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After eight years of the often thankless work required of the leader of the free world, Barack Obama seems to be enjoying doing what he wants. He's visited the British Virgin Islands, Hawaii and French Polynesia. He's gone kite-surfing, played golf, visited an art gallery and caught a Broadway play. After all the time and energy he put into running for president and being president, most Americans probably think he's entitled to tend to his own needs.

But not everyone agrees. The headline on an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal suggests that he get to work on a formidable new task: "Obama Should Make Saving Chicago His Pet Project."

Which gives us an opportunity to discuss the post-presidential Obama. Expect to read many, many uninvited suggestions for how he should spend his time. The author of this commentary, Chicagoan Gary MacDougal, who served as CEO of Mark Controls Corp. and chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, wants the former president to take on the mission of reducing violence in the city where he once lived.

"He and Mayor Rahm Emanuel should form a citywide task force to find a way to stop the killing and start saving lives," writes McDougal, who once served on a task force with him. "Mr. Obama is extremely popular in Chicago's black community and young gang members who have ignored all previous calls to put down their guns might listen to him." The objective, says McDougal, "would be to make Chicago the safest large city in the country."

This suggestion brings to mind The Onion article that ran after the 2008 presidential election: "Black Man Given Nation's Worst Job." Obama may think he's done enough in the way of public service by shepherding the economy out of a severe recession, enacting a major health care overhaul, revamping financial regulation and taking steps against climate change. If you think all that didn't take a toll, compare photos of Obama in 2008 with those of 2016.

He has other pressing obligations, including some of value to people in Chicago. Planning, financing and building his presidential library and museum on the South Side will demand a lot of his attention before the planned 2021 opening. Obama has reportedly already started work on a memoir encompassing his White House years and it no doubt will run longer than the 464-page "Dreams of My Father," which covered less consequential years.

Why should he be the person to tackle violence in Chicago? Obama has spent little time here since becoming president. He and his wife Michelle have rented a house in Washington, where they are expected to stay at least until 15-year-old Sasha completes high school. He has no special expertise in crime prevention, and the relationships he once had with ordinary Chicagoans are no longer fresh. By now, others know the terrain much better than Obama does.

Besides, combating violence and its causes is really the job of the mayor, the City Council and the police superintendent. We're not convinced a panel of worthies, no matter who they might be, would do a lot to instill peaceable behavior among gang members or other violent residents. But if a task force holds any promise, plenty of other locals could lend it credibility. How about the Rev. Otis Moss III, Chance the Rapper, the Rev. Michael Pfleger or Dwyane Wade? Community leaders whose names are not famous could be enlisted. Local business executives could offer help creating avenues for employment to steer young people out of trouble. Corporations and foundations ought to be encouraged to invest more in blighted areas.

Obama's library and museum could be part of this effort, but it's too much to expect the former president to be the savior of Chicago. In the first place, he has too many other things on his plate. In the second, who would want to break the news to Michelle?

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Should Obama save Chicago? That's asking too much. - Chicago Tribune