Former President Barack Obama shared his message of civic engagement with young people in Chicago on Monday during his first public event since leaving office.
"His mission is going to be to inspire these young people and there'll be a diverse group, including Republicans as well as Democrats, but to inspire them to take ownership of this political process and really get involved", said former White House advisor David Axelrod, who now serves as the director of the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics. "This community taught me that ordinary people when working together can do extraordinary things", he said. "This community taught me that everybody has a story to tell that is important" and that despite divisions, people have "common hopes and dreams, common aspirations, common values". But as he noted, there are plenty of issues to address - like economic inequality, a flawed criminal justice system, climate change, and more - but they are problems that can be solved.
"I'm spending a lot of time thinking about what is the most important thing I can do for my next job", Obama said, adding: "The single most important thing I can do is to help in any way I can to prepare the next generation of leadership to take up the baton and to take their own crack at changing the world".
Obama's two-day trip to Chicago marks his reentry into public life and comes after a series of vacations with family and friends - including trips to Palm Springs, California, Richard Branson's private island in the British Virgin Islands, and an exclusive resort in French Polynesia. He is also starting to work on a memoir. Though aides have mentioned before (paywall) that Obama doesn't want to use his platform to challenge the new president, this is the first time we're seeing that refusal play out.
The former president even alluded to his disappearing act on Monday, joking, "So what's been going on?" as he settled into his chair.
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That would present a tricky moment for Obama, who has publicly and privately expressed a deep respect for the way his predecessor, President George W. Bush, avoided criticizing him. Obama has made it clear to his close advisers that he does not intend to follow that path, which makes avoiding the topic of Trump's administration more hard.
Obama was expected to arrive in Chicago on Sunday.
"I think a lot of us who have been in politics for a while do see a change from 20 years ago, certainly 30 years ago, where it used to be everybody kind of had the same information".
Obama's conversation Monday echoed numerous same themes he talked about in that farewell address, including a plea that people not take democracy for granted. Monday's panel, in which he talked with students from universities around Chicago, appeared to be one of the first steps in that plan. "If something needs fixing, lace up your shoes and do some organizing".
"Show up, dive in, stay at it".
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