Eva Longoria, Toni Morrison Among Group Advising President Obama on Post-White

As President Barack Obama makes plans for life after the White House, he’s calling on heavy hitters from a broad range of industries, from author Malcolm Gladwell to Silicon Valley venture capitalist John Doerr, a St. Louis native.

Mr Obama has already begun raising funds for a presidential library and his advisers say a recent visit to a prison suggest he may pursue an interest in criminal justice reform.

Thus far, Obama raised $5.4 million from 12 donors who gave between $100,000 to $1 million.

The real push for donations, foundation officials said, will come after Mr. Obama leaves the White House.

The Obama foundation announced earlier this year it had chosen Chicago – Mr Obama’s pre-White House home – as the site of its presidential library. The president’s advisors said that Spielberg is committed in helping Obama obtain a “narrative” after he leaves the office, The New York Times added. The two also met the week after Obama’s re-election in 2012, and Spielberg held the president “spellbound”, according to the Times, when speaking about the use of technology to tell stories.

Dinner guests say that postpresidency planning is a big topic of conversation but not the only one.

Mr. Obama spent an evening with the award-winning Jewish director and studio executive Jeffrey Katzenberg in Beverly Hills in June, according to the New York Times. The notable group has recently attended a midnight meeting at the White House to discuss Obama’s post-presidency career plans. Ideally, one adviser said, a person in Kenya could put on a pair of virtual reality goggles and be transported to Obama’s 2008 speech on race in Philadelphia. Diplomacy with Iran and Cuba could serve as the foundation for foreign policy work. And now, signs are emerging Obama doesn’t see January 20, 2017-the end point of his presidency-as any reason to hit the brakes. The president asked if social networks could improve the way society confronted problems.

It is certainly not known what precisely Mr Obama has meant after November 2016 however it is expected he wishes to boost $1bn to develop his store in Chicago then give attention to selfless undertakings. The reaction to that from most of the country, including the many who don’t think he’s been a good president (a group that has included a clear majority of Americans for most of his disastrous scandal-ridden second term), is so what? Michelle, I don’t know. “I’ll be on a beach somewhere drinking out of a coconut”.