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Showtime is gearing up to release a new series about some of the most important women who worked out of the East Wing of the White HousetitledThe First Lady.

Viola Davis, Gillian Anderson, and Michelle Pfeiffer, who will portray former first ladies Michelle Obama, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Betty Ford, respectively, will be the focus of Season 1 of the anthology series.

According to Showtime, the upcoming series is expected to peel back the curtain on the personal and political lives of three unique, enigmatic women, tracing their journeys to Washington through interweaving storylines with an enlightening intimacy.

To prepare for her role, Davis, who also serves as an executive producer on the series, spoke with Obama and read her memoir to get into character.

I feel very protective of Michelle, the actress previously told Entertainment Weekly. Its our job as actors not to judge whoever we are portraying, but I ended up thinking shes just dope.

Roosevelts storyline will focus on her time as the longest-serving first lady. It was later discovered that Roosevelt exchanged 3,000 letters with journalist Lorena Hick Hickock, which led to questions about the extent of their relationship.

Fords storyline will explore personal addictions of alcoholism and substance abuseas well asher outspoken liberal comments on social issues, which did not sit well with conservative Republicans.

When the show premieres, viewers can expect to see several other notable historic figures. O-T Fagbenle will portray former President Barack Obama, Kiefer Sutherland will play former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Aaron Eckhart will portray former President Gerald Ford, and Dakota Fanning will play Susan Elizabeth Ford.

An official release date for The First Lady Season 1 has yet to be released. However, the show is expected to premiere sometime during the spring of 2022.

US actress Viola Davis in a white Alexander McQueen gown with cutouts Photo: POOL / Chris Pizzello

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The First Lady: What To Know About Showtime Series On Michelle Obama, Betty Ford, Eleanor Roosevelt - International Business Times

In Cal Thomas' column, "Winsome Sears : It's not 1963," he asked the question: "When was the last time a modern Democrat talked like Winsome Sears."

Here is a Barack Obama quote from the 2016 Dallas Police Memorial: I'm here to say we must reject such despair. I'm here to insist that we are not as divided as we seem, and I know that because I know America. I know how far we've come against impossible odds. These are not the words of someone invoking victimhood, but rather someone invoking a positive view of America's potential. Obama's message from 2016 was on the same positive note as Sears' 2021 message.

It's time to revel in our collective positives and to work to make our great nation even better than it is today.

Patrick Kofalt

Winchester

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Letter to the editor: What Sears and Obama have in common - The Winchester Star

Former President Barack Obama has defended the location of his $500 million Presidential Center in Chicago, saying hes absolutely confident it will benefit the community amid complaints from locals that it will destroy a historic park and lead to gentrification.

Following five years of legal battles, a federal review and gentrification concerns, Barack and Michelle Obama are expected to attend a celebratory groundbreaking Tuesday at the construction site of the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park on Chicagos South Side.

In an interview with ABCs Good Morning America on the eve of the groundbreaking, Obama dismissed the criticism of his legacy project, including multiple legal attempts to block construction.

The overwhelming majority of the community has been not just okay with it, but are hugely enthusiastic about it, Obama said.

The truth is, any time you do a big project, unless youre in the middle of a field somewhere, you know, and its on private property, theres always going to be some people who say, Well, but we dont want change. Were worried about it. We dont know how its going to turn out,' Obama said.

Which is why weve gone through such an exhaustive process to encourage and elicit comments and concerns and criticism and suggestions from the community.

The former president decided back in 2016 that he wanted his presidential library to be located on Chicagos South Side where he previously worked as a community organizer. His wife Michelle also grew up in the neighborhood.

The young person whos growing up across the street or down the block or a few miles away, now suddenly have a place where concerts and speeches and debates and forums are taking place that they can access, Obama told the outlet.

If they want to bring about change in their neighborhoods, theyve got resources and people who can teach them how to do that effectively. And theyre going to be able to see themselves as part of that change in a way that, so often, they dont feel right now.

Construction on the legacy project began last month and is expected to take five years.

On the same day that construction started, the Supreme Court blocked an 11th hour plea from Chicago park advocacy group, Protect Our Parks, to halt the project.

The group has argued it will destroy significant parts of historic Jackson Park. The presidential center will sit on 19 acres of the 540-acre park.

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Obama defends $500 million 'Presidential Center' in Chicago

CHICAGO (AP) After five years of legal battles, gentrification concerns and a federal review, Barack and Michelle Obama dug shovels into the ground Tuesday during a celebratory groundbreaking on their legacy project in a lakefront Chicago park.

Watch the event in the player above.

Construction on the Obama Presidential Center along Lake Michigan, near the Obama family home and where the former president started his political career on Chicagos South Side,officially began last month.

Standing near an excavator and other heavy equipment, Obama described how the citys South Side shaped him, first as a community organizer, then as a husband, father and elected official. He said the center was one way of giving back and he hoped it would bring an economic boost to the area and inspire a future generation of leaders.

We want this center to be more than a static museum or a source of archival research. It wont just be a collection of campaign memorabilia or Michelles ballgowns, although I know everybody will come see those, he joked. It wont just be an exercise in nostalgia or looking backwards. We want to look forward.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and several city aldermen were among the few people allowed at the event, which was streamed online to limit crowds amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The presidential center will sit on 19 acres (7.7 hectares) of the 540-acre (291-hectare) of Jackson Park, named for the nations seventh president, Andrew Jackson.

It will be unique among presidential libraries. Obamas presidential papers will be available in digital form. The sprawling campus will include a museum, public library branch, athletic center, test kitchen and childrens play area.

The initial cost was projected at $500 million, butdocuments releasedby the Obama Foundation last month showed it is now roughly $830 million. Funds are being raised through private donations.

Organizers estimate about 750,000 visitors will come to the center each year.

Work on the Obama Presidential Center is expected to take about five years. Currently, heavy machinery peppers the site thats fenced off with green tarps.

Progress has been delayed bylawsuitsand afederal reviewrequired because of the location in Jackson Park, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. At the same time,fears about displacing Black residentsin the area developed into a yearslong battle resulting in city-approvedneighborhood protections, including for affordable housing.

Some neighborhood activists said Tuesday that they were already seeing rising housing prices and would keep pushing for more protections in surrounding areas. Environmental advocates have also objected to the location and the loss of green space. During the event, a plane pulled an aerial banner reading, STOP CUTTING DOWN TREES. MOVE OPC.

Obama, who didnt take questions during the event, has said over the years that the center will benefit the surrounding area with new jobs and new trees would be planted on the campus.

He chose Chicago over several cities, including Honolulu, where he was born and spent his early years.

Its a part of Chicago that has special significance for the Obamas. The center is near the University of Chicago where Obama taught law and where the Obamas got married and raised their two daughters. Michelle Obama also grew up on the South Side.

This city, this neighborhood courses through my veins and defines me at my very core, she said at the event. This substantial investment in the South Side will help make the neighborhood where we call home a destination for the entire world.

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WATCH: After 5 years, Obamas break ground on Presidential ...

CHICAGO (CBS) The official groundbreaking for the future Obama Presidential Center begins Tuesday afternoon.

The former President and first lady Barack and Michelle Obama are in Chicago to attend the ceremony in Jackson Park.

When it came time to plan the Obama Presidential Center, we wanted to give back to the place that gave us so much, Michelle Obama said.

The center in Jackson Park is where construction began about a month ago, but its been five years in the making.

It will include a museum, public library, athletic center and community space.

The Obamas hope it will give an economic boost to the South Side.

This is the first presidential museum thats ever been located in the inner city community, Dr. Carol Adams, advisor to the Obama Foundation, said. We think that it is has social, cultural education and economic benefits. We see economic benefits to our community already, as we see the contractors that are working on the site evil now and more to come.

But the project has also faced multiple lawsuits.

Including from a group called Protect Our Parks.

They argue the center would have a negative impact on DuSable Lake Shore Drive and eat up Lake Michigan parkland.

Then residents in South Shore are worried the new center will drive housing prices up and displace them from their homes.

Theres an agreement already with Woodlawn and certain community complex properties coming with other neighborhoods that assure that the people live in the neighborhood, continue to stay in the neighborhood continue to be able to afford to be in the neighborhood, and benefit from the growth thats going to come as a result of this wonderful presidential center, Adams said.

Adams says shes ready to see the center standing tall as a beacon of light and hope for black children.

It tells them what they can be in what they can do, She said. It tells them that you can get there from here, because its right here its right here in your neighborhood this story.

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Obama Presidential Center Groundbreaking Underway In ...