columnist
OBAMA - A GOOD AND DECENT MAN In office as US President, Barack Obama faced many political, diplomatic, social and economic challenges but he left in high esteem. Ian Rainey, former international banker, evaluates his tenure.
The title is unlikely to be used for his successor but Barack Obama merits it because of the values he stood for and represented as a president of the United States. The mutual respect and the premium that he placed on relationships, particularly with his wife and children, will always remind us that power can go hand in hand with modesty, integrity and politeness. The media would have us believe that Obama stands for all that is right and that he could easily have defeated Trump who often stands for all that is darkness and wrong. But that is obviously not the case as there is no doubt that in voting in a new president, the voters rejected Obama as much as they did Mrs Clinton. In fact of the nearly 700 electoral districts that twice sent Obama to the White House, a stunning one third flipped over to support Trump in last November’s election. President Obama made income redistribution his top policy priority, above economic growth. Yet the result has been the slowest expansion since World War 2 and some would say even more inequality. Many AfricanAmericans looked to President Obama to ensure their economic rights as Martin Luther King secured their civil rights. But this was not necessarily delivered. In foreign policy it could be argued that Obama created more problems than he inherited. The post Cold War equilibrium is over. America is no longer the sole superpower, as Chinese hegemony slowly replaces American dominance in Asia and Eurasia. The US-Russian relationship under Obama was at a very low ebb and a defiant Vladimir Putin is altering the global geopolitical order by aligning with China. Obama can also be blamed for creating the monster that is ISIS through his premature extraction of American forces before installing a stable Iraqi Government. The Iran nuclear deal could have been his sole legacy but even here opinion is divided over his actual achievements. For all his oratory, Obama unfortunately created so much animosity that he had to rule by fiat towards the end of his second term which will probably mean that Trump will aim to overturn most of the good that he did domestically. But to his credit, one must argue that over eight years he withstood an unprecedented storm of furious resistance and nastiness, much of it driven by an unwillingness in certain quarters to accept the legitimacy of a black president. He fought hard for what he perceived to be right while pushing to make his country more inclusive. As one writer put it: “I saw a man who loved his country and his family and that love withstood
gale force winds of hatred and disrespect”. Above all, the Republicans loathed Obamacare. They loathed it so much that, in 2010, not a single Republican voted for the Affordable Care Act. To us this might seem amazing but it should be noted that there were some Republican Governors who turned down the federal money made available to expand Medicaid in their States. Obama provided health insurance for around 20 million people and today the portion of Americans without any coverage is the lowest in the history of the country. As the second youngest president after Kennedy, Obama retires at 55. It is easy to say that we haven’t heard the last of him. As a gifted writer he is already thinking about his next book and unlike President Truman he will not retire in penury. The Former Presidents Act was passed in 1958 to ensure that President Truman and ensuing presidents would have a pension which would help them to maintain the dignity of the Office. This pension, as of 2016, stood at $205,700 per annum. Bill Clinton was reportedly awarded $15 million for his memoirs. Given Obama’s unique character and literary talents, he is likely to receive a more lucrative offer. As a young professor, Obama taught for 12 years at the University of Chicago Law School and the city is set to boast The Obama Presidential Centre incorporating a $500 million library. It is seen as a project that could help reinvigorate the south side neighbourhood area where it is to be situated. Obama is leaving Donald Trump a strong economy with few risks on the horizon apart from ones that may arise as a result of choices made by Congress and the Trump administration itself. Obama will leave the White House but will remain in Washington where his children are still in school. He has signalled that he will be an active ex-president – in the vein of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. But as Mark Updegrove, who has just stepped down as Director of Lyndon Johnston’s Library, states: “I think Barack Obama’s greatest hobby will be his greatest passion, which is his family”. Having had a less than glorious start in life as the African-American son of a single mother, I believe his future will ensure a contribution to American life and society which will far outshine his humble beginnings.
NI Chamber 77