First Lady Michelle Obama and Former President George W Bush shared a sweet embrace at the opening of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture on Saturday.
Michelle grasped Bush's hand as they both smiled before Obama took the stage to deliver the final speech to officially open the museum, which has been in the works since 2003.
From the 3,000 objects now on display at the museum, it was a simple block of stone that Obama focused on as he began his lengthy and powerful address to a crowd filled with the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Will Smith.
The slave block, where thousands of men and women had been bought and sold, had a plaque next to it, commemorating the speeches of General Andrew Jackson and Henry Clay in 1830.
'Consider what this artifact tells us about history, about how its told, about what can be cast aside,' Obama began.
'On a stone where, for years, men and women were torn from their spouse, shackled and bound....the singular thing we once chose to commemorate as history, were the unmemorable speeches of two powerful men.'
'That block I think explains why this museum is so necessary,' he continued. 'Because that same object reframed, put in context, tells us so much more.'
And it is the new Smithsonian Museum, the president explained, that would tell the true story of America, one encompasses 'suffering and delight, of fear but also hope'.
'This National Museum helps to tell a richer and fuller story of who we are,' Obama explained.
'It helps us better understand the lives of, yes, the president but also the slave, the industrialist but also the porter, the keeper of the status quo but also the activist seeking to overthrow that status quo.'
'Hopefully this museum can inspire us to talk to each other,' the president added. 'And more importantly listen to each other, and most importantly see each other, see how our stories are bound together.'
The 85,000 sq ft museum would not only tell an 'essential part' of the American story, Obama said, but one that 'at times has been overlooked'.
'As Americans we rightfully passed on the tales of the giants who built this country, who led armies into battles, who waged seminal debates in the halls of Congress and corridors of power,' he said.
'But too often we ignored the stories of millions upon millions of others, who built this nation just as surely, whose humble eloquence, whose calloused hands, whose steady drive helped to create cities, erect industries, build the arsenals of democracy.'
'And by knowing this other story, we better understand ourselves and each other, it binds us together, it reaffirms that all of us are American,' he continued.
After the opening Bush shared a photo on Instagram with the caption: 'Thanks for taking our photo with the Bonner family, Mr. President.
A great Nation does not hide its history; it faces its flaws and corrects them. The @nmaahc tells the truth: that a country founded on the promise of liberty held millions in chains…that the price of our Union was America’s original sin. I was honored to sign the bill authorizing the construction of this national treasure. And I am pleased it now stands where it has always belonged: on the National Mall.'