U.S. President Barack Obama: An Affirmation of the American Dream - Term Paper Example

U.S. President Barack Obama: An Affirmation of the American Dream Desmond Hobson Pols 1101 Southern Polytechnic Prof. Carl Snook U.S. President Barack Obama: An Affirmation of the American Dream On November 4, 2008, a momentous event was recorded in the history of the United States of America: the election of the first African American into the highest political position in the nation. A 47year-old senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, has been elected as the 44th President of the United States of America. The subject of this paper is in relation to Obama’s life, including the importance of his position, his perspectives on different critical issues, and his future prospects. As the highest political office in the country, the President has a direct impact on the socio-economic and political welfare of American citizens and he also affects international and regional politics. People should be informed about the President’s role and responsibilities, as well as his beliefs, which can affect policies and political behaviors, and because this position is important in promoting, not only America’s welfare, but also the promotion of peace and development in the modern world. President Obama has the personality and ambitions of a strong and compassionate president, and has pursued his position with emphasis on democracy and economic development, international issues, and national diversity; his platform surpasses a 4-year term and is one of the reasons why he intends to run for a second term of presidency. Significance of the Presidency In 1787, one of the urgent issues of the Framers of the American Constitution is the determination of the roles and responsibilities of the Chief Executive (Wilson, DiIulio, & Bose, 2011, p.364). The delegates were concerned of the development of both anarchy and monarchy, and so when the Constitutional Convention met, they provided most, if not all, powers to the legislatures (Wilson et al., 2011, p.364). One of the main concerns of the Framers was that the President, who fully controls the armed forces, might use the latter to control state governments (Wilson et al., 2011, p.364). Others feared that if the president shared power with the Senate, he would be “directed by minions and favorites” and become a puppet of the Senate (Wilson et al., 2011, p.364). Later on, they realized that it is possible for a single individual to provide “energetic” and “effective” leadership for the country, as long as he shared powers with other public offices (McNeese, 2001, p.53). The presidency is an important position because as the nation’s chief executive, he holds broad roles and responsibilities. The President acts as the head of state and head of government of the United States of America, and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces (The White House, n.d.). As the Chief of State, he is the symbolic leader of the nation and represents the American people (Hartman, 2012, p.4). The president is also the Chief Executive. In this role, the President oversees the government. Under Article II of the Constitution, he ensures the enforcement of laws, appoints several important officials, grants pardons, issues Executive Orders, and coordinates the works of more than 150 departments and agencies (Hartman, 2012, p.4). The President, in addition, has the power either to sign legislation into law or to veto bills signed by Congress, although Congress may overrule a veto with a two-thirds vote of both houses (The White House, n.d.). The Executive Branch handles diplomacy with other nations, and the President has the power to discuss and sign treaties, which also must be ratified by two-thirds of the Senate (The White House, n.d.). Clearly, to be president is to be a man of power, the power to influence the lives of Americans and even other citizens of the world. Early Life and Educational Background Barack Hussein Obama Jr. was born on August 4, 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii. He is the son of white American mother, Stanley Ann Dunham Soetoro (1942-1995) and a black Kenyan father, Barak Hussein Obama Sr. (1936-1982) (Falk, 2010, p.xvii). They met while studying at the University of Hawaii (Schmidt-Nagel, 2011, p.8). When Barack was two years old, his father finished studying at the University of Hawaii and received an offer from Harvard University to continue his graduate studies. Barack’s parents divorced after his father left to pursue his studies at Harvard University. After the divorce, Barack’s mother married Lolo Soetoro, an Indonesian student studying at the University of Hawaii. When Lolo went to Indonesia, Ann brought Barack with her, so that they could live in Indonesia too. For four years, Barack lived in Indonesia, where he witnessed a steeper form of poverty that he had not seen in the U.S. (Saddleback, 2010, p.5). At ten years old, Anne sent Barack back to Hawaii to continue his studies. After high school, Obama attended Occidental College in Los Angeles. After two years, he transferred to Columbia University in New York, where he graduated with a degree in political science in 1983 (Schmidt-Nagel, 2011, p.8). In 1992, he married Michelle Obama and they now have two daughters, Malia and Sasha. Obama’s Career before Present Job While pursuing his studies, Barack moved to Chicago, where he worked with a group of churches to help reconstruct communities that were affected when several local steel plants closed (The White House, n.d.). In 1988, he entered Harvard Law School, where he graduated with a Juries Doctor after three years (Schmidt-Nagel, 2011, p.8). He became the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. Barack’s professional career started in Chicago, where he practiced civil rights law. He also worked as a professor at the University of Chicago Law School, where he taught Constitutional Law (Schmidt-Nagel, 2011, p.8). In addition, he led a voter registration drive and stayed actively engaged in his community. Barack’s political career took off, when he ran as a Democrat candidate for the Illinois state senate seat to represent Hyde Park; he won in 1996 (Schmidt-Nagel, 2011, p.9). In 2002, he prepared to run for the Senatorial race and won in March 2004 with 53% of votes (Schmidt-Nagel, 2011, p.9). In February 2007, Barack made headlines when he announced his candidacy for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination (Schmidt-Nagel, 2011, p.9). He overcame democratic senator Hillary Clinton first, and later, Republican nominee, Senator John McCain (Schmidt-Nagel, 2011, p.9). Obama’s Selection for Present Job The Constitution requires three qualifications for the Presidency: “the President must be 35 years of age, be a natural born citizen, and must have lived in the United States for at least 14 years” (The White House, n.d.). Though millions of Americans vote in a presidential election every four years, the people do not directly elect the president (The White House, n.d.). As an alternative, on the first Tuesday in November of each fourth year, the people vote for the members of the Electoral College (The White House, n.d.). The Electoral College is apportioned by population to the 50 states, and these Electors then vote for the President (The White House, n.d.). Today, the President is restricted to two four-year terms. Obama got his job as a president through having the personality and political ambitions of someone who can make it to becoming the next President of the U.S. (Falk, 2010, p.xvi). Abramsky, who wrote Obama’s biography, entitled Inside Obama’s Brain, believes that Obama is “enigmatic” (cited in Falk, 2010, p.xvi). Falk, who wrote The riddle of Barack Obama: A psychobiography, agreed with Abramsky. For these biographers, Obama possesses “character strengths and virtues” that society generally sees as virtuous (Falk, 2010, p.xvi). Obama has “empathy, compassion, emotional and social intelligence, generosity, and kindness” (Falk, 2010, p.xvi). At the same time, Obama has “fierce ambitions” that helped him plan his political career and achieve great success (Falk, 2010, p.xvi). So while he also passed the basic qualifications of a presidential candidate, Obama also holds the crucial character and planning skills of a man who can be elected as the president of the one of the most powerful countries in the world. Obama’s Issue Positions One of the critical positions of Obama is on foreign policies. He adamantly believes in respecting the autonomy of all states and countries, although he realizes that American citizens cannot disappear overnight in Afghanistan without considering its consequences. Obama reduced expectations regarding the U.S. presence in Afghanistan. At the most, he recognizes the need to help Afghanistan attain a certain level of economic, political, and military stability (Baker & Kolay, 2009). Obamas main success indicator for Afghanistan was “to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan and to prevent their return to either country in the future” (Baker & Kolay, 2009, p.1). This includes enhancing the Afghan National Army (ANA) and sending 4,000 trainers and mentors. European allies also showed their commitment by sending military trainers to help develop the ANA and police (Baker & Kolay, 2009, p.3). Obama further deployed 50,000 soldiers since January 2009 and encouraged the use of counter-insurgency strategy (Cohen, 2011, p.9). If a Republican president has been elected, there is a possibility that the war with Afghanistan would take a greater involvement. As for the Iran-Israel tension, Obama underlined that the U.S. government is clear on nuclear weapon programs. He emphasized that diplomacy is the first means of action for the U.S., although military action is not entirely out of the picture: But you cannot pursue a nuclear weapon. Weve imposed the toughest sanctions ever. They had a lot of bite. The Iranian regime is feeling them. And, ultimately, I hope that we can resolve this through diplomatic means. But were not taking any options off the table” (Dywer, 2012, p.2). For social welfare and taxation policies, Obama believes that the rich should be taxed more, while the middle class and poor social classes should pay fewer taxes (Dywer, 2012, p.1). Obama HealthCare aims to reduce healthcare costs for the poor and to insure all American citizens (Dywer, 2012, p.1). He is adamant that the poor should have complete health insurance, one that will provide for them even when they are unemployed. As a Democrat, Obama also expanded the social welfare program for the poor, which is why Newt Gingrich labeled him as the “Food Stamp President” (Dywer, 2012, p.1). Obama insists in providing adequate support services for the poor and unemployed and expanding access to quality education and health care services. Future Prospects In the future, Obama aims for a second term. In an interview with Dwyer, he reveals his intention to run for a second term. He “badly” wants to win again, because he feels that “…the country needs it. Whoever wins the Republican primary is going to be a standard bearer for a vision of the country that I dont think reflects who we are” (Dwyer, 2012, p.1). Obama also highlights how Republicans attack him for not supporting Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum to turn the economy around. Obama stressed: “Weve got a test of Mr. Romney or Mr. Gingrich or Mr. Santorums theories. We tried it for 10 years. And it resulted in a huge crash that lost us the most jobs since the 1930s” (Dwyer, 2012, p.1). He added: “And why we would want to adopt something that we just tried and did not work doesnt make sense” (Dwyer, 2012, p.1). Hence, it is clear that Obama desires to continue his American dream. He knows that in order for his efforts to bear fruits, he must continue his presidency to a second term. Conclusion President Obama has the charm, skills, and knowledge needed to fulfill his numerous roles and responsibilities. His positions on different issues, nevertheless, understandably meet the ridicule and criticism of Republicans. He continues to focus on taxation on the rich and better health care and education policies and programs for the poor and the middle class, nevertheless. Furthermore, his position on foreign policies indicates his desire for world peace and respecting the autonomy of states and countries. He is unwavering, however, in preserving peace, even when it may mean achieving it through war. President Obama is committed to fulfill his intended platform for the United States of America, even in the face of resistance from other political parties. President Obama is determined to re-affirm the American dream by restoring the citizens with what they need- a future with democracy and economic development intertwined. References Baker, A. & Kolay, L. (2009, April 8). The U.S. in Afghanistan: The longest war. Time. Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1890410,00.html Cohen, M.A. (2011). “Afghanistan: What can we achieve?” Dissent, 58 (1), 9-13. Dywer, D. (2012, January 26). President Obama: I want second term badly. ABC News. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/president-obama-exclusive-interview-term-badly/story?id=15451734#.T32XRvD9MvA Hartman, D. (2012). Roles of the president.George Bush Presidential Library and Museum. Retrieved from http://bushlibrary.tamu.edu/education/lesson_plans/roles_of_the_president/Roles_of_Pres.pdf Falk, A. (2010). The riddle of Barack Obama: A psychobiography. California: Greenwood Publishing. McNeese, T. (2001).U.S. Constitution. Ohio: Lorenz Educational Press. Saddleback.(2010). Barack Obama, Graphic biography. California: Saddleback Educational Publishing. Schmidt-Nagel, B.C. (2011). Barack Obama and the American Dream: Analysis of different speeches with special focus on the American Dream. Germany: GRIN Verlag. Retrieved from Google Books. The White House. (no date). The Executive Branch. Retrieved from http://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government/executive-branch Wilson, J.Q., DiIulio., J.J, & Bose, M. (2011). American government: Institutions & policies (12th ed.). Massachusetts: Wadsworth. Read More