Tuesday, November 4, 2008
A New Era Dawns
President John F. Kennedy said it during his inaugural address. The torch is being passed to a new generation.
Now, 48 years later, it is happening again. And it is a good thing.
President-elect Barack Obama is technically a Baby Boomer, having been born in 1961, the year President Kennedy assumed office.
However, the Democratic senator from Illinois essentially straddles the generational gap. He is part of our age group, but his appeal, demeanor and way of thinking skews toward the younger half of our country.
Yes, the torch is being passed. Slowly. But you can feel the shift. Baby Boomers are stepping into their retirement years. We will be active, but soon we will no longer be running the government, businesses, industry or our communities.
There is some disappointment here. We did not accomplish everything we set out to do. Nowhere near it.
We had two true Baby Boomers who served as presidents, both for two terms.
President Bill Clinton achieved a number of milestones and legislative victories, but his administration has a tarnish to it due to scandal and the divisiveness the country suffered under his reign.
President George W. Bush presided over an even more divided nation. His unpopularity has reached record depths. Frankly, the country is in tatters. Our generation has given our nation perhaps the least successful president in its history.
Now, our generation is sliding slowly from the spotlight, leaving those 16 years as our political mark.
But on Election Night 2008, there is something to cheer. Something to be proud of.
Baby Boomers may not have provided great leadership when it was our turn to stand at the helm. However, we produced the younger generations that helped lift President-elect Barack Obama to the highest office in the land.
We raised our children to be color blind. To reject racial stereotypes and hatred. To accept gays into society’s mainstream. To be sympathetic and understanding of people who are not like them.
We brought them up to choose hope over despair. To choose optimism over pessimism. To have an open mind instead of a narrow one. To look forward to the future instead of to fear it.
With that upbringing, the younger people of our country joined the Obama campaign early on. They walked precincts, raised money, made phone calls, cheered at rallies and went to the polls on Election Day.
They, along with the country’s African-Americans and other people of color, put Barack Obama into the White House. Now, our young people have a president to look up to, like we did when President Kennedy was in office. They have what we were denied when Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in 1968.
Our country has hope again.
Baby Boomers may be leaving behind a bit of mess, but we have produced a generation quite capable of cleaning it up.
That is our legacy. And it is a good thing.
Now, 48 years later, it is happening again. And it is a good thing.
President-elect Barack Obama is technically a Baby Boomer, having been born in 1961, the year President Kennedy assumed office.
However, the Democratic senator from Illinois essentially straddles the generational gap. He is part of our age group, but his appeal, demeanor and way of thinking skews toward the younger half of our country.
Yes, the torch is being passed. Slowly. But you can feel the shift. Baby Boomers are stepping into their retirement years. We will be active, but soon we will no longer be running the government, businesses, industry or our communities.
There is some disappointment here. We did not accomplish everything we set out to do. Nowhere near it.
We had two true Baby Boomers who served as presidents, both for two terms.
President Bill Clinton achieved a number of milestones and legislative victories, but his administration has a tarnish to it due to scandal and the divisiveness the country suffered under his reign.
President George W. Bush presided over an even more divided nation. His unpopularity has reached record depths. Frankly, the country is in tatters. Our generation has given our nation perhaps the least successful president in its history.
Now, our generation is sliding slowly from the spotlight, leaving those 16 years as our political mark.
But on Election Night 2008, there is something to cheer. Something to be proud of.
Baby Boomers may not have provided great leadership when it was our turn to stand at the helm. However, we produced the younger generations that helped lift President-elect Barack Obama to the highest office in the land.
We raised our children to be color blind. To reject racial stereotypes and hatred. To accept gays into society’s mainstream. To be sympathetic and understanding of people who are not like them.
We brought them up to choose hope over despair. To choose optimism over pessimism. To have an open mind instead of a narrow one. To look forward to the future instead of to fear it.
With that upbringing, the younger people of our country joined the Obama campaign early on. They walked precincts, raised money, made phone calls, cheered at rallies and went to the polls on Election Day.
They, along with the country’s African-Americans and other people of color, put Barack Obama into the White House. Now, our young people have a president to look up to, like we did when President Kennedy was in office. They have what we were denied when Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in 1968.
Our country has hope again.
Baby Boomers may be leaving behind a bit of mess, but we have produced a generation quite capable of cleaning it up.
That is our legacy. And it is a good thing.
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1 comment:
Isn't it ironic that neither candidate was a baby boomer. With the 77 million "pig in python," we didn't have someone to run.
I don't think we're done. I still think there is a lot we can do. I hope baby boomers will look at this presidency with renewed energy and enthusiasm to tackle the challenges facing the country and the world.
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