Running head: A PERSON I WILL LIKE TO EMULATE 1

A person I will to Emulate President Obama

Languha Ngati

Brown Mackie College

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Everyone has a hero they admire. That hero usually shows qualities that make him admirable.

Qualities that people would like to emulate themselves. For me, the person that I would like to

emulate is President Barack Obama. To be President of the United States means that person has

the qualities to be in one of the most exclusive clubs in history. Of all the billions of people only

44 have ever been President of the United States, and President Obama is one of those 44

(Biography.com Editors 2016). Not only that, but he is the first African-American to serve as

President (Walton Jr., H., Allen, J. V., Puckett, S. C., & Deskins Jr., D. R. (2009). To do so means that he

has qualities that people admire. To me, his leadership, empathy, and resilience are qualities to

emulate.

Being President of the U.S. means that one must not only be a leader of the country, but, in

many ways, they’re considered the leader of the free world. They must show their leadership by

showing that they’re in control of all situations, and not be afraid to make a major decision. Two

of the biggest decisions that President Obama had to make was, as commander-in-chief of the

armed forces was to repeal the military policy known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, which

prevented openly gay troops from servicing in the armed forces, and, in May 2011, approving a

covert military operation in Pakistan that led to the killing of Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind

behind the Sept. 11, 2011 terrorist attacks (Marche, S. 2013) This leadership opened the door

for gays to freely serve their country in the military without having to worry about being

discharged. It had been a longstanding policy to not permit them to serve if they were openly

gay, and his leadership skills helped smooth an easy transition. Making the decision to kill Bin

Laden was a big risk. U.S. troops could have been killed and Bin Laden could have escaped.

Instead, by making the decision, it all worked out.

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Empathy is another quality to emulate. A president has to care about his country’s citizens;

otherwise there could be a breakdown in society. President Obama has shown empathy numerous

times, most prominently in December, 2012, when he consoled the families of the 26 victims of the

Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn. (Dubois 2015). Two days after the tragedy,

he met with the families, talking to each one of them, asking them about the 20 children killed, looking

at pictures of them, playing with their younger siblings and offering hugs (Dubois 2015). In January 2016,

citing examples like Sandy Hook, he announced a new series of executive orders relating to gun control,

including more thorough background checks for gun buyers and stricter governmental oversight and

enforcement of gun laws.(Biography.com Editors 2016). When announcing it, he shed tears as he called

on Congress and the gun lobby to work with him on the issue (Biography.com Editors 2016). By shedding

tears, he showed empathy again for the victims of gun violence, and showed that he wasn’t afraid to be

criticized for it.

Resilience is a third quality to emulate. Growing up, President Obama had some instability in his

childhood. His parents divorced, and at one point, he was living with his grandparents (Biography.com

Editors 2016). He struggled with the absence of his father, who he saw only one time after the divorce

(Biography.com Editors 2016). Yet, he did not allow this to stop him, as he went on to graduate from

Columbia University and worked as a community organizer for low-income residents before he got into

politics (Biography.com Editors 2016).

President Obama is a worthy person to emulate. While the odds are very long to become President

of the United States, one can use his qualities of leadership, empathy and resilience to be very

successful in life. One can be charitable, care for others, and work hard to be successful. While one may

not agree with his policies or opinions, President Obama’s personal characteristics make him a very

good role model for Americans of all ages to emulate.

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References

Biography.com Editors (15 Jan. 2016), “Barack Obama Biography”, Retrieved from

http://www.biography.com/people/barack-obama-12782369#related-video-gallery

Dubois Joshua (11 Dec. 2015), “What the President Secretly did at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Vox

Populi, Retrieved from http://voxpopulisphere.com/2015/12/11/10733/

BLAD, E. (2016). Obama Mentions School Shootings In His Push to Fight Gun Violence. Education

Week,  35(17), 19.

Adelmann, B. (2015). Obama Ramping Up the Rhetoric ON GUN CONTROL. New American

(08856540),  31(19), 17-20.

Walton Jr., H., Allen, J. V., Puckett, S. C., & Deskins Jr., D. R. (2009). BARACK OBAMA. Black
Collegian,  39(2), 7-12.

FRANK, D. A. (2014). FACING MOLOCH: BARACK OBAMA'S NATIONAL EULOGIES AND GUN
VIOLENCE.  Rhetoric & Public Affairs,  17(4), 653-678.

Marche, S. (2013). THE OBAMA YEARS. Esquire, 160(3), 255-256.