Concerning the Obama Presidency

When President Barack Obama finally leaves office, I will personally miss him. His intelligence, his sense of purpose, his sanity, his grace, his open engagement with the people and his recognition of his own errors in judgment will be sorely missed. I find it terribly saddening that the vitriolic attacks on him were so relentless – many of the claims made against him were patently spurious, poisonous and reprehensible - and the obstruction was so extreme that many of the solutions he proposed to deal with the problems that confront the nation were effectively abandoned, especially a national policy on immigration. Ironically, the result of this very effective negative political strategy is now being used to undermine his legacy and attempts to paint him as an ineffective leader. In spite of the relentless obfuscation on the part of a Congress, doing the business of the powerful, his contributions to American life were substantial including bringing the nation safely from the brink of economic collapse, helping to salvage a collapsing automobile industry, effectively providing access to health coverage to tens of millions of American, avoiding a potentially disastrous military confrontation with Iran, etc.

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The overtly abusive behavior towards the presidency sanctioned by many members of Congress has its roots in the fact that the electorate had the temerity to elect an exceedingly bright Black man to the highest office in the land. Racism is very much alive in this nation – a reality reflected in the everyday existence of people of color in America. In fact, in the present political climate, racism has been given a new lease on life.

Unlike many of our presidents who came to office with disturbed minds and troubled intellects, Obama exudes a strong sense of self. He is well grounded and a remarkably well adjusted individual. These are qualities that we should insist upon in our national leadership. The prospect of a Trump presidency should give any reasonable person a cause for alarm; for, this is a man with a deeply troubled mind. The prospect of having such a mentality entrusted with the awesome power and responsibility of Commander-in-Chief is one worthy of nightmares.

In my judgment, future historians will look upon the Obama’s presidency as one of the most important in our nation's history. No amount of pathetic abuse and negative hyperbole will deter that ultimate evaluation.