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 President Obama had an innate optimism and unwavering faith in the ultimate wisdom of the American people. EFE/Aude Guerrucci 

Barack Obama: Farewell to Mr. Optimist

Writer Ta-Nehisi Coates from The Altanic reflects on the accomplishments of America’s first black president, who has been guided by a firm belief in American…

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On January, a politician that has insulted immigrants and  women repeatedly and defends Nationalism and Protectionism, will hold the top position in the White House. Is Obama to blame for it? Was he blinded by his optimism about race and social division? 

Baltimore writer Tai -Nehisi writes a long piece in The Atlantic magazine to reflect on the accomplishments of America's first black president. "Last spring, I went to the White House to meet the president for lunch. I arrived slightly early and sat in the waiting area. I was introduced to a deaf woman who worked as the president’s receptionist, a black woman who worked in the press office, a Muslim woman in a head scarf who worked on the National Security Council, and an Iranian American woman who worked as a personal aide to the president. This receiving party represented a healthy cross section of the people Donald Trump had been mocking, and would continue to spend his campaign mocking. At the time, the president seemed untroubled by Trump. When I told Obama that I thought Trump’s candidacy was an explicit reaction to the fact of a black president, he said he could see that, but then enumerated other explanations. When assessing Trump’s chances, he was direct: He couldn’t win.", he writes. 

Why Obama didn't see it coming? "This assessment was born out of the president’s innate optimism and unwavering faith in the ultimate wisdom of the American people—the same traits that had propelled his unlikely five-year ascent from Illinois state senator to U.S. senator to leader of the White House.

However,  the president’s inability to cement his legacy in the form of Hillary Clinton proved the limits of his optimism, but also revealed the exceptional nature of his presidential victories. For eight years Barack Obama walked on ice and never fell. Nothing in that time suggested that straight talk on the facts of racism in American life would have given him surer footing."

 

Read the full story about the First Black President in The Atlantic January Issue.
 

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