Chapter 197 Presidential Policy Institute

Mu Xin had finally figured out how to be a scumbag; it looked like he was letting Jessica be the hostess, but in reality, he was offloading the renovation work.

That night, Jessica performed exceptionally well, and Mu Xin almost couldn't handle it...

The next morning, Mu Xin didn't wake up until nearly noon. While eating brunch, he was scrolling through his phone when a piece of news caught his eye.

The headline read, "Obama Presidential Center Opens to the Public, Receives Enthusiastic Response."

The report featured a photo of an extremely flamboyant building standing in Jackson Park on the South Side of Chicago, adjacent to the University of Chicago campus and the shoreline of Lake Michigan.

The Obama Presidential Center—not a presidential library; the report specifically emphasized this point.

Barack Obama was the first president to use "Center" rather than "Library" to name his presidential memorial building.

The center covers nearly twenty acres and includes a museum, a forum building, a branch of the Chicago Public Library, and a large expanse of green space open to the public.

The total cost is estimated to exceed eight hundred million dollars, all raised by the Obama Foundation through private donations.

Mu Xin read the report from beginning to end several times, then searched for a few related articles.

The Clinton Presidential Library is in Little Rock, Arkansas; George H.W. Bush's is in College Station, Texas; George W. Bush's is in Dallas; Reagan's is in Simi Valley, California; and Kennedy's is in Boston.

Each presidential library is an independent kingdom, containing a museum to display the president's governing legacy, an archive to preserve all administrative documents from his term, an education center, and public event spaces. They are managed by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), but the construction funds all come from private donations.

"How much does it cost to build a presidential library?" Mu Xin typed this question into the search bar.

The answer was between fifty million and five hundred million dollars, depending on the scale and location.

But money wasn't the point; the point was that behind every presidential library is a presidential foundation, and the board of directors lists are filled with the people at the very top of American society.

Mu Xin put down his phone. Currently, all his connections were in Ohio; Governor DeWine was about to leave office, Acton was still campaigning, and Ramaswamy was an arms dealer.

Although Cohen was in The Pentagon, it wasn't very significant.

These people were useful in their respective tracks, but none of them could help him open that core door in Washington.

A presidential foundation is a magical place.

If you have a seat on the board of a presidential foundation, you can regularly meet the former president himself.

If you help a former president build his memorial, you can leave a corner of his political legacy that belongs to you.

This is the most legitimate, decent, and unquestionable way to build connections within the American political system.

Mu Xin thought for a moment, then picked up his phone and dialed Jack's number.

The phone rang twice before being answered. "Mr. Mu, it's not one in the morning, so I know you're not calling to rush me about a press release. What is it?"

"I'm looking at the report on the Obama Presidential Center," Mu Xin said, getting straight to the point. "How does one get involved in something like a presidential library?"

"Are you asking how to visit, or how to participate?" Jack asked tentatively.

"Participate," Mu Xin said. "Large donations, board seats, establishing a direct connection with the president himself—which path do I take?"

Jack was silent for a long time before saying, "Mr. Mu, the question you're asking, for a Chinese citizen, is likely more legally complex than all your previous questions combined."

"That's why I'm asking you, rather than calling the Obama Foundation directly," Mu Xin said.

Jack chuckled softly. "Let me set up a framework for you first."

"Starting with Roosevelt, every outgoing president has built a presidential library."

"The construction funds come entirely from private donations, and after completion, it's handed over to the National Archives for management."

"Private donations—the key here is 'private.' Private can mean Americans, or it can mean foreigners. The law does not prohibit foreign citizens from donating to a presidential foundation."

"However," Jack paused, "records of donations from foreign citizens to a presidential foundation must be reported to the Federal Election Commission and relevant tax authorities once they exceed a certain amount."

"The filing records are public. If a Chinese citizen's name appears on the list of major donors to the Obama Foundation..."

"I've already written the New York Times headline for you: 'Chinese Billionaire Funds Obama Presidential Center; Former President's Foundation Faces Questions of Foreign Influence.'"

"So you mean direct donations won't work," Mu Xin said.

"It's not that they won't work," Jack corrected him, "it's that there's a price."

"If you're willing to pay that price, then you can donate. If the amount is large enough, the Obama Foundation will accept it. But can you bear the political cost?"

"No," Mu Xin said bluntly. "I finally managed to disappear from the headlines of Ohio newspapers; I'm not doing that just to end up on the front page of the New York Times."

"Then don't even think about it; that path won't work," Jack said directly.

Mu Xin stood up and walked to the window. "Within presidential foundations, which people are relatively... closer to China?"

"Wait a second." Jack's tone suddenly changed, and Mu Xin heard the rapid typing of a keyboard on his end.

"What are you looking up?" Mu Xin asked.

"Not all political legacy projects are called presidential libraries," Jack said while typing. "There's another thing called a Presidential Policy Institute."

"It's not a library, it's not managed by the National Archives, and it doesn't need to be started only after leaving office."

"Its essence is a non-profit policy research institution, funded by a sitting or former president's foundation, and either affiliated with a university or operated independently."

"The legal threshold for donations is much lower than for a presidential library because, in legal classification, it's a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit organization. There's no fundamental difference between that and donating to a law school at a university."

"How high is the frequency of contact between board members of such an institute and the president?" Mu Xin asked, getting straight to the point.

"It depends on the nature of the institute," Jack said. "If the institute is one where the president personally serves as the chairman of the board after leaving office, there are at least four full board meetings a year, two annual policy summits, plus irregular private fundraising dinners."

"The frequency with which you see the president himself at these occasions is higher than at any Washington social event you could attend."

"And you aren't meeting him as a donor; you're meeting him as a board member."

"You sit at the same table to discuss the agenda, approve budgets, and decide the institute's annual policy research direction."

"The relationship between you and him is a working relationship," Jack said, then added, "Of course, that's assuming you can get onto the board."

"Which former presidents' institutes have vacancies right now?"