Most Presidents aren't appreciated until they are gone.
Harry Truman certainly wasn't viewed very highly by many observers when he left
office. "To err is Truman" was a popular phrase of the era. Yet now,
many modern historians view his as one of the White House's more capable
administrations. So what will history make of the Obama years?
He will likely never be mentioned in the same breath as
Lincoln, or Washington...but he was no Pierce or Buchanan, either. President
Obama has made mistakes and his list of detractors is a long one, but no more
so than that of Bush '41, Bush '43, or Bill Clinton. What chief executive has
ever navigated the shoals of power without at times scraping the keel a bit?
From the outset, Mr. Obama's was an unenviable task:
inheriting not only one war, but two, Osama Bin Laden remained at large, and
the economy was in a shambles. Fast forward about six years and the economy
continues moving along the path of recovery, Bin Laden is just a bad memory and America
finally has something approaching health care for all, though it remains to
this day controversial. Unfortunately, the verdict on his response to the
situation in Syria and Iraq is still out at the moment.
Perhaps, his legacy will be more cultural than anything
else. With his election, it is now accepted that any young person,
regardless of race, or ethnicity, can become President and open themselves up
to the kind of scorn and ridicule from the media once reserved only for rich
white men. Additionally, America's hard-line stance toward Cuba that outlived its
usefulness decades ago, finally ended.
Another milestone was how a long-standing issue of human
rights, in this case allowing openly gay service members in the military, was
finally resolved. Wasn't it always myopic to pretend that, so long as we
asked who was and wasn't, that there couldn't possibly be anyone gay or
lesbian in the ranks? Compelling everyone to lie about their sexuality in order
to serve was the same as what generations of people living behind the Iron
Curtain during the Cold War, who had to pay lip service to the Communist party
to keep their homes, jobs, and food rations must have had to do to
survive. Think of it..."Yuri, are you a good Party member?"
Yuri's replies, "Huh? Oh...ah...yeah, yeah! Lenin's our pal. Love that
Stalin! Can I have my bread and potatoes now?"
At the end of the day, dropping the ban compelled the
military to stop burying its head in the sand and allowed good people to
finally tell the truth about who they were and to get on with their lives.
Fortunately, time is on Mr. Obama's side and when the voices
of the bigots have died away, his legacy will likely improve, as truth demands
we not only damn the failures, but that we praise the successes.
For Further Reading:
Announcing Cuba Embassy Deal, Obama Declares ‘New Chapter’
A Very Easy Decision': These Straight Couples Waited to Wed Until Gay Marriage Was Legal
Obama Certifies End of Military's Gay Ban
