Setting Tone for Post-Presidency, Obama Will Speak in South Africa on Tolerance

He labored over his eulogy to Mandela, rewriting Mr. Rhodes’s draft from top to bottom in longhand — something he had done only once before, with his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize. Mr. Rhodes said he expected the former president, with more time on his hands now, to write this speech himself.

Mr. Obama and his wife, Michelle, remained in Washington after he left office, so their younger daughter, Sasha, could finish school. But they have kept a low profile in the capital. Much of Mr. Obama’s time is spent working on his presidential memoir. He has largely steered clear of domestic politics, though aides said they expected him to return to the campaign trail as the midterm elections draw closer.

Overseas, however, Mr. Obama has cut a wider swath. He has visited 16 countries for speeches or meetings, drawing crowds and V.I.P. treatment everywhere he goes. In Beijing, Mr. Xi invited him to a private dinner to sound him out about political developments in the United States.

The Obama Foundation’s emphasis on developing young people, Mr. Rhodes said, is consciously different than the focus of other foundations, like those of Bill Clinton or Bill and Melinda Gates, which tend to concentrate on solving specific problems. He said it drew on Mr. Obama’s roots as a community organizer in Chicago.

“When I was in my last year in office, part of what I asked myself is, ‘What would be the most important contribution I could make?’” Mr. Obama said during a recent round table with young people in Singapore. “What I really felt most strongly about was, ‘How do we develop the next generation of leaders?’”

The Obama Foundation’s Africa program is a yearlong initiative that aims to train people for roles in government, civil society and the private sector. The 200 participants were chosen from an applicant pool of nearly 10,000, said Bernadette Meehan, a former diplomat who oversees the program as chief international officer of the foundation.