The heart of the post-presidential planning is Obama’s own outreach to eclectic, often extraordinarily rich groups of people.
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 “digital-first” presidential library, one adviser said, would be installed with modern technologies, according to the New York Times.
The Times reported the dinner was in February and went until 2 a.m., and that the Obamas didn’t directly ask the guests for contributions to the library. Obama has so far topped $5.4 million from 12 donors whose gift ranged from $100,000 to $1 million, according to the Times.
The president is also thought to be interested in how to use technology to create his legacy.
In recent months, Obama has been hobnobbing with wealthy CEOs and Wall Street bankers at the White House, drinking “extra-dry Grey Goose martinis” as he waxes eloquently about his presidential library. He pushed his guests for ideas about how to make government work better, and asked if social networks could improve how society confronts problems, LinkedIn’s Hoffman told the Times. “He loves those sessions”, says one adviser. Ideally, one adviser said, a person in Kenya could put on a pair of virtual reality goggles and be transported to Mr. Obama’s 2008 speech on race in Philadelphia. Some discussions at the dinners have focused on the role Obama might play internationally after the diplomatic opening with Cuba, the nuclear deal with Iran, the confrontations with the Russian Federation and the drawdown of US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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. He answered: “I haven’t projected out 10 years”. “I know what I’ll do right after the next president is inaugurated”.
Desperate Housewives star Longoria has become a key political figure during the Obama years, co-chairing the president’s re-election campaign in 2012.