Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty
Barack Obama remains an inspiration for millions of Americans. The first African-American President in US history, he shattered a glass ceiling in politics. But apart from that pivotal achievement and in the current time of Donald Trump, what will Obama’s legacy be?
De Montfort University’s Clodagh Harrington, author of Obama’s Washington, and I join America Unfiltered’s Liam Kennedy for the discussion.
See also What is America Unfiltered?
See also Obama on The Floyd Protests: “This Moment Can Be A Real Turning Point”
0:00 — Introduction
2:54 — Harrington: The 1st Lines of Obama’s Legacy
7:21 — Lucas: “He Is Decent”
Beyond hope and change, this was salvation. But he was within an American culture that wasn’t ready to be at that place.
10:48 — Harrington: A Widening Divide in America
12:51 — Lucas: Trump’s Rollback of Obama’s Achievements
Obama always had a sense, “This doesn’t end with me.” There will be generations of Americans who need to continue this. Trump is trying to rip away at that sense of public service and an America where all are in it for each other, replacing it with a Us v. Them system.
16:29 — Harrington/Lucas: The Myth of “ObamaGate”
It’s a distraction, when the election is coming down the read, from the Coronavirus body count and what is happening with the economy….
A bully doesn’t bully because he is secure, but because he’s insecure. And Trump is insecure about Obama.
19:47 — Harrington/Lucas: Will Biden Run on an Obama Legacy?
24:26 — Harrington: The Global Soft Power of the Obamas
If Michelle Obama were ever to run for public office, the support she would have — not just from Americans but internationally — would be phenomenal.
26:25 — Harrington/Lucas: What the 2020 Election Will Mean for Obama’s Legacy
It’s not just a question of Obama’s legacy, as important as that might be. It’s the “idea” of America. If Donald Trump wins and the Republicans who enable him hold the Senate, then I fear for the future of the country, as an idea and as a system.
Trump is eating into the fabric of American institutions and American community….
But it might go the other way. And then in four years, we may again be celebrating the idea of “America”.
