“On September 7, the President and Dr. Biden will host President and Mrs. Obama for the unveiling ceremony for their official White House portraits and that will be very exciting,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed at Thursday’s press briefing.
While there had been a decades-long tradition of first-term American presidents hosting their immediate predecessors at the White House to unveil their official portraits, a ceremony for the Obamas never came during Donald Trump’s time in the Oval Office.
Though the dynamic within the club of living American presidents has typically been described as apolitical and generally friendly, Trump’s entrance into office changed things.
Biden, however, served as vice president throughout Obama’s eight years in office and has continued to stay in contact with his former boss.
“They were not just vice president and president. They are friends, and they consult and talk about a range of issues, and I would expect that continues through the course of President Biden’s presidency,” Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary at the time, told reporters in March 2021. “They keep in regular touch.”
The Covid-19 pandemic, which began during Trump’s time in office and continued into Biden’s tenure, has further complicated the prospect for in-person events at the White House.
Obama hosted George W. Bush in 2012; Bush hosted Bill Clinton in 2004; Clinton hosted George H.W. Bush in 1995; and the elder Bush hosted Ronald Reagan in 1989. First ladies also attend the ceremony and their portraits are unveiled as well.
The association says all presidents since Jimmy Carter — who asked not to have a ceremony — have returned to the White House for an unveiling.
CNN’s Kate Bennett contributed to this report.
