Four 20th century Presidents are looking down kindly and proudly on President Barack Obama, as a result of his Second Inaugural Address yesterday.
Theodore Roosevelt would be proud of Obama bringing up his progressive goals and ideals, following the traditions of the New Nationalism.
Franklin D. Roosevelt would be proud of Obama for having followed the trend of his own Second Inaugural Address in 1937, and the visions of his New Deal.
John F. Kennedy would be proud of Obama for following his lead on idealism, and commitment to a future advancement of those left behind., part of his New Frontier.
Lyndon B. Johnson would be proud that Obama is picking up the mantle of reform of his Great Society in many areas, which has not been addressed by anyone since LBJ, including Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, both of whom backed away from major commitments in the line of the four earlier Presidents.
Obama is a continuation of modern day liberalism, and a successor to the progressive traditions of these four earlier Presidents, all of whom are rated in the top quarter of our Presidents, even with each having his shortcoming and faults. In the C Span poll of 2009, FDR is rated third, TR fourth, JFK sixth, and LBJ eleventh out of our 42 Presidents before Barack Obama.
It has been a long time coming since LBJ left office, and today, the 40th anniversary of his death, Obama’s speech is a salute to his exceptional leadership in so many areas of domestic reform.
Barack Obama’s speech will go down as one of the outstanding Inaugural Addresses of our history!