An excerpt from THE AUDACITY OF HOPE (2006) by Barack Obama

More than once in our history we’ve seen patriotism slide into jingoism, xenophobia, the stifling of dissent: we’ve seen faith calcify into self-righteousness, closed mindedness, and cruelty towards others. Even the impulse toward charity can drift into a stifling paternalism, an unwillingness to acknowledge the ability of others to do for themselves.

When this happens-when liberty is cited in the defence of a company’s decision to dump toxins into our rivers, or when our collective interest in building an upscale new mall is used to justify the destruction of somebody’s home-we depend on the strength of countervailing values to temper our judgement and hold such excesses in check.

Sometimes finding the right balance is relatively easy. We all agree, for instance, that society has the right to constrain individual freedom when it threatens to do harm to others. The first amendment doesn’t give you the right to yell “fire” in a crowded theatre; your right to practice your religion does not encompass human sacrifice. Likewise, we all agree that there must be limits to the state’s power to control your behavior, even if it’s for our own good. Not many Americans would feel comfortable with the government monitoring what we eat, no matter how many deaths and how much our medical spending may be due to rising rates of obesity.

More often, though, finding the right balance between our competing values is difficult. Tensions arise not because we have steered the wrong course, but simply because we live in a complex and contradictory world. I firmly believe, for example, that since 9/11, we have played fast and loose with constitutional principles in the fight against terrorism. But I acknowledge that even the wisest president and most prudent Congress would struggle to balance the critical demands of our collective security against the equally compelling need to uphold civil liberties. I believe our economic policies pay too little attention to the displacement of manufacturing workers and the destruction of manufacturing towns. But I cannot wish away the sometimes competing demands of economic security and competitiveness.

Unfortunately, too often in our national debates we don’t even get to the point where we weigh these difficult choices. Instead, we either exaggerate the degree to which policies we don’t like impinge on our sacred values, or play dumb when our own preferred policies conflict with important countervailing values. Conservatives, for instance, tend to bristle when it comes to government interference in the marketplace or their right to bear arms. Yet many of these same conservatives show little to no concern when it comes to government wiretapping without a warrant or government’s attempts to control people’s sexual practices. Conversely, it’s easy to get most liberals riled up about government’s encroachments on freedom of the press or a woman’s reproductive freedoms…

In a country as diverse as ours, there will always be passionate arguments about how we draw the line when it comes to government action. That is how democracy works. But our democracy might work a bit better if we recognized that all of us possess values that are worthy of respect…

Barack Obama THE AUDACITY OF HOPE (Thoughts On Reclaiming The American Dream) (2006)

BARACK OBAMA BIOGRAPHY

Few presidents have walked a more improbable path to the White House. Born in Hawaii to a mother from Kansas and a father from Kenya, Obama was raised with help from his grandparents, whose generosity of spirit reflected their Midwestern roots. The homespun values they instilled in him, paired with his innate sense of optimism, compelled Obama to devote his life to giving every child, regardless of his or her background, the same chance America gave him.

After working his way through college with the help of scholarships and student loans, Obama moved to Chicago, where he worked with a group of churches to help rebuild communities devastated by the closure of local steel plants. That experience honed his belief in the power of uniting ordinary people around a politics of purpose, in the hard work of citizenship, to bring about positive change. In law school, he became the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review, then he returned to Illinois to teach constitutional law at the University of Chicago and begin a career in public service, winning seats in the Illinois State Senate and the United States Senate.

On November 4, 2008, Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States, winning more votes than any candidate in history. He took office at a moment of crisis unlike any America had seen in decades – a nation at war, a planet in peril, the American Dream itself threatened by the worst economic calamity since the Great Depression. And yet, despite all manner of political obstruction, Obama’s leadership helped rescue the economy, revitalize the American auto industry, reform the health care system to cover another twenty million Americans, and put the country on a firm course to a clean energy future – all while overseeing the longest stretch of job creation in American history. On the world stage, Obama’s belief in America’s indispensable leadership and strong, principled diplomacy helped wind down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, decimate al Qaeda and eliminate the world’s most wanted terrorists, shut down Iran’s nuclear weapons program, open up a new chapter with the people of Cuba, and unite humanity in coordinated action to combat a changing climate.

In times of great challenge and change, President Obama’s leadership ushered in a stronger economy, a more equal society, a nation more secure at home and more respected around the world. The Obama years were ones in which more people not only began to see themselves in the changing face of America, but to see America the way he always has – as the only place on Earth where so many of our stories could even be possible.

Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, are the proud parents of two daughters, Malia and Sasha.

“True leadership often happens with the smallest acts, in the most unexpected places, by the most unlikely individuals.”

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