Barack Obama was always special to me. During me adult life I experienced several presidents. While they had some positive contributions to our nation, they made many serious mistakes. I recall being happy when as a child Franklin Roosevelt was a hero of WWII. When a military returned home, I as a 8 year old recall my home city (Brockton, MA) celebrated and the city made many houses for the veterans. When President Reagan was elected, I recall how well he appeared. At the time, his major change in taxation seemed understandable until years later when it became apparent that the reduction of the taxes for the rich was counterproductive. As it is today, the very rich pay 2-4% of their gain while the majority pay proportionally much more. And then his homogeneous decision to make on Afghanistan when New York’s high rise buildings were destroyed with the loss of so many people that resulted in an endless war with so many deaths and no happy ending. President Obama was perfect!
In reading his autobiography book, THE AUDACITY OF HOPE, we walk through his childhood in Africa, migration to the United States, dealing with his Negro blood and taking one step at a time. He was clearly a good student in Chicago, his new hometown, who made the most of his experiences.
What made Obama relatively unique and successful is his insight that the truth is not dictated by politics. Truth is what it is, but humans often struggle to perceive this. People discriminate because they think that it what they believe is true, e.g., people of color are less that those who are white. He was able to rise above all this and proclaim an understanding of humanity as being all of us, regardless of race, status or money. Values were the key!
His constant reference to the Constitution is important because he saw all laws had to be consistent with the rights incapsulated in the document. He references the litany of presidents from George Washington on to establish his position.
As a politician, he was most aware of the issues that lead to differences. He was not, however, one sided as a recent former president. He would read and listen to the views to ensure that he did not miss on understanding the problems addressed by the legislation. A most mature understanding of truth in politics.
His role required traveling to get support for his positions but he was relatively unique in searching for what those who were opposed thought was wrong in his perspective. As opposed to a recent president, he did not assume that he would be always right. It ultimately helped his role when he became president.
Barack was a person of faith. He wanted the world to be aware that we are blessed by God and the need to respond appropriately in how we share our information and wealth with others. As God does not see humans divided by race, age or wealth, he wanted to share that he wanted to help everyone.
Reading his autobiography was a true honor.
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