BALTIMORE... Peering at an aging manuscript with the ramparts of Fort McHenry, its ever-present American flag, and the gleaming waters of Chesapeake Bay just outside President Obama came here Friday to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the British bombardment that inspired the lyrics to “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Then he did some fund-raising. Mr. Obama’s visit to Baltimore at the end of a somber week in which he expanded a military campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and paid homage to those who died in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 illustrated the enduring paradox of a modern American president’s life: History coexists with the hustle of politics.
After his brief stop at the star-shaped fort from which the people of Baltimore held off the British Navy during the War of 1812, Mr. Obama was driven to the suburban Baltimore home of politically connected hedge fund owner who once ran a powerful pro-Israel lobbying group. There, he was promptly plunged into today’s problems.
“We live in deeply troubled times internationally challenging times,” Mr. Obama said to a roomful of Democratic donors, who paid from $10,000 to $32,400 each to hear him speak.
The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, the president said, posed the greatest immediate threat because it “has not only taken over large swaths of Iraq and Syria, but displayed the kind of brutality that even by the standards of terrorists, is extraordinary.”
If the group’s rampage through the Middle East had any silver lining, the president said, it was that Arab neighbors were focused for the first time on the “need to completely distance from and effectively snuff out this particular brand of Islamic extremism.”
Expressing confidence that the United States was on “the right side of history” in this battle, Mr. Obama said the nation would also resist Russia’s incursions in Ukraine, even though he noted that the United States has very little trade with Ukraine and “geopolitically, what happens in Ukraine doesn’t pose a great threat to us.”
The fund-raiser’s host, Howard E. Friedman, was president of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a lobbying group that clashed with the Obama administration after calling for new sanctions on Iran, even as the United States tried to negotiate a nuclear accord with Tehran.
In introducing Mr. Obama, Mr. Friedman described a nuclear-armed Iran as the No. 1 danger in the world. He also thanked the president for standing by Israel during its recent war with Hamas in Gaza. Mr. Obama did not mention either topic in his opening remarks, and reporters were ushered out of the room before a question-and-answer session began.
As Mr. Obama’s motorcade arrived in the largely Orthodox Jewish neighborhood where Mr. Friedman lives, crowds lined the streets, several holding placards urging Mr. Obama to “protect Israel.”
Earlier in the day, Mr. Obama was joined by former President Bill Clinton on the South Lawn of the White House to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the founding of the volunteer organization AmeriCorps. Standing under bright sunshine, the newest class of volunteers was sworn in.
“Service is a spark to rekindle democracy in an age of uncertainty,” Mr. Clinton said, putting in a plug for Hillary Rodham Clinton’s record of volunteer service, which includes the Children’s Defense Fund and the legal aid program at the University of Arkansas.
Mr. Obama recounted his days as community organizer in Chicago when, he said, his salary was $13,000 a year plus money for gas. “You could nudge history forward, you could shape it,” he said.
At Fort McHenry, Mr. Obama paused to inspect Francis Scott Key’s original manuscript for what became “The Star-Spangled Banner,” whose lyrics were written as a poem.
On Sept. 14, 1814, Key, a lawyer and aspiring poet from Georgetown, composed the words of the national anthem. He was being held captive on a British warship, where he had been negotiating a prisoner swap.
Having watched the “rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air” through a rainy night, Key was cheered to see, at dawn’s light, an American flag, with 15 stars and stripes, flying boldly above the fort. He scrawled the words on the back of a letter, titling it “Defense of Fort McHenry.”
The poem was set to a melody by an English composer, John Stafford Smith, and grew in popularity through the 19th century. In 1931, Herbert Hoover signed a law making it the national anthem, ensuring the spectacle of generations of opera singers and pop divas trying to wrestle its balky lyrics to the ground before ballgames.
As the president scrutinized the manuscript some of its words are scratched out Mr. Obama’s guide, a National Park Service ranger, Vincent Vaise, told him that if the Declaration of Independence was the nation’s birth certificate, then “The Star-Spangled Banner” was its high school diploma.
Then he did some fund-raising. Mr. Obama’s visit to Baltimore at the end of a somber week in which he expanded a military campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and paid homage to those who died in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 illustrated the enduring paradox of a modern American president’s life: History coexists with the hustle of politics.
After his brief stop at the star-shaped fort from which the people of Baltimore held off the British Navy during the War of 1812, Mr. Obama was driven to the suburban Baltimore home of politically connected hedge fund owner who once ran a powerful pro-Israel lobbying group. There, he was promptly plunged into today’s problems.
“We live in deeply troubled times internationally challenging times,” Mr. Obama said to a roomful of Democratic donors, who paid from $10,000 to $32,400 each to hear him speak.
The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, the president said, posed the greatest immediate threat because it “has not only taken over large swaths of Iraq and Syria, but displayed the kind of brutality that even by the standards of terrorists, is extraordinary.”
If the group’s rampage through the Middle East had any silver lining, the president said, it was that Arab neighbors were focused for the first time on the “need to completely distance from and effectively snuff out this particular brand of Islamic extremism.”
Expressing confidence that the United States was on “the right side of history” in this battle, Mr. Obama said the nation would also resist Russia’s incursions in Ukraine, even though he noted that the United States has very little trade with Ukraine and “geopolitically, what happens in Ukraine doesn’t pose a great threat to us.”
The fund-raiser’s host, Howard E. Friedman, was president of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a lobbying group that clashed with the Obama administration after calling for new sanctions on Iran, even as the United States tried to negotiate a nuclear accord with Tehran.
In introducing Mr. Obama, Mr. Friedman described a nuclear-armed Iran as the No. 1 danger in the world. He also thanked the president for standing by Israel during its recent war with Hamas in Gaza. Mr. Obama did not mention either topic in his opening remarks, and reporters were ushered out of the room before a question-and-answer session began.
As Mr. Obama’s motorcade arrived in the largely Orthodox Jewish neighborhood where Mr. Friedman lives, crowds lined the streets, several holding placards urging Mr. Obama to “protect Israel.”
Earlier in the day, Mr. Obama was joined by former President Bill Clinton on the South Lawn of the White House to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the founding of the volunteer organization AmeriCorps. Standing under bright sunshine, the newest class of volunteers was sworn in.
“Service is a spark to rekindle democracy in an age of uncertainty,” Mr. Clinton said, putting in a plug for Hillary Rodham Clinton’s record of volunteer service, which includes the Children’s Defense Fund and the legal aid program at the University of Arkansas.
Mr. Obama recounted his days as community organizer in Chicago when, he said, his salary was $13,000 a year plus money for gas. “You could nudge history forward, you could shape it,” he said.
At Fort McHenry, Mr. Obama paused to inspect Francis Scott Key’s original manuscript for what became “The Star-Spangled Banner,” whose lyrics were written as a poem.
On Sept. 14, 1814, Key, a lawyer and aspiring poet from Georgetown, composed the words of the national anthem. He was being held captive on a British warship, where he had been negotiating a prisoner swap.
Having watched the “rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air” through a rainy night, Key was cheered to see, at dawn’s light, an American flag, with 15 stars and stripes, flying boldly above the fort. He scrawled the words on the back of a letter, titling it “Defense of Fort McHenry.”
The poem was set to a melody by an English composer, John Stafford Smith, and grew in popularity through the 19th century. In 1931, Herbert Hoover signed a law making it the national anthem, ensuring the spectacle of generations of opera singers and pop divas trying to wrestle its balky lyrics to the ground before ballgames.
As the president scrutinized the manuscript some of its words are scratched out Mr. Obama’s guide, a National Park Service ranger, Vincent Vaise, told him that if the Declaration of Independence was the nation’s birth certificate, then “The Star-Spangled Banner” was its high school diploma.
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