President Barack Obama, the 44th President

Obama’s election was the first presidential election I actually remember. I remember the Democrat nominee was either going to be him,the first African American president, or Hilary Clinton, the first woman president. Obama was chosen and he beat Republican John McCain. I was twelve.

1. Obama never seemed to like his pick for Vice President, Joe Biden (who will later become the 46th President) “In 2020, Obama will remark about Biden, “Don’t underestimate Joe’s ability to fuck things up” Yet Obama is not without problems and scandals of his own. Wife, First Lady Michelle, though glamorous, lacks patriotism. “For the first time in my adult lifetime” she says upon Obama being elected president “I am proud of my country” Really, Michelle? The first time? 

2. Obama is the first African American president. His father is Kenyan and his mother is white. Obama is reared by maternal grandparents in Hawaii and sees his father for the last time at age of ten. Yet he names his first book (he has almost as many books as I do) Dreams of My Father and gives little credit to those who actually raised him. His book deal helps pay his debts for Harvard Law school which he and Michelle both attended.

3. Obama runs against New York Senator Hillary Clinton in the 2008 election to be the Democrat candidate. He describes her as “a corporate lawyer sitting on the board at Wal-Mart”. Not really wrong on that is he? Obama wins the Democrat ticket, the election and becomes the 44th President of the United States.

4. Both President and First Lady are in good shape. Obama works out every morning and clocks in at 180 pounds (which I will reveal is lower than what I weigh, though I too work out every morning). Michelle, determined to also keep the country in shape in a variety of ways, rises at 4:30 every morning to get her workout in.

5. It is under Obama’s time as President that our troops finally found and executed enemy Osama Bin Laden (the infamous killer responsible for the 9/11 attacks which shook America).

6. Barrack is the fourth President to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work navigating peace in the Middle East (the other three to win the award were Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Jimmy Carter).

7. Obama repeals “don’t ask, don’t tell”, allowing openly gay men and women to serve in the military. This is more controversial than one would think but I do agree with President Obama’s decision.

8. In 2012 Trayvon Martin, a young black man, was shot and killed. Racial division racks the country when Obama says “When I think about this boy, I think about my own kids…..If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon” which causes a blow to his approval rating (39%) among white Americans.

9. Obama seems to enjoy taking jabs at Donald Trump at his dinners even when he is present. He does not seem to be enjoying the attention. We all know how this turns out.

10. Perhaps I have not been exactly been kind to Mr. Obama. Our politics drastically differ and I feel strongly that he has been nothing but disaster for the United States. I believe he made racial tensions worse. I believe he didn’t support police officers enough. My father was an NYPD cop during this time- it was very hard on him particularly after two cops were assassinated because someone was putting ‘wings on pigs’. I know my opinions are not popular. I know I’ll probably be accused of being racist at worst or naive at best. Nevertheless, these are my opinions on the 44th President. 

Source: Confronting the Presidents by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard