Barack Hussein Obama – America’s Most Disrespected President Barack Obama came onto the political stage in 2004 when he gave the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. Before this momentous occasion very few people had heard of the Junior Senator from Illinois – he had only been in the Senate for eight months. He titled the speech “The Audacity of Hope” to highlight the strength and resilience of the country and to encourage people struggling to rise out of poverty and despair and help them believe in a better future for themselves, their children, their families and their country. The speech was not televised by the major television networks; after all, he wasn’t a known political figure and his name sounded foreign.
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One can only imagine the burdens that come with the title of Chief Commander of “the greatest country in the world”. Criticism and some mudslinging are a part of politics; sensitive people need not apply. The Presidential campaign was fierce, sometimes disturbing, as accusations, innuendoes and insults were tossed around to discredit Presidential candidate Obama. Some of the charges were that he wasn’t really American, he was Muslim and he associated with terrorism. They challenged him to present his true birth certificate. Even when he did, it was deemed a forgery. The accusations and viciousness were not only coming from what the media called “the fringe element”; educated, seemingly rational people jumped on the bandwagon. People who had hidden their racism now had permission to come out in the open and express themselves. During the primaries, the competition’s racial tones were showing even from his opponent and fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton. She deliberately targeted her message to win the votes of white working class, rural and ethnic sections of Pennsylvania and the results showed that her tactic worked (Lindorff 1). She won 57 percent of the vote (43 percent for Obama); 68 percent of white women voted for her (32 percent for Obama) and 70 percent of white Catholics cast their vote for her (30 percent for Obama). On the other hand, the urban vote went 60 percent for Obama, 40 percent for Clinton (Lindorff 2). Former …show more content…
President Lincoln was called vile names by those who opposed his policies on slavery; James Madison was called “little Jemmy” because he was short; John Tyler called “His Accidency (he became President after the death of William Henry Harrison; Nixon was called “Tricky Dicky”; Reagan was called a dunce; George W. Bush was called a chimp (Stone 2); however, the insults did not refer to their race, and their citizenship was never questioned. Not so for President Obama. The insults and disrespect directed at President Obama have gone beyond the slurs and snide remarks one would expect from the press and opponents. President Obama has endured disrespect like no other U.S. President. From fingers in his face (Republican Governor Jan Brewer of Arizona thought it was appropriate to greet him this way); House Speaker John Boehner refused the date the President chose to speak to a joint session on jobs (there is no example in American history when the President has been refused) to questioning his citizenship (Donald Trump fanning the birther frenzy by demanding that a U.S President show him his papers (Burke). Mike Huckabee saying Obama grew up in Kenya – he didn’t – and Newt Gingrich accusing the President of having a “Kenyan anti-colonial mentality”); the GOP refused to raise the debt ceiling (they had no trouble raising it 7 seven times during George W.
One can only imagine the burdens that come with the title of Chief Commander of “the greatest country in the world”. Criticism and some mudslinging are a part of politics; sensitive people need not apply. The Presidential campaign was fierce, sometimes disturbing, as accusations, innuendoes and insults were tossed around to discredit Presidential candidate Obama. Some of the charges were that he wasn’t really American, he was Muslim and he associated with terrorism. They challenged him to present his true birth certificate. Even when he did, it was deemed a forgery. The accusations and viciousness were not only coming from what the media called “the fringe element”; educated, seemingly rational people jumped on the bandwagon. People who had hidden their racism now had permission to come out in the open and express themselves. During the primaries, the competition’s racial tones were showing even from his opponent and fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton. She deliberately targeted her message to win the votes of white working class, rural and ethnic sections of Pennsylvania and the results showed that her tactic worked (Lindorff 1). She won 57 percent of the vote (43 percent for Obama); 68 percent of white women voted for her (32 percent for Obama) and 70 percent of white Catholics cast their vote for her (30 percent for Obama). On the other hand, the urban vote went 60 percent for Obama, 40 percent for Clinton (Lindorff 2). Former …show more content…
President Lincoln was called vile names by those who opposed his policies on slavery; James Madison was called “little Jemmy” because he was short; John Tyler called “His Accidency (he became President after the death of William Henry Harrison; Nixon was called “Tricky Dicky”; Reagan was called a dunce; George W. Bush was called a chimp (Stone 2); however, the insults did not refer to their race, and their citizenship was never questioned. Not so for President Obama. The insults and disrespect directed at President Obama have gone beyond the slurs and snide remarks one would expect from the press and opponents. President Obama has endured disrespect like no other U.S. President. From fingers in his face (Republican Governor Jan Brewer of Arizona thought it was appropriate to greet him this way); House Speaker John Boehner refused the date the President chose to speak to a joint session on jobs (there is no example in American history when the President has been refused) to questioning his citizenship (Donald Trump fanning the birther frenzy by demanding that a U.S President show him his papers (Burke). Mike Huckabee saying Obama grew up in Kenya – he didn’t – and Newt Gingrich accusing the President of having a “Kenyan anti-colonial mentality”); the GOP refused to raise the debt ceiling (they had no trouble raising it 7 seven times during George W.