For the last eight years, Barack Obama has led the executive branch of the United States with more than his fair share of controversy. However, with the spotlight on President-Elect Trump and the impassioned opposition his victory has caused, President Obama’s imminent departure from the White House has received little attention. True, Obama is recognized by the numerous Obama-Biden memes that have rapidly spread throughout the Internet, but the public’s gaze has already shifted towards Donald Trump and America’s future for the next four years. Even so, it is necessary to reflect on the legacy of Barack Obama’s presidency.

Barack Obama built the platforms of his campaigns on the simple but captivating catchphrases “Hope” and “Moving Forward.” His revolutionary campaigns inspired millions of Americans, who responded with donations, creating perhaps two enormously successful grassroots fundraising programs. In 2008, his “record number of contributions” combined to a total that eclipsed “the total amount of money raised by all of the presidential candidates combined in 2004” (ABC News, December 8, 2016). In 2012, he surpassed his former fundraising record by becoming the first presidential candidate to surpass the billion dollar mark, generating more funds than even his opponent Mitt Romney, who also surpassed the mark (POLITICO, December 8, 2016).

Obama was a champion to minorities around the United States, who felt disenfranchised by the Bush administration. Though never a populist, Obama emphasized that his campaigns were run by and for the people. In his 2008 victory speech, Obama told an ecstatic Chicagoan crowd “All of this happened because of you.”

        In truth, Obama’s presidency was one marked by compromise. Facing strong Republican opposition in Congress, Obama attempted to push through many of his proposed policies. In fact, in 2013, conflicts between the legislative and executive branches culminated in a 16-day government shutdown in which around 2 million government employees were either “furloughed” or “work[ed] without pay” (The New York Times, September 30, 2013) . Despite gridlocks, however, Obama passed the Affordable Care Act, the DREAM Act, and numerous other progressive agendas during his terms, as promised. Even so, Obama’s presidency was not the dramatic social revolution that both his supporters and critics had expected. Neither was it the downward spiral that many of his more extreme opponents had claimed. Obama managed to keep a relatively clean record, avoiding the pitfalls that many of his predecessors fell prey to.

        However, he will not be viewed so much for his accomplishments as for what he represents. He represents a progressive social shift in the United States. He represents the diverse America that has been moving closer and closer to true equality.  He represents the “nation of immigrants” that embraced his message when he first ran for the presidency. At the College Opportunity Summit, Obama addressed a crowd of young adults: “Now, as a nation, we don’t promise equal outcomes, but we were founded on the idea everybody should have an equal opportunity to succeed. No matter who you are, what you look like, where you come from, you can make it. That’s an essential promise of America. Where you start should not determine where you end up.” Thanks, Obama.