The beloved 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, opened up his US$850 million Presidential Center on a 20-acre site in Jackson Park, which is located on the South Side of Chicago.

The centre will house a museum exhibiting artefacts and documents from his presidency, which ran from 2009 to 2017.

He chose Chicago for his Presidential Center because it is the place which gave him so much. He started as a community organiser, he practised law there, he married his wife Michelle there, and his daughters were born in the city.

“It is an expression of thanks, an acknowledgement that so much of what I hold dear I owe to the people of this city and the people of the surrounding neighbourhoods.

Three former Presidents were in attendance, namely Joe Biden, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush.

President Donald Trump has been very scathing of President Obama, once saying he was not born in the United States. Trump has labelled the new entry a “ disaster”. As it stands, Obama’s presidency is proving more popular than that of Trump’s

Speaking about the new Presidential Center, President Obama said: “ I hope this centre will serve as an affirmation of just how special, how precious our democracy truly is and remind us what we can achieve when we embrace our shared responsibilities as citizens.”

He did comment on this time in American history and the divisiveness that characterises this era without naming President Trump.

“Every President here today, as different as we are, has tried our best to uphold values that John McCain and Mitt Romney believed in no less than I did. It is our greatest inheritance.

There was a lot of support for President Obama during the opening of his Presidential Center. Dignitaries flew in from around the world, including former Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel and former Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau.

Musical entertainment was provided by Bruce Springsteen, Bono, Stevie Wonder, Christina Aguilera, Marc Anthony, John Legend, The Roots, Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam.