Barack Obama and his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama, returned to the White House for the unveiling of their official portraits, hosted by fellow Democrat Joe Biden more than five years after the former president left office.
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Hosted by fellow Democrat President Joe Biden more than five years after Obama left office, the Obamas basked in applause from former staff members assembled in the East Room and lauded the artists for capturing their images, which will hang in the White House for generations to come.
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Artist Robert McCurdy put Barack Obama, wearing a black suit and a gray tie, at the center of his canvas in a photorealistic portrait with a white background.
Image Credit: Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama unveil their official White House portraits during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022, in Washington.
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The former first lady is pictured in a blue dress in the White House's Red Room, in a painting by Brooklyn artist Sharon Sprung.
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The event was a reunion of sorts for Obama administration officials and for the Obamas and Bidens, who grew close during the eight years Biden served as Obama's vice president.
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"There are few people I've ever known with more integrity, decency and moral courage than Barack Obama," Biden said at the beginning of the ceremony. "Nothing could have prepared me better or more to become president of the United States than being at your side for eight years."
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Large, formal portraits of US presidents and first ladies adorn walls, hallways and rooms throughout the White House.
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Obama, the first Black US president, thanked Biden, his vice president between 2009 and 2017, for building on the work they did together.
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"Thanks to your decency and thanks to your strength, maybe most of all thanks to your faith in our democracy and the American people, the country’s better off than when you took office and we should all be deeply grateful for that,” Obama said. He also thanked his former staff, many of whom are now working at the White House with Biden, but joked that none had named a new child "Barack" or "Michelle."
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McCurdy's hyper-realistic painting of the former president recalls portraits he has done of author Toni Morrison and South African leader Nelson Mandela. The artist "refused my request to make my ears smaller,” Obama quipped. "He also talked me out of wearing a tan suit," he added to laughter, a reference to an unusual 2014 wardrobe choice that dominated Washington's news cycle for days.
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Michelle Obama said traditions like the portrait ceremony were important for people watching and participating in a democracy, and she appeared to reference the refusal by Trump to accept the results of the 2020 election, in which Trump was defeated by Biden.
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Earlier portraits of the Obamas that were unveiled in 2018 and placed in the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington have become a major tourist draw. Obama has been back at the White House once since leaving office, joining Biden in April for an event to tout his signature healthcare law, known as Obamacare.
Image Credit: AP
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