HONOLULU — Barack Obama hasn’t even finished the second year of his first term in the White House, but officials with two universities that are interested in building his presidential library are already positioning themselves to win his favor.
The University of Hawaii is well into early preparations — including preliminary searches for potential sites, talks with National Archives officials and deliberations on what, if any, new academic center might accompany an Obama library and museum. Obama was born in Hawaii.
The University of Chicago, in the city where Obama’s political career began, signaled an interest a year ago but is saying little now.
And Obama is saying even less. Asked to discuss Obama’s views about a presidential library, a White House spokesman said, “No comment.”
Nonetheless, Hawaii is unabashed in wanting to be ready when the time comes to bid.
“Obama hopefully is still toward the beginning of his presidency,” said Robert Perkinson, an American Studies professor who is helping lead UH’s effort. “So it’s not surprising that (Obama) doesn’t want to think about it. But those of us who are interested in bidding, we have to think about it a lot earlier than he does.”
