The United States is the most powerful country in the world. So its leader, The President, is considered the most powerful position in the world. The people of the United Sates rely on The President to manage the government and ensure that we enjoy financial prosperity, protection from foreign threats, and continued freedom of expression and ideas. So it is no surprise that choosing a president is one of the most important decisions we must make during an election year. It is also no surprise that we subject the one chosen to scrutiny during candidacy and during his/her term.
In 2008-2009 candidate and eventual president, Barack Obama underwent this scrutiny. He survived the scrutiny and made history in the process becoming the first black president of the most powerful man in the world. He has experienced the trials and tribulations that come along with having that distinction. Essayist and Journalist, Erin Aubry Kaplan, discusses both topics in her essay, Barack Obama: Miles Traveled, Miles to Go. Reading her essay has inspired my feelings and thought on his candidacy and presidency as well.
Kaplan begins her essay on a personal note discussing her happiness at his election win and the idea of, "how Barack was close to me he could have been in third grade with me. " Kaplan is explain the President Obama grew up and experience what other typical black children experience. She talks about how "he was 5 hours across the water in Hawaii. " I disagree that Obama was like any other black child growing up. While I agree he faced many of the same difficulties because of his race, I think he may have faced another kind of racism had he grew up in a more typical black urban setting like South Central. Being the child of a white woman and an African father, the dynamic of his "blackness " was different. I think this dynamic helped him in winning the election. White voters didn't have to vote for a "regular " black leader like Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton.
