Yoga, basketball and a test kitchen: Obama’s presidential library plans

Presidential libraries are usually all-American vanity projects – but critics of the former POTUS say his radical proposals may be unworthy of the traditionGeorge W Bush put bronze statues of his Scottish terriers Barney and Miss Beazley in his presidential library. Richard Nixon had a chunk of the Berlin Wall installed in his. In Franklin D Roosevelt, his own face appears on an 8ft stone Sphinx. And Bill Clinton graciously agreed to display that cigar.OK, that last one is made up. Because, while they can include odd memorabilia, presidential libraries are all-American vanity projects, burying the worthy archival stuff – letters, speeches and film reel – in great monuments to political hubris. Continue reading…

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/shortcuts/2018/jan/09/barack-obama-presidential-library-plans