A new president will take the oath of office tomorrow in front of the United States Capitol. If one casts an eye due west from there, the Lincoln Memorial can be seen on the distant horizon, the place where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood to deliver his famous "I Have a Dream" speech on Aug. 28, 1963. King told the country that day: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
Barack Obama was 2 when King gave that speech, but he grew up to fulfill and epitomize King's dream in a way that seemed unimaginable in 1963 by becoming president of the United States. While Obama himself said in his farewell address last week that "race remains a potent and often divisive force in our society and all of us have more work to do," it was the quality and content of his character that got him elected president twice.
President Obama's historic and consequential presidency comes to an end tomorrow. Many are ready for him to go, but not me. During his eight years as president, Obama has given us steady, capable and responsible leadership, leaving our country better off than it was when he took office in January 2009. Perhaps that's why he will exit the White House with a job approval rating of 55 percent, a mark higher than most presidents have had on their last day in office.
It goes with the territory that presidents must endure relentless scrutiny and criticism, as well as their share of failure and disappointment. Obama's tenure has been no different. It's a formidable task to govern in a country so sharply divided and Obama became a lightning rod for the extreme partisanship that is hobbling our country. With common ground hard to find, Obama still managed to preside with uncommon grace. While many have disagreed with Obama on issues and policies or disliked the fact he's a liberal Democrat, he has had many worthy accomplishments, some even transformational, and the manner in which he has governed under difficult and trying circumstances in a dangerous and complicated world has earned him respect and admiration from many of his fellow Americans.
J.D. Vance, a conservative Republican and author of the widely-acclaimed book "Hillbilly Elegy," recently commented about the happy marriage between Barack and Michelle Obama, how they treat each other with love and respect, and how they adore their thriving children who have grown up before our eyes. He then wrote: "It's one of the great failures in recent political history that the Republican Party was too often unable to disconnect legitimate political disagreements from the fact the president is an admirable man." After stating "the political side of my brain will breathe a sigh of relief at Mr. Obama's departure," Vance then added: "But the child who so desperately wanted an American dream, with a happy family at its core, will feel different. For at a pivotal time in my life, Barack Obama gave me hope that a boy who grew up like me could still achieve the most important of my dreams. For that, I'll miss him, and the example he set."
There's much I'll miss about President Obama: the hope and optimism he gave to so many; his ability to lead and to inspire; the way he approached his job with the seriousness required of someone who sits in the Oval Office; his ability to console and lift up the nation when tragedy and heartbreak struck; his exceptional intelligence and eloquence; his honesty and integrity; his scandal-free White House; his determination and perseverance; his laughter and sense of humor; his calm and measured temperament so essential to being an effective president and reliable commander-in-chief; and his civility toward others, even those who did all they could to derail his presidency.
Those who wish to be politicians and who still believe that public service can be an honorable and noble profession can learn from Obama as he has consistently demonstrated how one should conduct himself in the public arena. He rose above the poisonous and polarized politics we now suffer from, always the adult in the room, whether we agreed with him or not. Despite political setbacks, he never lost his faith in America or in the American people. The next president and Congress will try to erase much of what Obama has done and stood for, but they will never be able to erase his genuine decency as a man or his exemplary service to the country.
Only in America could Barack Obama's story have been written. History will be kind to him.
Commentary on 01/19/2017