Afp, Chicago: Former US president Barack Obama returned to the public spotlight Monday, saying he hopes to spend the next phase of his life helping to “prepare the next generation of leadership.”
After three months off, Obama — looking rested and sporting a coat with no tie — broke his silence in his adopted hometown of Chicago, speaking to a packed auditorium of more than 400 high school and college students at the University of Chicago.
He was greeted with a standing ovation, and was joined on stage by six students and recent college graduates for a discussion about the need for greater civic engagement among young people.
The 55-year-old Democrat, who ended his two terms at the White House in January — handing power over to Donald Trump — said he was “incredibly optimistic” about the future.
“I'm spending a lot of time thinking about: what is the most important thing I can do for my next job?” Obama said in his opening remarks at the university, where he once taught law.
“The single most important thing I can do is to help in any way I can to prepare the next generation of leadership to take up the baton and to take their own crack at changing the world,” he said.
Obama took a few questions from the participants on stage, but mainly listened — and did not offer any substantive commentary on how Trump is doing, in keeping with presidential protocol.
