gracchusdixit

In a mere 120 days, a new president will place her or (God forbid) his hand on the bible, swear to uphold the Constitution of the United States, and be ushered into office. Thereupon, Barack Obama, the first African-American to occupy the White House, will leave the people’s house, a house built by slaves, and return to private life.  The closer we come to this momentous day, the more evident it becomes that, with the departure of President Obama and his family, the nation will be losing something extraordinary and irreplaceable.

I will leave it to the historians to decide how President Obama ultimately fares in the never-ending and often silly game of grading the stature of our presidents.  It is enough to say that Barack Obama’s eight years in office will not be deemed inconsequential.  The passage of the Affordable Care Act, the recovery from a financial collapse that brought us close to a second Great Depression, the rescue of the automotive industry, our first meaningful steps as a nation to combat the looming catastrophe of climate change, the first and only bargain in a generation to deter the Iranians from developing nuclear weapons, the apprehension and elimination of Osama bin Laden—when you add it all up, the record of Barack Obama’s accomplishments will almost certainly earn him a place as one of our country’s most consequential Presidents.

None of which means that his record has been flawless.

He promised change and hope, and yet, in many ways, he gave us more of the same.  He promised to close the illegal prison in Guantanamo; it is still open.  He promised to end our disastrous involvements in Iraq and Afghanistan; we are still there.  He promised a more humane and sensible immigration policy; yet he has ordered the deportation of more immigrants than any President in our history.  He also authorized a massive expansion of secret “drone strikes” against targets in the Muslim world and an unprecedented clamp down on domestic whistleblowers and the journalists who publish what those whistleblowers reveal about the wrongdoings of the CIA, the NSA, the Defense Department, and every other department of government that cloaks its misbehavior with the all-purpose mantle of “national security.”

Despite all that, the last day of Barack Obama’s presidency will be a loss to the nation.  He, Michelle Obama, and their two daughters, have, in their personal and public behavior, set an example for all of us, with an uncommonly high standard of composure, courtesy, and decency that every American would be well advised and even better served to emulate.

In the long, checkered history of our presidential first families, the Obamas stand out as being almost unique.  Not a jot of impropriety, let alone scandal, has besmirched their eight years in the White House.   They have done absolutely nothing, they have uttered not one inappropriate or ill-considered word, to embarrass us or themselves.  All around the world, the President and his family are admired, respected, and in some cases revered for embodying everything that is best about this country.

What sets the Obamas apart, however, is far more than that.  It is not simply that they have never embarrassed themselves or us.  It is how decently and courageously they have behaved in the face of relentless hate and vilification that would have dispirited—or destroyed—lesser human beings.

From Republicans in Congress who long ago surrendered every shred of principled and responsible governance to self-interest, from the racist hate-mongers of right-wing talk radio who have tried to smear Barack Obama as a secret Muslim, from the vicious and lunatic conspiracy theorists of the “alt-right” who have tried to delegitimatize not only his presidency but the man himself, President Obama and his family have been subjected to an unprecedented onslaught of personal and political abuse.

Say what you will about his political record or the accomplishments of his presidency, Barack Obama’s response to all of this can be summed up in the words of Michelle Obama, “When they go low, we go high.”  President Obama and his family have met every slur and slander, every insult, lie and humiliation, with calm dignity and amazing grace.

Two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ admonished his followers to “turn the other cheek” in the face of evil.  Two thousand years later, we have been lucky enough to have had in President Barack Obama and his family a living example of that message.  Whether we, as a people, are capable of living up to that example remains an open question.