Barack Hussein Obama is the current President of the United States. He was born on the 4th of August, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii. In 1979, he finished school Punahou School and entered Occidental College in Los-Angeles. Then Obama graduated the Columbia University, where he made first steps as a politician. After receiving a Bachelor’s degree, he began to work as a corrector in the International Business Corporation. In 1985, he moved to Chicago and worked there as a community organizer. Three years later Obama began to study law in Harvard University. There he was the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review and Harvard Law Club. After graduation Harvard, he returned to Chicago and became civil rights attorney. In addition, he worked in the Democratic Party.
Barack Obama is a talented writer. In 1995, Barack published his first book “Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance” that became successful. Then he became a Senator from Illinois from 1997 to 2004. After that, he was elected as a Democrat to the U.S. Senate. In 2008 Barack Obama became the 44th President of the US. Despite his lack of administrative experience, this statesman with a brilliant mind and great eloquence became a living symbol of changes and upcoming great accomplishments. One reason for its popularity is the new political style, the essences of which are common sense, de-ideologization, practical experience in dealing with daily challenges.
The first Afro-American President was a leader of a new type without racial prejudices and other stereotypes. Barack Obama is a man of extraordinary views and beliefs. Obama speaks about women's right to abortion, the development of alternative fuel sources, the weakening of the policy toward immigrants. He did not declare a clear doctrine. His presidential campaign was based on vague promises of changes. Today, some of the features of his unique leadership are obvious. Firstly, propensity to apologize. He has apologized to Turkey for dark periods in the American history. Then he apologized to Japan for the nuclear bombardment during the Second World War. Undoubtedly, that, in such way, Barack Obama distance himself from an aggressive policy of Bush, but such behavior is also connected with personal traits. Secondly, extreme pragmatism in international relations. Being a realist by nature, Barack Obama pursues a pragmatic foreign policy. Sometimes he tends to neglect the allies and "cooperate" with rivals and enemies in order to achieve certain results. The third characteristic of the Obama’s administration policy is the appeal to the negative experience of the United States and their awareness of the right path. The United States have understood the lessons of foreign interventions and the need of setting their sights lower. Today, Washington is looking for partnership and cooperation with the countries of Europe and Middle East, China and others. The multilateralist approach to the world has bent over backwards to mend ties between the US and their European allies, reset relations between the US and Russia, to maintain a strong relationship with China and become the integrated player in the UN. He treats European countries as equal partners, not subservient pawns.
The leadership style of Barack Obama is mostly collaborative. He is an attentive listener and tries to understand all arguments from opponents or supporters to make a decision. During the negotiations, the Obama team is much more open to negotiations and talks and diplomacy as a first means of dealing with world problems and even rogue states. The military action only to be used as an absolute last resort. Barack Obama prefers to pursue vigorous diplomacy ("Barack Obama | The Plaid Avenger"). The strong point of Obama as a politician and a negotiator is his eloquence, oratory skills and charm. During his speeches, he has an inner tranquility and has a lot of self-control. He managed to combine new political technologies with traditional organizational skill. He developed own unique style on the basis of assimilating the best examples from other orators. However, some people criticize him for lack of emotionality.
Obama created a new style of “bottom-up, empowering” leadership focusing on collaboration. He developed a grassroots movement by building an ever-expanding organization of empowered leaders, who in turn engaged people from their social networks like Facebook.
These trends portend massive changes in the 21st century leadership of American institutions, led by the Obama government itself (Bill n.p. ).
The greatest accomplishment is the Affordable Care Act, which makes a universal health care. The other accomplishments are ending wars, anti-terrorism efforts and stabilizing the economy. He came out America from the economic crisis. Barack Obama created new jobs, supported equal pay for men and women, recapitalized banks, pursued credit card reforms and reduced taxes for middle-class. He saved General Motors and Chrysler from bankruptcy. In the sphere of environmental protection, Obama contributed to the regulation of greenhouse emissions and invested in renewable technologies. He took away Osama bin Laden, made the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, began the drawdown from Afghanistan and signed the non-proliferation treaty with Russia. In addition, he fought with Somali pirates. Barack Obama improved America's image around the world. Last decades America was perceived as the aggressor that made interventions to other countries and did not care about international opinion. The new image shows that the US is cooperative, benevolent and tolerant to other cultures.
Obama’s popularity is also determined by personality traits, friendly manners, mindful decision-making, and confidence. He is charismatic, intellectual and high-educated person. I am impressed by his tolerance to Republicans and people with other views. He is logic and rational. Also, I have noticed that the direct eye contact with listeners is very important to him. His abilities to contact with audience and demonstrate brilliant leadership qualities cause admiration among people. Moreover, Barack Obama earned people`s respect for his loyalty to family. His image contributes to his career. He is always immaculately dressed and creates an impression of reliable, trustworthy person. His appearance, strict clothes and clean-shaved face creates an image of straightforward, honest and hard-working person with strong moral principles.
In my opinion, Barack Obama is one of the greatest presidents America, because he is passionate for human rights and social issues. He improved race relations. Barack Obama signed the bill for equal salaries for men and women, established services for overcoming domestic violence and sexual assault. During his presidency, he has changed a healthcare system and established a universal healthcare. It was for a long time a crucial issue in American society. Today, millions of children from poor families can receive help without health insurance. He has increased federal funding and doubled the amount of grant money allocated to students seeking a higher education to cover rising tuition costs. His policies and initiatives for clean energy economy have had an incredible impact on the future of the nation. For instance, the U.S. reduced oil imports by more than 10 percent from 2010 - 2011. The Administration made attempts to reduce dependence on oil, promote alternative energy and invest in renewable technologies. Obama brought the troops from Iraq and finally, ended the war there. In addition, he is ending the conflict in Afghanistan. Obama’s fight against terrorism was successful. At last, Osama Bin Laden was removed.
Unfortunately, Barack Obama could not fulfill all promises, and it is not his fault. In the US the President is dependent from congress, so he could not pass his laws through it. Nevertheless, Barack Obama is a great leader due to his accomplishments and personal traits. He became a cultural and historical symbol and called us for better awareness of personal responsibility for our words and actions. The U.S. President Obama has demonstrated the ability to provide strategic guidance, understanding the changes of the modern world and the new role of the United States.
Reference
“Barack Obama | The Plaid Avenger”. Plaid Avenger Inc, n.d. Web. 7 Mar. 2014
<http://www.plaidavenger.com/leaders/profile/barack-obama/>
Bill, George. Barack Obama: A Leader for the “We” Generation. Businessweek, 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 7 Mar. 2014
<http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2008-11-11/barack-obama-a-leader-for-the-we-generationbusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice>.
