Obama Presidential Center museum director aims for history, context

CHICAGO -- The tower of the Obama Presidential Center is getting a lot of attention as it rises in Jackson Park on the South Side. Meanwhile, Louise Bernard is trying to build the centerpiece museum’s interior: balancing former President Barack Obama’s philosophy and his namesake foundation’s mission with historical accuracy in a time of corrosive partisanship.

While plans for the center’s outer shell have been known (and litigated over) for years, its insides — and the narrative Obama’s team plans to present over four floors of distinct exhibits — have largely been unknown.

The woman leading that narrative charge is Bernard, a native of the United Kingdom who was named museum director in the spring of 2017.

During an exclusive interview, Bernard said she has grappled with how to approach Obama’s history and the controversies and challenges from his two terms in office, and present them at an institution critics worry will turn into yet another of the presidential “temples of spin” instead of an unbiased reflection of the time.

Among those Obama-era controversies: the rise of drone warfare,