Obama and the Return to the Founding Fathers

Global reaction to Barack Obama’s speech continues to pour in. In this op-ed article from France’s Le Monde, Daniel Vernet writes, ‘The senator from Illinois put himself in the footsteps of the Founding Fathers of the United States. … Obama’s leitmotif is marked with a seal of hope and optimism in a union that can be ‘perfected.’ It is not perfect. It never has been. … The Philadelphia Convention, which proclaimed independence and drafted the Constitution, drew on a political philosophy that was a mixture of Christian faith and the spirit of the Enlightenment. It nevertheless accepted the continuation of slavery.’ Vernet concludes, “Obama’s speech in Philadelphia is a mix of political aptitude and candor. Expressed by a man of color who has succeeded, his faith in America is particularly suited to rallying those who thrive along with those who hope; White, Black or immigrant.”

By Daniel Vernet

Translated By Kate Davis

March 25, 2008

France – Le Monde – Original Article (French)

In order to escape a dangerous association with the Reverend Jeremiah Wright of the Trinity United Church of Christ, a man who married him and baptized his children, on March 18 Barack Obama delivered a speech on the relationship between the races in the United States. It is a speech that has generated attention, admiration and controversy. The initial reactions were unanimously flattering. An incredibly gifted orator, the candidate for the Democratic nomination succeeded in extricating himself from a tough spot without denouncing the man who was a kind of spiritual guide for him. But a short time later, the analyses were more severe. The first Black presidential candidate with a chance of making it to the White House, Mr. Obama had fellen into the trap that he wanted above at all costs: appearing as a candidate representing a specific community.

An attentive reading of his text justifies the words of David Eisenhower, a political scientist and the grandson of the former president of the United States, who was quoted in the International Herald Tribune: “Obama gives a very compelling reason as to why this is his time .” Without neglecting the tactical imperatives that prompted his speech, in choosing Philadelphia, the senator from Illinois put himself in the footsteps of the Founding Fathers of the United States. His leitmotif is marked with a seal of hope and optimism in a union that can be “perfected.” It is not perfect. It never has been. The Philadelphia Convention, which proclaimed independence and drafted the Constitution, drew upon a political philosophy that was a mixture of Christian faith and the spirit of the Enlightenment . It nevertheless accepted the continuation of slavery, which was at the root of the Civil War – the so-called War of Secession – in the middle of the 19th century.

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