This tumultuous political era in America can be defined by three elected leaders, Presidents, Obama, Trump and Biden. While each is reflective of his own time and circumstance they will be seen to have put their own unique stamp on the destiny of a hectic period in history. A history which has been complicated by a viral pandemic that is threatening the health and economy of America and the world. All this in the midst of the challenges of a media revolution, a menace to our planet through climate change, globalization, widening financial inequities, population shifts due to political instability and the deindustrialization of economies resulting in growing insecurity. All the latter has seen the emergence of radical self proclaimed saviors known as populists - a situation from which America was not spared.
The twenty - first century had barely begun when America elected an African American to the highest office in the land, an event which was symbolically regarded as the affirmation of the aspirational Declaration of Independence which declared that,“All men were born equal”. Barack Obama, America’s forty forth President, had fulfilled the American Dream that there was no obstacle to any American achieving the greatest heights regardless of race creed or color.
Obama’s two term reign was beset and then followed by a white backlash which opened the wounds of racism that have festered ever since the South lost the 1861 Civil War over slavery. This reaction catapulted an unashamed racist, Donald Trump into the White House, whose determination it was to keep whites as the dominant race in America. The forty - fifth President’s naked disdain for anything other than his own needs and objectives, open support of white supremacy groups and disinterest in cruelty and even apparent murder of those whose skins weren’t white lead to his ouster after only one term. Joseph Biden, Obama’s Vice President, a seasoned conventional politician, left of center and known for his decency replaced Trump in a convincing victory to become President - elect and the forty - sixth incumbent.
While the coalitions which both Trump and Biden assembled had various needs, it is acknowledged that the crucial States that decided the outcome were in the Midwest and the crucial voters were the blue collar and middle class white workers that had abandoned Obama for Trump. Whether the arc of American history continues forward or regresses time will tell but it is instructive to examine the leadership of these three Presidents and the role they have played in this transformative and unsettling era in American politics.
WHO BECOMES THE COUNTRY’S LEADER AND DOES IT MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE?
There are those that argue that who the Commander in Chief is, is irrelevant. It is the situation that will result in change and the leader is merely one of many who could have effected the same outcome. This is only a partial truth as would six million Jews been gassed had Germany elected another leader to resuscitate the decimated post WWI Germany economy? If it hadn’t been for Churchill’s foresight, perseverance, eloquence and bulldog tenacity would the Western World be under fascist rule now?
The time, place and circumstances do play a role in the emergence of who will be the chief executive . If the allies had not placed such onerous truce conditions on Germany there might not have been need for a fascist Hitler to reassure the Germans they were the master race and the Jews were to blame for their woes. Had Hitler stuck to his deal with Chamberlain destiny would have kept Churchill in the fringes where he had languished for a decade with his drumbeat of the danger of the Third Reich.
So there is no doubt that who the leader is makes all the difference. Both factors came into play as Ted Kennedy illustrated when he counseled the inexperienced Barack Obama as to whether to run or not , “The time chooses not you”.
BARACK OBAMA FORTY - FOURTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
While Shakespeare opined in The Twelfth Night - “Some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them”, there is little doubt that there have to be some of all those characteristics in all leaders. However there are few that could have had a greater share of “greatness thrust open them” than Barack Obama. He had a meteoric rise to fame having served only two years in the Senate when he was literally drafted into the candidacy for the Democratic nomination. He exuded charisma and hope, especially to the youth, who had been sickened by the duplicity and the never ending carnage of the Iraq war. Cynicism pervaded as “politics as usual” appeared to be immovable. In no time he was in demand having spoken at the Democratic Convention of John Kerry to a screaming audience who greeted him like a rock star.
Obama never ran for the Democratic nomination as a black American. He was not a Jesse Jackson or an Al Sharpton, he was a reasoned caring empathetic candidate. The fact that he won the crucial Primary of Iowa convincingly with its three percent white population told it all. He addressed race once on that first campaign, that was when he became embroiled in a controversy as a result of the radicalism of his Pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Initially he explained the Pastor’s feelings in a historical context but when the media produced a string of outrageous comments from previous sermons the Presidential hopeful condemned them in such unequivocal terms that the controversy was no longer.
In fact he steered clear of racial controversy wherever he could. However he felt personally involved at the seemingly unnecessary killing of blacks by law officers. He became emotional with the Trayvon Martin shooting, “It could have been my son. It could have been me thirty - five years ago” Another major cause celebre that unbelievably caused a massive backlash was when a nationally recognized black Harvard Professor was arrested by a police officer when trying to enter his locked house. The fact that the Officer knew that this was the home of Louis Henry Gates Jnr. resulted in Obama labelling his action as “stupid”.
The Forty - Fourth POTUS was the epitome of what Americans believed their leader should be. He was dignified, decent, honest a family man and humble. His wife Michelle was an impeccably polished first lady. His policies demeanor and posture confirmed America as the world’s role model on the world stage. His election inspired such global optimism that he unprecedentedly was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in anticipation of his contributions on the world stage. His landmark achievement which the Republicans over the years have tried seventy times to overthrow legislatively and have challenged in court again and again has finally, after nearly a century of trying heralded in the concept of Universal health care. This followed on the rescuing of the economy the moment he walked into the door of the WhiteHouse.
He did nothing politically to engender the anger and the hatred directed at him that grew to a crescendo. They marched in the streets with posters likening him to Hitler and Stalin. The right wing Tea Party faction which virtually took over the GOP was spawned. He was in fact a moderate by every standard. Yet the animosity grew and grew. Mitch McConnell , the Republican controlled the Senate openly stated that he would do absolutely nothing to work and compromise with the POTUS. Conspiracy theory after conspiracy theory exploded in social media. The one that really struck was the birther theory which in effect claimed that he wasn’t an American and therefore an illegitimate President. The public face of that lie was none other than Donald J. Trump. Obama largely ignored this mendacious smear and completed his second term with his historic achievement being the expansion of healthcare for the tens of millions in America who now had coverage.
Obama initiated the transition to Trump’s term within two days of his razor thin victory inviting him to the WhiteHouse. According to Ben Rhodes, an advisor to Obama, all Trump wanted to discuss was the large crowds they both were able to draw. (Little did both of them know that Trump was to start his Presidency with the big lie that his inauguration crowd was the largest ever. With the forty - fourth Chief drawing nearly two million and his successor approximately a half a million, and photos for all the world to see, Trump set the mendacious tone of his Presidency on day one.
Obama reflected the hope of his time - he stood out as the man of the moment who also happened to be black. Throughout his terms he worked closely with Vice President Biden and the two became extremely close. In eight years of his Presidency the world changed and his very blackness brought out the latent racism in America.
DONALD TRUMP FORTY - FIFTH PRESIDENT OF THE USA
Trump shared with Obama the characteristic of charisma - that is where it begun and ended. In many ways it was a quirk of history that the man who had pored such venom on the first president of color was to be his successor. Trump a real estate mogul and TV star had been in the public eye for decades and often had discussed the possibility of running for President.
In 2016 he promised the world to the out of work factory employees and miners by rebuilding America’s infrastructure, reopening the coal mines, tax relief for all and getting factories back to America. He also concentrated on what he described as Making America Great Again, (MAGA), and limiting immigration. The discontent in the Republican Party had been exacerbated by George Bush’s Presidency and the takeover by the Tea Party and this outsider romped home in the Primary, beating a field of stars, to become their nominee.
In his appeal to those crucial MidWest workers he was able to connect at a gut level. He, Trump, too was outsider, but he had made it big time. He too was a victim of the elites who understood their plight while exuding omniscience and confidence, “I alone can fix America’s problems”. In return he demanded loyalty to him and not the State. In fact he built a cult. While Obama said, “There are no blue states or red states. There is only the United States”, Trump openly discriminated against the blue states. He made it quite clear that he welcomed White Supremacists as part of his coalition and had no empathy for those whose skins weren’t white.
His policies and behavior were a mirror image of those of Obama. The only consistent thread in his policy was to reverse whatever Obama had achieved whether it be on environmental issues, health care, immigration or the like. Internationally to the horror of America’s allies he was in constant conflict with them and allied with America’s adversary Russia. He cozied up to dictators such as Erdogan, Putin, Xi, and Kim Jong Un. In short within four years America became the polecat of the world.
His administration was incompetent, self serving, racked with cronyism and nepotism and he defied every norm written and unwritten refusing to co operate with the constitutionally mandated body, Congress, who had the duty to oversee, his Office. His demand to a foreign leader before releasing Congress voted aid to get him dirt on his prospective Presidential rival, resulted in impeachment. All the deficiencies of his Presidency were on display in his criminal irresponsibility in managing the Covid crisis. America the richest and most powerful country in the world had the most abysmal record as he made no attempt at co coordinating the response.
Trump was defeated in the 2020 election principally as a result of a bigger turn out of whites as well as African Americans for Biden in those crucial Mid Western States. Nearly three weeks after the election he had not acknowledged his defeat.
It is fair to say that the Republicans had no other potential nominee that remotely had Trump’s racist and obsessive anti Obama agenda. Only he and he alone could have evoked this racist response from his ever loyal followers and reopened the Civil War wounds.
JOSEPH BIDEN FORTY - SIXTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
It is not often that the candidate most prepared and experienced for the Presidency is elected. Joe Biden has aspired to the highest office since starting on his political career a half a century ago. However his political skills, deep knowledge of the issues, managerial ability, empathetic and compromising attitudes did not add up to the magnetism needed to gaining the nomination of his party. However it was these very attributes that in the current chaotic scenario that gained him first the Democratic nomination and then the Presidency. His candidacy was rescued by his career long support of African Americans who are the backbone of the Democratic Party. The de facto leader of the African American caucus, Jim Clyburn, threw his full weight behind hum, “We know Joe and Joe knows us”, In addition to that he was from the MidWest where he had long standing involvement with the trade unions.
Biden’s campaign was controversial to say the least. Acting in a responsible role modeling way in the midst of the pandemic addressing only safely distanced masked crowds he exuded calm. For the most part he managed it from the basement and watched Trump run against himself. While Trump continued with his virus spreader campaign rallies throughout the country Biden stressed the need to undo his four years. He deemed this life and death campaign as a battle for “The Soul of the Nation”. American values were on the ballot. He focussed on the pandemic contrasting his empathetic and experienced managerial and leadership style. He would accept ownership of the response to its detection, prevention, spread, treatment and economic devastation, contrasting with Trump’s almost total disinterest and narrative that the pandemic was not such a big deal.
His role as Vice President for eight years had allowed the international world to greet his election with a sigh of relief. He was trusted and on day one Americas allies would once again be their allies and their adversaries their adversaries. International organizations would be rejoined.
However, in spite of the fact, that he denied that he was going to be an Obama third term, the subtext of all of this was obvious to all. Obama had moved the Arc of American Moral history forward simply by his election, Trump had resisted it and attempted to return to the “good old white days” and now Obama’s Vice President with a black woman Vice President had defeated Trump.
There is very little doubt in Jay H. Ell’s mind that no other candidate other than Joe Biden could have beaten this incumbent President with his loyal cult.
THE THREE PRESIDENTS
Both circumstances and unique personalities played a role in the election of Obama, Trump and Biden. The former two both charismatic and were phenoms. While they represented the two opposite poles of American history, had totally different styles and personalities they were highly talented and skillful at projecting what they symbolized. Arising however out of the ashes of Trump’s attempting at halting history Biden was the perfect choice for an anguished society. So indeed the time and circumstances played a central role in the emergence of all three - once again affirming the Shakespearian dictum, “Cometh the Hour Cometh the Man”.
AT THE END OF THE DAY
History awaits the next chapter. Whichever way this is viewed the three will be inextricably bound. Looking at the 2020 election results realistically a crucial small percentage rejected Trump but swallowed his message accounting for the success of down ballot Republicans for Congress. History will marvel at the fact that by and large his cult bought his Covid 19 narrative with over a quarter of a million dead that it was nothing serious and they should just carry on with life.. Seventy - four million Americans voted for him in a defeat he will never recognize. So he still will be a factor in the future.
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