He was elected on a platform of “change” and “hope,” but quickly discovered the limitations of the office. Even the president of the most powerful country in the world often feels like the captain of a mammoth tanker, says Barack Obama. “With great difficulty, you can only adjust a few degrees at the most. People are disappointed about that, because they have high expectations of a new president. But a few years later, the destination is indeed very different, thanks to that slightly different course.”
Obama uses the cliché to explain that “change is often slow,” that you “have to draw hope from small steps.” His audience in the capital’s Ziggo Dome was just warmed up for an hour and a half on Monday evening with a support act in which presenter Janine Abbring lets her guests Merel van Vroonhoven (ex-top woman, now primary school teacher) and the Indonesian-Dutch anti-plastic bag activist Melati Wijssen tell an optimistic story about empowerment, change and leadership. “Anyone can be a leader,” Abbring summarizes their lessons.
Obama (billed as “the man, the myth, the legend”) also talks about setbacks at length. For example, about his frustration that even after the terrible school massacre of Sandy Hook (in 2012), he did not get stricter gun laws through Congress. “It made me so cynical that I almost thought that change is never possible.”
Selfie hell
While his successor Donald Trump made the transition from media to politics, Obama took the opposite path. After their departure from the White House, he joined with first lady Michelle a variety of publicity contracts. Publisher Penguin Random House reportedly paid the record $60 million advance for their memoirs. Her book (Becoming2018) sold better than his (A Promised Land2020).
It didn’t stop here. This was followed by a podcast (exclusive to Spotify), a $50 million deal with streaming service Netflix to produce documentaries, and a series of well-paid public appearances. Gages for speeches in the business world can amount to four hundred thousand per performance, American media report.
The man, the myth, the legend
Barack Obama announcement
For the cheapest tickets for An Evening with President Barack Obama in the Ziggo Dome, the German organizer Streetlife International asked 44 euros. The most expensive ‘golden’ ticket was almost tenfold (396 euros, including dinner, pre-party, laminated VIP pass and a welcome drink).
Obama is not the first former president to travel the world on a whim. Moreover, especially compared to his two successors Donald Trump and Joe Biden, he was still relatively young when he became president. After two terms, at 55, he hadn’t finished working.
He doesn’t do it for the money. Mainly thanks to the royalties from his two bestsellers The Audacity of Hope and Dreams of my Father Obama was already a millionaire when he was elected in late 2008. And he receives a lifelong government pension for ex-top officials.
It is not surprising that he wants to capitalize on his presidential experiences and name recognition. He will never be able to walk anonymously on the street again, he says with self-mockery on stage in Amsterdam. “And then one thing has changed quite a bit since I became president: the cell phones. Everyone wants a picture. I live in selfie hell.”
A version of this article also appeared in the May 2, 2023 issue of the newspaper.