President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, will unveil Obama’s portraits in front of friends, family, and staff on Wednesday.
It’s been more than a decade since President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, welcomed George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, to the White House for the unveiling of their White House portraits, part of a beloved Washington tradition that has managed to transcend partisan politics for decades.
President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, are set to resurrect that ritual on Wednesday, after an awkward and anomalous gap during the Trump years, when they host the Obamas for the big reveal of their portraits in front of scores of friends, family, and staff.
The Obama paintings will not resemble any of the portraits in the White House collection to which they will be added. They were the country’s first African-American president and first lady.
The ceremony will also be Michelle Obama’s first visit to the White House since Obama’s presidency ended in January 2017, and Barack Obama’s second. In April, he was at the White House to commemorate the 12th anniversary of the health-care law he signed in 2010. Portrait ceremonies are frequently used by former presidents to demonstrate their comedic timing. “I am delighted that my portrait adds a pleasing symmetry to the White House collection.” At his 2012 inauguration, Bush joked, “It now begins and ends with a George W.” In 2004, Bill Clinton joked, “Until you get your picture hung like this, the only artists who draw you are cartoonists.”
Regardless of party affiliation, the current president has graciously hosted his immediate predecessor for the unveiling, as Clinton did for George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush did for Clinton, and Obama did for the younger Bush. Then there was a mysterious pause when Donald Trump did not host Obama.
Two Trump spokespeople did not respond to emailed requests for comment on the lack of an Obama memorial ceremony, as well as whether artists are working on portraits of Trump and former First Lady Melania Trump. The collection of White House portraits begins with George Washington, America’s first president. Congress purchased his portrait.
Other portraits of early presidents and first ladies were frequently presented as gifts to the White House. The White House Historical Association has paid for the majority of the paintings since the 1960s. According to Stewart McLaurin, president of the private, nonprofit organization founded by First Lady Kennedy, the first portraits financed by the association were of Lyndon B. Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson, as well as John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy.