--- description: President Obama will not be traveling to Kentucky for Muhammad Ali's memorial service later this week title: President Obama Will Not Attend Muhammad Ali's Funeral image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1462a3af27645e0c/698896e58e06011500466383/rtsggtq.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # President Obama Will Not Attend Muhammad Ali's Funeral by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 8, 2016 6:17 AM CUT  Fans of Muhammad Ali, the former world heavyweight boxing champion, leave pictures and personal mementos as they pay their respects at the Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. June 7, 2016. Fans of Muhammad Ali, the former world heavyweight boxing champion, leave pictures and personal mementos as they pay their respects at the Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. June 7, 2016.John Sommers II—Reuters by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 8, 2016 6:17 AM CUT President Obama will not be traveling to Kentucky for Muhammad Ali’s memorial service later this week as it conflicts with his daughter Malia’s high school graduation, the White House said. Ali, who [died](http://time.com/muhammad-ali/ "undefined") last Friday of septic shock at the age of 74, will be put to rest on Friday in his hometown of Louisville. Obama has offered his condolences to Ali’s widow Lonnie in a phone call, the BBC [reported](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-36475673 "undefined"), but will spend Friday at the high school commencement ceremony at [Sidwell Friends School](http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1861334,00.html "undefined") in Washington, D.C., where Malia is a graduating senior and his younger daughter, Sasha, just finished freshman year. Obama and his wife Michelle have also written a letter to Ali’s family, which will travel to Kentucky with White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, who knew the late boxer. Former President Bill Clinton will speak at the funeral, and numerous other dignitaries — including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — will be among the congregation. \[[_BBC_](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-36475673 "undefined")\] _For much more on Muhammad Ali, see TIME’s_ ALI: The Greatest_, a 112-page, fully illustrated commemorative edition. Available at retailers and at_ [_AMAZON.COM_](http://amzn.to/1rbALvP "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4360858/obama-muhammad-ali-memorial-service/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4360858/obama-muhammad-ali-memorial-service/"},"headline":"President Obama Will Not Attend Muhammad Ali's Funeral","datePublished":"2016-06-08T06:17:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:27:30.095Z","description":"He'll be watching Malia graduate from high school","url":"https://time.com/4360858/obama-muhammad-ali-memorial-service/","keywords":["malia obama","People","Muhammad Ali"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1462a3af27645e0c/698896e58e06011500466383/rtsggtq.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nash Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1462a3af27645e0c/698896e58e06011500466383/rtsggtq.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Fans of Muhammad Ali leave pictures and personal mementos as they pay their respects at the Ali Center in Louisville","caption":"Fans of Muhammad Ali leave pictures and personal mementos as they pay their respects at the Ali Center in Louisville","creditText":"John Sommers II—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4360858/obama-muhammad-ali-memorial-service/","name":"President Obama Will Not Attend Muhammad Ali's Funeral"}}]}] ```