The topic of discussion concerns the first African American president of the United States who was Barack Obama. As a senator from Illinois, Barack Obama was elected the American president over the Arizona's Senator John McCain. Several people attended his swearing in and the event was broadcast live in the entire world. Upon the announcement of his candidacy on the tenth of February 2007, a victory in the primaries held at Lowa made Barack Obama a viable challenger of Hillary Clinton was a former first lady and was the then a New York senator. Several aspects contributed towards the Democrats winning and delivering the presidency to Obama. It is on this basis that the following article will present a discussion based on Barack Obama and the intrigues around his presidency.
In order that Obama won the elections, his team built a massive following which was grounded on his natural charisma, inspiring messages of hope and his spectacular life story. In addition, the team worked towards bringing new voters on board several of whom were both young and African Americans. It is through these magnificent efforts that victory was delivered to Obama consequently garnering sixty-nine million votes against his main contender McCain who garnered fifty-nine million votes. Election of Obama into the Whitehouse was in deed historic as it came through some one hundred and forty-three years after the coming to an end of the American civil war. Accepting his victory, Barack Obama mentioned that no one could doubt the dream of the America’s founders as it stood the test of democracy.
The historical significance
In the context of history, the election of a black American president marked the greatest electoral point in the aftermath of the civil rights revolution. Particularly for the black society, it was not necessarily about a Republican or a Democrat win. Theirs was for the promotion of a community having lesser evil or just anything has a link to the ills that they were initially subjected. Therefore, his election meant the end of black slavery, institutional racism and lastly legal segregation. Besides the above importance, the election of Barack Obama pointed out to the possibility of confronting the enormous crises associated with capitalism that was deeply ingrained in the American ways.
Root causes for the historical development
The first cause of the win by Barack Obama was the enormous desire of United States citizens to put an end to the concept of racism in their society. Through the November fourth voting, the people made it possible for the achievement of equality for everyone in America. Initially, it was common to harbor the perception that depicted the country as ‘two Americas’ i.e. in terms of both the whites and blacks. This has significantly reduced as more minorities have become synonymous with power, as well as, prominence in the country. In fact, since the election and consequent reelection of Obama into the presidency, the upper-class of the rising minority groups have become increasingly integrated into the political, governmental and also the corporate structures in the United States. It, as a result, pointed to the possibility of permanently ending racism.
The other reason for this development was the genuine nature, as well as, empathy that Obama and his first lady assisted and referred to the Middle class Americans. Barack Obama presented a picture of knowing what it meant for a family to have extensive financial worries, this group working had just to make ends meet and also what it meant to lack essentials for use in the home. Therefore, his presidency massively addressed the fears of the middle class encompassing the increasing unemployment rates, a general absence of healthcare insurance for the United States citizens and the staggering issues of home foreclosures. (Miah) Besides, Americans were dissatisfied with the Republican policies and the chosen political course of the former president George W. Bush.
In clear contrast, John McCain exuded a form of financial insularity, as well as, properly-heeled elegance. This is because he was born rich and has maintained this rich stature probably in his entire lifetime. Obama and Mitchel, on the other hand, were raised in comparatively modest families and as a result, several low and middle income earners in America could identify with them. Besides, the election of Obama remains a significant historical development because he offered understandable, as well as, actual policy solutions that could immensely assist and boost the lives of the middle class Americans. Some of the measures he came up with were a $1000 tax cut, establishment of five million new jobs, a plan for the reformation of the Wall Street practices and lastly a rescue plan for small entities. (White)
Lesson from the historical development
Both the society and individuals can learn significant lessons from the election and consequent reelection of Obama into the Whitehouse. A primary factor is that the practice of democracy in any given nation is vital for the projection of the society. Besides, a lesson that the dreams of the founding fathers were attained can be got from the occurrence.
Works Cited
Miah, Malik. "What Obama's Victory Means About Race And Class." Solidarity. N.P., 2016. Web. 2 Aug. 2016.
White, Deborah. "Five Reasons Why Obama Won The '08 Election." About.com News & Issues. N.P., 2016. Web. 2 Aug. 2016.
