August 24, 2011--Legacy

Barack Obama's legacy will not be just the fact that he is our first minority president or that he was able to get Congress to pass the Affordable Care Act.

Significant as is the fact of his race, no matter that the health care bill is deeply flawed at its heart--the individual mandate--and is likely to be found to be unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, or that footnotes will be affixed to his record for ending don't-ask-don't-tell and even for "taking out" Osama bin Laden, viewed from the deep time of history, many decades from now, he and his presidency will be linked to the Arab spring and summer of 2011.

What began in Tunisia, spread to Egypt and Libya and will ultimately culminate in Syria and perhaps Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and even Iran is the fact that this inexorable, tectonic force of cultural and political change occurred on his watch and was catalyzed by his presidency and more than that by his words and his very being.

In his stunning speech to the Islamic world in Cairo in June 2009, five months into his presidency, among other important issues such as the gap in understanding between the U.S. and the Muslim world and his defense of Israel's and the Palestinians' right to a national home, he reached across the centuries of distrust and boldly proclaimed all people's rights to self determination.

Tackling the thorny issue of democracy in a region with deep-rooted despotic traditions, Obama said, "America does not presume to know what is best for everyone."

But he added: "I do have an unyielding belief that all people yearn for certain things: the ability to speak your mind and have a say in how you are governed; confidence in the rule of law and the equal administration of justice; government that is transparent and doesn't steal from the people; the freedom to live as you choose."

And he reminded his global audience of 1.5 billion Muslims, "Those are not just American ideas, they are human rights, and that is why we will support them everywhere."

He also reminded them who he is. He said:

I am a Christian, but my father came from a Kenyan family that includes generations of Muslims. As a boy, I spent several years in Indonesia and heard the call of the azaan at the break of dawn and the fall of dusk. As a young man, I worked in Chicago communities where many found dignity and peace in their Muslim faith.

For this, indeed for everything he said, back home among those who despise him, he was excoriated for talking down America, "apologizing" for some of our own past behavior rather than trumpeting American exceptionalism.

He took that domestic political assault but was heard in very different ways by those who have since taken to the streets to topple their autocratic leaders.

There is certainly no direct correlation between Obama's words and their deeds. But it would be to miss the power of words and personal example to ignore the force of both what he said and the heritage of who was delivering the messages.

Of course we do not know the ultimate disposition of these revolutionary changes. Middle Eastern versions of democracy may evolve but, also likely, the Muslim Brotherhood may wind up in control of Egypt and Libya may devolve into three distinct and uncompromising tribal regions.

Those alive 50 years from now, looking back to these turbulent days with that perspective of years, may refer to the reconfiguration of the region as the "former Iraq" and the "former Saudi Arabia," just as we refer to Serbia and Croatia as having been part of the "former Yugoslavia."

But come what may, there will be no denying that in that distant future everyone will be living in a world being radically transformed right now. One, I suspect, more defined by cultural than colonial borders. And, I equally suspect, that through the historical lens Obama's role in this transformation will be fully acknowledged.