Assessing President Barack Obama

Just who is this guy? What is he up to? Is he for real or is this a façade? These are questions I ask myself everyday because I have not seen or heard of a President like this Barack Hussein Obama.

First of all I believe he is for real. This is who he is - a caring human being who understands human nature and who understands human suffering, hopes and dreams. I think the life he inherited shaped him for the position of a benevolent leader. He grew up without the benefit of a father - whether doting or austere. He understands the longing for a dad the lack of which has impacted his life more that he may realize. He wanted a father who was not there and there is a hole in his heart that perhaps will never be filled but perhaps could be circumvented. He lost his mother when he was young and that is always a grief that one cannot imagine until you have experienced it yourself. Just when he was supposed to be crowned with his highest honour of becoming the first Black President of the United States of America, his grandmother who had been one of his rocks, slipped away into the abyss of time.

In his moment when every child would want a mother, a father, a grandmother to tap him on the shoulder and say "I'm proud of you son," no one was there. It is as if he was alone in the world.

Whatever love he has in his heart, has been poured out on making it right for his daughters, his wife Michelle and his sister Maya. He intends, with a passion, to be the kind of father and husband that his father was not. These are deep feelings coming from deep hurt and loss, the kind of wisdom one cannot glean from any book but through life itself.

Barack Obama is a President who hit the ground running from the first day he took office. He must have a checklist of everything he promised which he checks off weekly or monthly as the case may be.

Barack Obama is a President who wants to do right for the people, especially poor, hurting Americans, those who yearn after their children fighting in the war. He cares deeply about the loss of a child because he himself was lost at one time.

I read recently an article in the New York Times where it was reported that the President answers 10 letters each day of ordinary American citizens. He is the Facebook and Twitter President after all. I guess he likes to interface with his "friends". This is so unlike his predecessors.

Barack Obama has wasted no time in trying to reach out to America's so-called enemies to renew acquaintances with old friends building a brand for America that is less a bully and more a facilitator. He has opened America to the world and the world has responded with optimism. I believe that President Obama is on the right track. If I were to grade him he would receive an A+ so far. He is working hard for Americans, he is trying his best to correct past mistakes and he is trying to be a good father - he allowed his daughters to have Beau, the newest addition to the White House.