Let the presidential library campaign begin

Even though his second inauguration is still weeks away, the work of his presidential library starts soon: Libraries take years of planning and decisions by the president and his inner circle, from choosing a location, to picking achievements to highlight. It’s a chance for Obama to begin shaping his legacy, and has in the past been an increasingly large priority during presidents’ second terms.

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But it requires the kind of personal fundraising that Obama clearly dislikes, full of potential pitfalls that led his predecessors into trouble.

Add more complications for Obama: He’ll have to decide whether to build the library in his birthplace of Hawaii or his adopted hometown of Chicago and possibly raise funds for a presence in both. Even for one, he could need to raise close to $500 million. Though much of the work will be done by a circle of close friends who will begin mobilizing in the coming months — including one longtime friend of the first lady already starting to make way for the library to be associated with the University of Chicago — much of the fundraising is going to come down to Obama himself.

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