Barack Obama Has Promised Changes

On January 20th, Barack Obama was inaugurated in Washington, D.C. as the 44th U.S. president. At the ceremony in front of Congress, he swore on the Bible that he would “execute the office of president of the United States faithfully,” and do his best to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” In his speech Obama urged all Americans to unite and remain steadfast during this difficult period in their country’s history. First of all, he was referring to the economic crisis, which had started in the U.S., and by that time had already engulfed the entire world. Another subtext was the increase in signs that other countries were unhappy with the U.S.’s superpower status. These feelings were especially evident while Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush, was in the White House.

Americans needed a change in their lives, as well as in their country’s leadership. And that’s exactly what Obama promised. He himself became a symbol of change – the country’s first African-American president. He promised people, “Yes we can!” For many Americans, Obama’s election was a triumph in the long struggle for civil rights and the embodiment of the ideals sought by Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King.

Hundreds of thousands of people gathered at Capitol Hill and on the spacious boulevard leading to the Lincoln Memorial. The extent of the celebration, underlined by the participants’ enthusiasm, far exceeded the traditional inaugural procedures. With his first decisions, Obama got rid of the most odious aspects of Bush’s legacy. He banned the use of torture against suspected terrorists and ordered for the prison at the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (which is odious and does not fit into the American justice system) to be closed by the end of the year.

However, later Guantanamo Bay illustrated that it’s much easier to promise change than implement it. In November, Obama admitted that it would not be possible to transport all prisoners from Guantanamo by the end of the year. Obama also promised Americans that he would put an end to America’s status as the only developed country without universal health insurance. However, Congress’s consideration of the bill was delayed until the end of the year.

During the year, the nature of Russian-American relations gradually changed. After Obama’s visit to Moscow in July, a Russian-American presidential commission on cooperation was established. Diplomats from both sides began negotiating a new agreement on reducing strategic offensive arms. The negotiations’ conclusion, however, also crept into the next year.

Almost none of the changes promised by Obama have come easily. However, people still have faith in him, domestically and abroad. His receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize is evidence of this. However, analysts consider the award an “advance,” noting that the U.S. is still fighting two wars.