Obama’s last day a low-key end to a fast-paced term
Associated Press
WASHINGTON—Witha few final moves and a round of goodbyes, President Barack Obama quietly closed out his presidency on Thursday and prepared for life as a private citizen, as the country readied itself for Presidentelect Donald Trump.
Eight years after he started his presidency with a burst of activity and executive orders, Mr. Obama wound it down in low-key fashion. He didn’t appear publicly during the day, and he didn’t leave the White House, though he was to accompany Mr. Trump at midday today to the Capitol for his successor’s swearing-in.
Mr. Obama did save one major announcement for his final day: Commutations for 330 drug offenders who had appealed to him for clemency, bringing his bid to correct what he’s called a systematic injustice to a climactic close. The final round of grants brought to 1,715 the total number of inmates whose sentences Mr. Obama has commuted, more than any other president. During his presidency Mr. Obama ordered free 568 inmates who had been sentenced to life in prison.
The final batch of commutations — more in a single day than on any other day in U.S. history — was the culmination of Mr. Obama’s secondterm effort to try to remedy the consequences of decades of onerous sentencing requirements that he said had imprisoned thousands of drug offenders for too long. Mr. Obama repeatedly called on Congress to pass a broader criminal justice fix, but lawmakers never acted.
Earlier in the week, Mr. Obama commuted most of the rest of convicted leaker Chelsea Manning’s sentence, arguing the Army intelligence analyst had shown remorse and already served a long sentence.
Yet Mr. Obama will leave office without granting commutations or pardons to other prominent offenders who had sought clemency, including accused Army deserter Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl and former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. He also declined to pardon former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.
His administration also disclosed it had transferred four final detainees out of Guantanamo Bay, but conceded Mr. Obama had failed to fulfill his promise to close the prison. The transfer of the four detainees means that Mr. Trump, who has called for an end to such transfers, will inherit the fates of 41 men there, 31 of whom are being held without charges or trial. Eight years ago, when Mr. Obama took office and delivered an ill-fated vow to shutter the wartime prison he had inherited from the Bush administration, there were 242 detainees.
The administration, including Education Secretary John King Jr., and its allies in the civil rights community had championed the changes as necessary to ensure that funding meant for the nation’s neediest children is not diverted to more affluent schools.
But the proposed regulations had triggered strong resistance from most of the education establishment, including teachers unions, district leaders and state superintendents, as well as from Republicans on Capitol Hill.
As the last remaining White House staffers packed up their belongings and cleared out, the president and first lady Michelle Obama placed a farewell call to German Chancellor Angela Merkel — his last presidential call to a foreign leader. Ms. Merkel, Mr. Obama’s closest international partner, is the only one of his key European allies still in power as he leaves office, though she faces a difficult re-election in September.
Hanging over Mr. Obama’s departure is the reality that he’s being replaced by a successor who has vowed to upend much of what he accomplished. Mr. Obama implored Americans not to vote for Mr. Trump, warning he was dangerous and unfit, but Americans elected him anyway.
In a final thank-you note to supporters, Mr. Obama said that “when the arc of progress seems slow,” Americans should remember that they are empowered as citizens to influence the nation’s future for the better. He added: “We shall overcome.”
Mr. Obama received the president’s daily briefing for the final time and had lunch with Vice President Joe Biden, who earlier this week gave his final major speech in his post at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in which he said the greatest threat to the order — “I’ll not mince words” — was principally Russia.
After Mr. Trump is inaugurated today, ex-President Obama will fly by helicopter to Andrews Air Force Base, where he’ll speak to longtime aides to thank them for their work. Then he and his family will board the presidential aircraft for their final flight, to California, where they plan a quiet vacation in Palm Springs.
The Obamas will return later to Washington, where they have rented a home and plan to live until youngest daughter Sasha finishes high school.