Chuck Berry Performs At White House; Obama Speaks To Kalamazoo Central High: Today In History

June 7, 2017, is the 158th day of the year, with 207 days remaining. The moon is in a waxing gibbous phase, with illumination at 96 percent.

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Chuck Berry at the White House

Chuck Berry — an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music — performed at the White House in 1979 at the request of President Jimmy Carter. Berry performed at a benefit for the Black Music Association — just three days before pleading guilty to federal tax charges, having dodged more than $100,000 in taxes until that point.

The LA Times once described Chuck Berry as a master of detail whose music defined a genre. But the conviction sent him back to jail after he had previously been imprisoned for armed robbery and transporting a minor.

Obama gives commencement speech for Kalamazoo Central High

Hours after spending time in Washington, DC meeting with cabinet official to discuss the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, former President Barack Obama was standing in a university gymnasium before 280 graduate and their families as the commencement speaker for Kalamazoo Central High School. The school had just won a nationwide competition to promote the president's Race to the Top education initiative.

"The truth is, no matter how hard you work, you're not going to ace every class. You're not going to succeed the first time you try something," he told the students.

"There will be time when you screw up, when you hurt the people you love. There will be times when you make a mistake and you stray from the values that you hold most deeply."

Obama's remarks seemed reflective of the ups and downs that he had faced thus far in his then-17-month presidency. It was his first high school commencement address as president.

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Photo credit: NBC Television via Wikimedia Commons