The Obama Legacy: more than just dollars and drones

As President Obama prepares to leave the national and global scene much ink would be spent discussing, debating, and dissecting his legacy. While much of this discussion is likely to focus on his contribution to bare-knuckled politics, raw policy and other fiscal issues such as the national debt, healthcare and GDP, I argue that Barack Obama’s imprint on his country and the world goes beyond dollars and cents. Obama’s contribution to national life can be viewed through a more enduring prism constituting values, process and character.

One of the first powerful values from the Obama era right from his fabled campaign to his two-term presidency is his penchant for bringing people together, cooperation and compromise. Obama has sometimes been accused of being a communist; the right phrase, I believe, is communalism. Barack Obama’s philosophical and theoretical worldview is grounded in the idea of interactionism rather than isolationism, communalism rather than individualism, hope rather than despondency and multilateralism rather than unilateralism. Obama has always fore-grounded the group ahead of the individual. Through his upbringing, his worldview, his Afrocentrism and his own experiences, Obama was naturally one who believed in group interest and group welfare. Barack never denied the importance of individual goals, dreams and aspirations but he always called on Americans to mediate their individual inclinations with a much higher deeper ideal: one that looked out for their brother, one that considered the community/national interest above self and one that called for compromise, consideration and cooperation. This was a guiding principle which shone through his character and policy making. Throughout his dealings with congress, his watershed healthcare policy, his economic bailout policies and his presidency, Mr. Obama has shown that government can and should be about the group interest above all else. For Obama the mantra was always this: people first.

A second dominant Obama value which should constitute an enduring legacy is his display of decency in politics. This may sound paradoxical. Naturally, politics has always had a bad name within the public imaginary. As both candidate and president we saw a man who was committed to the highest form of decency, civility and politeness even in the hardest of circumstances. He did not let politics change him; rather he changed politics. We should never forget what Obama did to politics: he showed that you do not necessarily need to pull your opponent down, malign him or engage in some of the most despicable and inconsiderate actions that have given politics such a bad name in order to get ahead. For Obama, decency can be good politics.

“The Audacity of Hope” is Obama’s third enduring legacy. When Obama began running for presidential office he often justified his candidature by saying his accomplishment would be a lasting example for black and minority kids. Hope was one of Obama’s most used words and strongest beliefs. It wasn’t for nothing that his campaign became a movement, it wasn’t for nothing that he garnered world wide appeal on several continents beyond the borders of the United States; it wasn’t for nothing that hope and inspiration became trademark themes in his campaign. There was a reason why people cried at campaigns and there was a reason why he was able to hold the country together after taking over during a period of financial malaise and war fatigue. I’m pretty sure most people, including his detractors, would remember Barack as the inspirational President. No matter what happens, we would all remember his as the president who made us dream. For Barack Obama, he wasn’t afraid to dream.

One of the things Barack never did throughout his political career was to shirk his roots and identity. The world came to know Obama as the son of a Kenyan father who “grew up herding goats”, and “went to school in a tin-roof shack”. By embracing his roots, heritage and identity Barack Obama taught all of us how to embrace our personhood. Before he ran for president, some “consultants” advised him to change his name because it wasn’t mainstream. They believed his ethnic Luo name would be a liability or deleterious to his political career. Obama resisted the suggestion and went on to fully embrace who he was. He has taught us all that no matter where you come from, no matter the sound of your name one should never be shy or afraid to celebrate their heritage. For Africans or blacks in particular, this is huge lesson. For the larger world it teaches us to accept who we are and to be the best of ourselves. For Obama, he never denied his identity.

This will be President Obama’s last year in office. Soon, the presidential campaign season would heat up and we would be saying adieus to the first black president of the United States and the free world. Wherever life takes him, whatever he does, we will always remember Mr. Obama as the leader who made us dream, the leader who made us believe in ourselves; the leader who made us believe in our “better angels”, the leader who taught us to treat our fellow man with love, decency and respect while bringing us together. Mr. President, we wish you well.