After a rough week in Washington, President Barack Obama came to rainy Atlanta on Sunday to be with a friendlier crowd, becoming the first sitting president to give the commencement address at Morehouse College.
The president was to later attend a fundraiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee at the home of Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank.
Obama is still dealing with a Congressional investigation into the Benghazi attacks and criticism of the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups as well as the FBI’s investigation of the Associated Press.
But at Morehouse, he was to speak to a crowd of more than 500 graduates and about 10,000 onlookers who began showing up several hours before the commencement, despite intermittent drenching rain.
Britney Ferguson arrived early to get a front row seat in the family and friends area. The 20-year-old from Hayward, Calif., came to see her brother, Ian Minerve Jr., graduate from Morehouse with his business degree.
“It’s really, really amazing to be here. I’m so happy for my brother,” said the California State University East Bay student. “This inspires me to keep working hard in school so I can graduate and feel success.”
Ferguson’s father got to campus at 3:30 a.m. to save seats for the rest of the family.
“Seeing Obama makes it worth it sitting here in the rain,” she said.
Her cousin, Sally Seow, from Trinidad, is attending her first American graduation.
“Having Obama here makes it that much more special,” she said.
Sean K. Daughtry of Boston, a Morehouse graduate, was in Atlanta to celebrate his 20th class reunion.
“It is a great honor to have our president here and an even greater honor that we are bestowing upon him an honorary degree,” he said. “So we will have a Morehouse man as president.”
Daughtry, 42, is also here to celebrate the presidency of John Wilson, the 11th president of Morehouse. Daughtry worked with Wilson when they were both members of the Greater Boston Morehouse College Alumni Association. At that time, Daughtry said, Wilson helped endow $1 million in funds for the college.
President Obama’s commencement speech at Morehouse marks the first time a sitting president has delivered a commencement address in Georgia since 1938, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke at the University of Georgia.
Obama continues to be a big draw at political fund raisers, which is good news for Democrats struggling to hold control of the Senate.
Nationally, the DSCC has raised more money than its Republican counterpart, but Democrats will struggle to defend seven Democrat-held seats in states won by Republican Mitt Romney in the presidential race last year. Georgia’s Senate seat is open with the retirement of U.S. Sen. Chambliss, but Democrats have yet to recruit a high-profile candidate. U.S. Rep. John Barrow of Augusta elected to remain in the House after discussing a Senate run with the DSCC.
—Please return for updates.
The president was to later attend a fundraiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee at the home of Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank.
Obama is still dealing with a Congressional investigation into the Benghazi attacks and criticism of the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups as well as the FBI’s investigation of the Associated Press.
But at Morehouse, he was to speak to a crowd of more than 500 graduates and about 10,000 onlookers who began showing up several hours before the commencement, despite intermittent drenching rain.
Britney Ferguson arrived early to get a front row seat in the family and friends area. The 20-year-old from Hayward, Calif., came to see her brother, Ian Minerve Jr., graduate from Morehouse with his business degree.
“It’s really, really amazing to be here. I’m so happy for my brother,” said the California State University East Bay student. “This inspires me to keep working hard in school so I can graduate and feel success.”
Ferguson’s father got to campus at 3:30 a.m. to save seats for the rest of the family.
“Seeing Obama makes it worth it sitting here in the rain,” she said.
Her cousin, Sally Seow, from Trinidad, is attending her first American graduation.
“Having Obama here makes it that much more special,” she said.
Sean K. Daughtry of Boston, a Morehouse graduate, was in Atlanta to celebrate his 20th class reunion.
“It is a great honor to have our president here and an even greater honor that we are bestowing upon him an honorary degree,” he said. “So we will have a Morehouse man as president.”
Daughtry, 42, is also here to celebrate the presidency of John Wilson, the 11th president of Morehouse. Daughtry worked with Wilson when they were both members of the Greater Boston Morehouse College Alumni Association. At that time, Daughtry said, Wilson helped endow $1 million in funds for the college.
President Obama’s commencement speech at Morehouse marks the first time a sitting president has delivered a commencement address in Georgia since 1938, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke at the University of Georgia.
Obama continues to be a big draw at political fund raisers, which is good news for Democrats struggling to hold control of the Senate.
Nationally, the DSCC has raised more money than its Republican counterpart, but Democrats will struggle to defend seven Democrat-held seats in states won by Republican Mitt Romney in the presidential race last year. Georgia’s Senate seat is open with the retirement of U.S. Sen. Chambliss, but Democrats have yet to recruit a high-profile candidate. U.S. Rep. John Barrow of Augusta elected to remain in the House after discussing a Senate run with the DSCC.
—Please return for updates.