In our time


The night that Barack Obama was elected president of the United States of America I stayed up to watch his victory speech (and that involved staying awake until something like 4:00AM in the UK). I am not ashamed to admit that I shed a few tears while I listened to this gracious, dignified, intelligent and resilient man. He gave me hope for a better world. And despite the terrible backlash against him he has delivered on that promise, true to the ideals of the American people:... "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness". I cannot help but contrast what Barack Obama has achieved in the last couple of years with the atrocities visited upon innocent people by IS. The fight goes on, between tyranny and freedom, between ignorance and knowledge, between hate and love. I am not a religious man, but if I were I would thank God for Barack Obama.

Online discussions around Barack Obama's presidency are often fractious and polemical. Why then do I think highly of Obama? Britain has had its share of outstanding political leaders - including Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair (please note here I am advocating for leaders from both sides of the political divide in the UK). Both Blair and Thatcher are hated bitterly by some people in the UK, and surely they each made mistakes. Show me a politician who does not and I'll show you a politician who tried to change nothing substantial to the better. To me both Blair and Thatcher were energetic, intelligent and successful leaders, who inspired their country at important points in its history. But yet more pertinent to this discussion are people like David Lloyd George and Clement Attlee - they built and delivered the welfare state in the United Kingdom - they delivered a 'land fit for heroes', they saved a huge number of British people from poverty. The welfare state and the national health service in the UK are key elements of pride in this country. I know many American presidents have tried to create something similar for the American people (who are, in my opinion, having spent the last 17 years visiting and working in various parts of America, some of the hardest working people in the world) but Obama has at least succeeded (in the face of relentless opposition) to bring about a solution to that. Added to that the recent recognition that same-sex marriage is a legal right and I am greatly impressed by Obama. He is greatly admired by many people I know. Has he made mistakes? I'm sure he has. Is he a politician - he surely is, and indeed a masterful one given the mountain he has had to climb. In my opinion he is a great man, and the world is a better place for his presidency.

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