Book 04 – Barack Obama – His Essential Wisdom

Welcome to one more book!

This book was a short read as it had *only* the collection of wisdomous quotes from the 44th President of the United States of America.

After reading The Snowball, I needed a short book which I would finish in a week’s time to give me some confidence that I can read at least one book in a month and this book provided me just that, and something more.
After reading this book, then only, I realized how proficient and eloquent our former POTUS was and how he always used his words carefully!

There were many memorable moments while reading this book. I am sure I cannot remember those all, but a few stood out and one particular statement I would remember for eternity and I am going to talk about that statement in this post. That’s it, nothing else, that just one statement, which conceals the entire philosophy of the POTUS and how a well deserved position should be treated, respected, and never taken for granted.

The quote, if I may, went like this (I know, I am going to screw it up, because, let’s be honest, I cannot remember every single word that came from such a profound and eloquent personality).

Presidency is like holding a baton in a swimming relay race. You have the responsibility of taking the baton from the former President and handing it to the next. While doing so, you have to make sure that this transition from your predecessor to the successor is absolutely smooth and effortless. However, while doing this, you are cautious as you have the responsibility of correcting what your predecessor might not have achieved and concerned for the way your successor might treat this position. But, you have the ability to control this flow by creating and approving laws which give opportunity to every individual equally and work for the betterment of the society, the people, and the nation.

What a powerful quote and statement. It shows how well-read and well-educated our 44th POTUS was that he could compare the pressure of presidency with something an average American would relate to – relay swimming.

He gives a perfect analogy while comparing the presidency to the relay swimming as it works only when you work closely and perfectly in sync with your partners, both predecessor and successor. At the same time, he mentions that while doing this, you must be both cautious and concerned while both receiving and passing down the baton. Cautious because you don’t want to undo the good and positive things that you predecessor did and concerned that your successor should carry on with same zeal and innovation that you did.
Apart from being cautious and concerned, the one thing that you can control is the way you play and deal with the flow of the water and you can do that by creating and approving the laws which help the average American and create an equal opportunity to everyone.

I cannot tell you how many times I get goosebumps just thinking about this quote form the former POTUS. This sentence is a proof that the leader of the Free World first thinks and thinks quite hard before acting and he/she acts in a certain way, which is beneficial to everyone equally.

Hope, this helped at least one of you! It helped me! 🙂