Barack and Michelle Obama's official White House portraits to be unveiled during September ceremony
CBSN
Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama will return to the White House in September for a special occasion: their official portraits are finally being unveiled, more than five years after they left the residence.
President Biden and first lady Jill Biden will host the ceremony on September 7, according to Hannah Hankins, a spokesperson for the former president.
Back in 2018, portraits of the former first couple — done by Amy Sherald and Kehinde Wiley — were unveiled at Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. Both portraits received an unprecedented public response, the museum said back in 2020, when it announced they would be going on a nationwide tour.
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.