- [12:06]
Valerie Jarrett
I'll give you one it was the night that the Affordable Care act passed and President Obama asked everyone who had worked on it to come back to the White House and be together for the vote. And we gathered in the Roosevelt Room and then he invited everybody up to the residence and spilling out on the Truman Balcony. At the end of the evening in the wee hours, I walked up to President Obama and it was a really warm spring evening. And I asked him how he felt that night compared to Grant park, which the night of his election, where again, unseasonably warm and million people were gathering together in Grant park, so enthusiastic about his presidency. And he said to me, valerie, there's no comparison. Election night was simply the means to get to this night where we could do something so profoundly meaningful to the American people.
- [12:51]
Narrator/Announcer
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