Former two-term US President Barack Obama, a relatively young and enormously popular global figure, is poised to become the most successful former president, according to The Guardian.
In his first year as a former US president, Barack Obama, 54, the first black American to serve as commander in chief, appears to be headed for a lifetime of distinguished achievement, through the husbanding of a career track that will be as unique as the man himself.
By carefully avoiding a deep reactionary dive into what many suggest appears to be a starkly personal dismantling of Obama's executive legacy by the administration of Donald Trump — particularly in healthcare, military spending and deployment, and corporate regulation — the 44th US president has demonstrated a reserve that has resulted not only in an overwhelmingly popular social media presence, but also in his ability to raise money to support various worldwide causes.
"You have to give [Obama] credit," said former director of the LBJ presidential library Mark Updegrove, "for his remarkable restraint given the repudiation that he has received at the hands of Donald Trump, whose agenda seems to be based on undoing everything that Obama did and not much more," cited by the Guardian.
Updegrove, the author of ‘Second Acts: Presidential Lives and Legacies After the White House,' remarked that Obama has demonstrated remarkable reserve.
Boise State University professor of political science Justin Vaughn agreed, stating that it would be "interesting to watch […] if Barack Obama's post-presidential ambitions change as he sees his presidential legacy dissolve."
"Every day it seems that President Trump manages to erase a little bit more of what Obama accomplished as president," Vaughn said, adding, "It seems to be personal, about Trump removing his predecessor from the history books, or the accomplishments of his predecessor from the history books."
"I can't think of another parallel to that," he said.
But Obama's popularity nonetheless remains extremely high, as evidenced in part by his posting the most-liked tweet of all time (see below), and even by the sales of a $50 coffee table book titled: ‘Obama: An Intimate Portrait' by presidential photographer Pete Souza, which, at last report, was selling out as quickly as stocks were placed on bookstore shelves or made available online.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 13, 2017
But much of Obama's post-White House work suggests the cultivation of a longer game.
In May 2017, the Obama foundation revealed that a "presidential center" on Chicago's South Side would be created to accommodate a multitude of organizations, including a presidential library, museum and an educational facility, as well as the administrative offices of the foundation itself.
Obama has engaged in public fundraising, including collecting over $1 million for three speeches to three Wall Street firms, according to Bloomberg News.
"He's gone after an immense amount of money, between book deals and huge speaking fees," said Vaughn, "which other presidents haven't been as aggressive about," cited by The Guardian.
Updegrove observed that Obama's ability to raise large amounts of money is also in keeping with his enduring legacy, not only as the 44th US president, but also as the first black president.
The power of the former president's message, coupled with the desire of a wide swath of humanity to proactively engage with him, "shows the immediate nostalgia that we have for Barack Obama, given the dramatic contrast between him and his successor," Updegrove noted.
"President Obama, given his enormous worldwide popularity, has an opportunity to be perhaps our most successful former president, in terms of his ability to raise money, in terms of global reach," the author added.
