The Obama Years -- Big Picture

My Look Back At Our 44th President

1. First, a note about Hawaii, where President Obama was born.  I lived on the Hawaiian islands for about five years, long enough to have a sense of what being born there would've meant for someone like Obama.

The Hawaiian people are, ethnically, some of the most mixed in the world.  Caucasians make up only about a third of the population, which was also the case in the 1960s, when Obama was a child.

The largest ethnic group was and is Asian (Japanese, Filipino, Chinese, Korean).  But, this dividing up of the population by country of ancestor origin distorts reality; just about every Hawaiian is a mix of different races.  So, the fact that Obama was bi-racial was relatively insignificant, to a degree that anyone living on the mainland can't imagine.

2. And second, another note about Obama's racial impact.
The insignificance of his ancestry is what makes Obama a natural for the ambitious role of becoming our first black president.  Not only was he as unselfconscious as possible of being black (it was almost as if he was a future American, traveling back in time to show us how it's done), but his identity wasn't, at least to a degree, concerned with overcoming the tragedy of slavery (though, admittedly, as a Kenyan, his father would have known colonialism).

3. And third, a note about what the president's unique personality meant for the country.  Here's an interview that discusses Obama's origins and personality.  In the interview, Ta-Nehisi Coates makes the point that any overt racism Obama encountered during his time in office wouldn't have inflicted the kind of wound that other black politicians would have likely experienced, because for Obama, as a child, racism was all but absent.

So, with that background in mind, let's list a few things that Obama, in historical 20/20 hindsight, will be credited with accomplishing (In March of last year I looked back at President Obama's legislative legacy.  This retrospective is, instead, the big picture.)  I'll offer a comment about each one.

 *  Inclusion, the great promise that is America.  What could be more important than addressing America's original sin--the subjugation of one race by another?  Comment: racism cripples the perpetrator, too, though only in terms of potential self-respect.

 * A Real Relationship between president and first lady.  Their loving each other makes perfect sense.  Every other relationship in the history of the presidency can be seen as a lesser version of what the Obamas conveyed.  Comment: befuddlement, philandering, bullying, all take their toll on honest love.

 * A template for a Conscientious and Effective administration.  There were very few hiccups in the Obama White House, let alone serious disruptions.  Comment: Obama's was a cautious, centrist approach, dealing in the realm of the politically possible.

 *  The Consolidation of pride in Progressivism.  What had been the all but lost thread of 20th century progressivism (FDR, Truman through Johnson) became, once again, the establishment.  Comment: Presidents Carter and Clinton can be seen as steps along this path.

 *  Charisma.  The brilliant smile, the polite graciousness, the sleek athleticism, the un-paralelled humor (one can re-visit White House Correspondents' Dinners to experience this).  Comment: Obama's pizzazz is likely to be recognized, in hindsight, to a greater and greater degree--as was the case with presidents like FDR, Reagan and Clinton.

 * An Upward Bound Economy.  Halving the unemployment rate, rescuing the cash-starved economy,  lowering annual deficits, overseeing a long bull market.  Comment: To the extent that not enough was done to rescue the economy in Obama's early years, the Republican party is to blame, as additional stimulus was voted down, time and again.

 *  Legislation.  Progressive laws, like ObamaCare, were enacted to the greatest extent possible.  Comment: Again, Republicans and conservative Democrats stood in the way of even greater change.

 *  World.  Obama's biggest accomplishments on the world stage, seen in several decades' hindsight, will likely be returning the US to the ranks of the liked and respected.  The fight against the Islamic state, the Iran Nuclear Deal, standing up to Russian belligerence, and pursuing trade, are lesser highlights.  Comment: his Nobel Peace Prize.

But, you ask, what about the Trump administration's undermining activities?  Will there be anything left of the Obama legacy?   As I've hinted, above, the Obama era reclaimed the establishment for progressivism.  Rather than a return to a Republican-centric establishment (like that of the Reagan-Bush era), Trump's misadventures are driving the Republican party to ruin.

This can be seen in the abject personification of authority, instead of what pass for standard orthodoxies of Republican leadership: free trade, infrastructure spending, and fiscal discipline.  And what would Ronald Reagan say about a party that no longer followed his prohibition against speaking ill of another Republican?

All of which suggest that either today's toadies and grifters are ejected from the Republican party (likely after an electoral disaster or two), or a new, centrist party forms, and a rump Republican force gradually withers away.