Obama’s legacy and the United States of America

The first African American President of the United States (and probably the only one for next few decades) will leave office in just about 10 months. He will have served eight full years as President by the time he leaves the office to his successor. It does not matter whether his successor will be a Republican or a fellow Democrat -- as far as he is concerned, he will hand over the reins to a person outside of his own colour, the colour that the US has known in all its 240 years of history. For Obama, colour was not an issue when he sought the US people’s vote to elect him as president, twice as a matter of fact. Not that he was unaware of his difference from the people who had sought this office before him, but he believed in a country that had overcome its prejudices and was finally prepared to accept people from a diverse background and ethnicity. Obama was not a typical African-American; his father was a Kenyan expatriate, and mother a white Anglo Saxon. Yet, he made history as the first person of colour to win the US Presidency. To Americans, black or white, he was their first African-American President. And there is the rub. Obama inherited three things from his immediate predecessor George Bush. A war that had gone awry in the Middle East, draining the treasury, an economy that was spiraling down like a plane shot down, and a double digit unemployment level that showed no sign of recovery any time soon. Large banks and insurance companies were on the verge of collapse, and a great despondency prevailed in the populace over the future of the country. Obama was elected against this backdrop because he gave people hope, drew millions to his cause, and promised that the future of America will change under his leadership. He promised changes in the financial and tax systems, assured millions of people health care insurance at affordable costs, and brought about reforms in immigration. Above all, he promised to bring an end to the blood-letting in Iraq by bringing back US troops home. He also made it known that he would refurbish US’s image abroad, pursuing a foreign policy that brought about equality of nations, and promoted greater understanding with Islamic countries. Obama was elected not once, but twice. He devoted his first term in fighting an uphill battle with a Republican-dominated congress to pass his historic affordable health care bill that aimed to provide 30 million uninsured people affordable insurance, and make it mandatory for all to carry health insurance. The bill passed narrowly with help of a senate that, until 2012, had a Democratic majority to the dismay of the Republicans. But things would change from 2012, making it difficult for Obama to move with other legislation such as immigration reforms when the thin Democratic majority in the Senate disappeared after mid-term elections and the Republicans took full control of both houses. The confrontation between the Executive and Legislature hardened, and Obama faced relentless opposition for all his moves, domestic and international. Internationally, Obama had raised great hopes for bringing an end to the hostilities in the Middle East and Afghanistan, in improving relations with US-lapsed countries, Iran and Cuba in particular -- countries with which US had a continuing antagonistic relationship. In his first term, Obama had made a momentous visit to Cairo where he had signaled a new effort to mitigate the tension in the Middle East over Palestine. He had also indicated a renewed effort to bring about peace in the region through negotiation, not war. Despite his good intentions, no progress could be made in changing the conflict in the Middle East. The Middle East would soon see a melt down with outbreak of mass upsurges and civil disturbances in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Syria. Iraq would split apart with the rise of a new menace in the shape of ISIS that would seize territories from a faltering Syria and a feckless Iraq army that dwindled into nothingness after the withdrawal of US troops. Afghanistan, where Obama had directed his attention, would also continue to be threatened by a resurgent Taliban as the US followed its plan to draw down forces from there. But even in the backdrop of these dire developments, Obama pursued a cherished foreign policy objective of easing tension with former adversaries Iran and Cuba -- even though these were despised by his Republican opponents. In easing relationship with Iran, he was able to marshal his European allies to negotiate a nuclear deal that would effectively stop Iran from developing a nuclear arsenal, and open its nuclear facilities to UN inspection. With Cuba, he opened up trade and investment opportunities with the lifting of 55-year-old embargo with that country. He later cemented that new relationship with a historic visit to Cuba, the first ever visit to Cuba by a US President in last 60 years. Not unsurprisingly, none of these achievements by Obama, including his signature affordable health care that rescued millions of uninsured citizens from disease and death, were welcome to his Republican opponents, and sad to say, many others who did not exactly want to see him in that office. In fact, one of the prime reasons that drove millions to the unbelievably successful rallies of the Republican Presidential hopeful Donald Trump has to do more with animosity to Obama than with the economic condition of the US. For, economically, the US has not been in a more favorable state than in the time of President Bush. When Obama took over, the US economy was in doldrums, the growth rate had plummeted to less than one percent, unemployment was at an all-time high of nearly 11%, and big banks were collapsing. Now, unemployment is at an all-time low of less than 5%, the GDP is growing at more than 2%, and the big banks are performing at a rate that has led to one of the Democratic Presidential hopefuls (Bernie Sanders) to declare that they would need to be harnessed and broken (because he is a socialist). As Obama nears the end of his presidency, he will be remembered as not only the first African-American President, but also as the first president who gave his people right to health care, and along with it, reform of the student loan program that gave relief to millions of college students. He forced changes in employment and in defense services -- eliminating discrimination on the basis of sex, gender, and sexual orientation. He unilaterally issued executive order enabling undocumented immigrants to seek ways to seek legal immigration in the US. Last of all, we opened ways to re-establish normal relations to erstwhile adversaries, Iran and Cuba. Obama’s legacy may be overturned should a Republican president be elected this year to replace him. But it will be unfair to the US should it turn out to be so. For what Obama has done, it was for its citizens, and for the world as a whole.