Maybe presidential library should be at Sandy Beach

Hawaii is likely to have this discussion only once.

The conversation is how to get and where to put a library for a president of the United States.

Before his reelection, President Barack Obama was reluctant to talk about a presidential library, but now into his second term, the Hawaii-born leader can speculate and encourage the search.

A library for Obama would be one of the most historic and nationally important presidential libraries in America. Supporters see it as an educational experience to teach the world about America and democracy.

The president, however, is not ready to decide between the two major contenders, Honolulu and Chicago.

"It is a tough choice, but it’s not one that I’ve made yet," Obama said in a network interview last month.

Both the president and the first lady have ties to the supporters of the prestigious University of Chicago, which is being assisted by Susan Sher, the former chief of staff for Michelle Obama.

The University of Hawaii has a friend of Barack, Gov. Neil Abercrombie, helping to make the pitch to bring the library to Honolulu.

Earlier this month, UH unveiled a preliminary proposal to place the library in the Kakaako Makai District, across from Sand Island and Honolulu Harbor.

The site could hold a building that redefines Honolulu’s skyline and becomes a new symbol for Hawaii.

Planners, in their presentation to the Hawaii Community Development Authority, called the area "a spectacular natural setting with mauka-to-makai vistas … that can properly showcase an iconic edifice and provide breathtaking views from inside it."

Adding to the envisioned four-story library and museum could be living and working quarters for the president and his family, such as was included in the Clinton Library in Little Rock, Ark.

The presentation notes: "Hawaii’s Obama ohana is bound up with every chapter of what he calls his unlikely personal story. As Michelle Obama has observed, ‘You can’t really understand Barack until you understand Hawaii.’"

A presidential nod for Honolulu picked up some encouragement when Obama said in a KITV4 News interview that Honolulu holds a special place in his heart.

"Honolulu is my birthplace. It’s the place where I grew up, and I met so many friends and (have) fond memories, and it helped to shape me, so I’d like to find a way that after my presidency that connection remains," Obama said.

He also cautioned, "I live in Chicago now, and that’s where I grew up professionally."

Chicago is not only the city of broad shoulders; it has some fairly large bank accounts and is an architectural wonderland of iconic buildings.

As good as both choices would be, if Hawaii were really to win the library, it needs to tap into not what Obama wants, but what he needs.

This is from a 2012 Vanity Fair interview Obama gave author Michael Lewis. Obama was asked what he would do if he were given one day when no one recognized him and he could go where he wanted, undisturbed. Hawaii’s president wished not for Kakaako or Chicago’s South Side, but his times at Sandy Beach.

"You park your car. If the waves are good, you sit and watch and ponder it for a while. And you have to wait until there is a break in the waves. … And you put on a fin — and you only have one fin — and if you catch the right wave, you cut left because left is west. … Then you cut down into the tube there. You might see the crest rolling and you might see the sun glittering. You might see a sea turtle in profile, sideways, like a hieroglyph in the water. … And you spend an hour out there. And if you’ve had a good day you’ve caught six or seven good waves and six or seven not-so-good waves. And you sit. And you can watch the sun go down … "

Give Obama that and it is a done deal.

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Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach him at rborreca@staradvertiser.com.