Ever since Barack Obama's presidency came to an end, numerous people have discussed how he will be remembered from a historical context. Both sides are overlooking something. History is not factual.
While it is true that history books include some facts, most of the material is actually opinion. The writers also get to select which facts are used. While many of the facts are true, not all of them are. The facts that are true frequently omit key details and take things out of context. The true purpose of history is not to inform, but to manipulate. Did we forget about history in school? It was pretty clear that our version of history has been heavily edited.
There are two things that I wanted to further explain. The first is simple. What will Barack Obama be remembered for? Obama was the first black (multiracial, actually, but don't tell him that) to be elected president of the United States. This was long overdue and a legitimate positive. There is no question that this first will easily outlive any of his policies.
The other thing I wanted to bring up was our first president, George Washington. A lot of people consider Washington to be among our greatest presidents ever. When you ask the same people about how he actually performed, they show their ignorance. Most of what we know about Washington had nothing to do with his presidency.
Washington is generally viewed as one of the best presidents in history primarily because he was our first. I doubt we will handle Obama much differently. He will be remembered as our first black president, and even our first minority president. I see no reason to see historians changing their tactics just for him. He will be remembered as one of our greatest presidents, and it will have nothing to do with his performance. Think about it for a moment. Do you honestly believe that historians would dare refer to our first minority president as a mistake?
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