Will Obama be a great president?

With the election over, it has suddenly become acceptable again to notice that Barack Obama is black and for us to awe at the historical significance of this moment.

It is truly a remarkable moment, and despite the plethora of policy differences I am sure to have with his administration, I agree with my friend Charles that now, in this post-election, pre-governing period, it is right to pause and reflect on the accomplishment of an intelligent and eloquent man and, more broadly, with the truimph of Real People in moving beyond prejudices that affected - and in some cases defined - all but the most recent generations.

Will the historical nature of his election cause Obama to become one of our greatest presidents? Joseph Ellis, in his most recent book "American Creation", discusses the consideration the Founder's gave not to their acclaim while living, but to the fame they would achieve in posterity. "They were, in effect, always on their best behavior because they knew we would be watching."

Now, history will be watching Barack Obama. He won because of a lofty and passionately-told story of where he wants to take America, not because he had a powerful set of policy proposals. Many of the other presidents history remembers as "great" have done the same thing: Roosevelt with his promise for change in '32, Kennedy and his lofty notions of country, Reagan's declaration of Morning in America.

My hope is that a President Obama will be mindful of history's record of him as he governs for the next four to eight years. If he truly reaches across the aisle, if he truly manages to lower the tax burden on 95% of Americans while somehow not undermining our business climate, if he truly rekindles America's connection to the world without compromising our strength and independence, and, above all, if he truly restores America's sense of hope and promise, then he can indeed be remembered as great.

I sincerely hope he does become a great president. To do that, though, he will sometimes have to listen to the voices of future generations rather than the voices of those in the room. Keep wistfully gazing into the future, Mr. President-elect, because that is where your true fame lies.
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