The Final State of the Union
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Summary:
From a humorous night at the White House Correspondence Dinner to a beautiful arrival ceremony and state dinner for the Prime Minister and First Lady of Japan, this was a busy week at the White House. Here are a couple highlights from the week.
From a humorous night at the White House Correspondence Dinner to a beautiful arrival ceremony and state dinner for the Prime Minister and First Lady of Japan, this was a busy week at the White House. President Obama attended his sixth White House Correspondents’ Dinner, hosted the Prime Minister and First Lady of Japan, welcomed the newly sworn in Attorney General, delivered remarks about the recent protests in Baltimore, and announced a new partnership to expand access to free books for American students.
In case you missed it, here are a couple highlights from the week.
“Welcome to the Fourth Quarter:” The White House Correspondents' Dinner
Over the weekend, President Obama attended his sixth White House Correspondents' Dinner -- an evening to celebrate the importance of journalism and the dedication of reporters. In recent decades, the Correspondents' Dinner has also traditionally given Presidents a chance to show off their comedic sides. This year, the President gave us a preview of what to expect from the "fourth quarter" of his presidency -- and enlisted the help of comedian Keegan-Michael Key (better known as Luther from Comedy Central's "Key and Peele") to be his "anger translator."
Watch the President's full remarks from this year's Correspondents' Dinner.
Welcoming Our New Attorney General
On Monday, Vice President Biden swore in Loretta Lynch as the 83rd Attorney General of the United States. Later in the day, President Obama met with the new Attorney General at the White House to welcome her on board, and to discuss the events occurring in Baltimore.
President Obama meets with Attorney General Loretta Lynch on the situation in Baltimore: http://t.co/hzTFrWd3lo pic.twitter.com/Yg5KVytiDf
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 28, 2015
Read the full readout from their meeting and see what they said about Baltimore.
“Otagai no tame ni: With and for Each Other”
On Tuesday, President Obama and the First Lady welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Japanese First Lady Akie Abe to the White House. After the State Arrival Ceremony on the South Lawn, President Obama and Prime Minister Abe met to talk about trade, investment, and international security. During a joint press conference in the Rose Garden, the two leaders also announced that they would continue to work together to fight climate change.
President Obama on Baltimore: “This Is Not New.”
While speaking in the Rose Garden on Tuesday, President Obama shared his thoughts on the recent protests following the death of Freddie Gray -- a 25-year-old Baltimore native who died while in police custody. The President noted that the events in Baltimore called attention to the urgent need throughout the country to build trust between communities and their police.
Watch President Obama speak on the situation in Baltimore. http://t.co/T3t6ptxmaZ
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 28, 2015
“This has been going on for a long time,” the President said. “This is not new, and we shouldn’t pretend that it's new... If our society really wanted to solve the problem, we could -- it's just that it would require everybody saying, 'This is important, this is significant.'"
Open Books and Open Doors
Yesterday, the President traveled to the Anacostia Neighborhood Library in Washington, D.C. to announce new partnerships to expand access to free books for America's students, and to ensure every student has easy access to their local libraries and the wealth of knowledge and resources they can provide.
"I want boys and girls studying all the subjects and getting good at all the subjects" —President Obama #BooksForAll http://t.co/EX3vTuxmwm
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 30, 2015
This new partnership expands on the President's ConnectED initiative -- a bold pledge made two years ago to connect all of America's schools and libraries to the digital age, to jumpstart learning technology, and to ensure that America's young people can benefit fully from new advances in digital content and connectivity.
For more of the week's highlights, watch the latest edition of West Wing Week:
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