Obama's farewell: President addresses nation for the last time as its leader

History will decide how the presidency of Barack Obama will be viewed in the long run.

Obama surely will be most remembered as the first black man to occupy the White House, and the president who first implemented universal health care.

But that is not all it will have to recall about the eight years that Obama held office. We believe it will be a mixed bag: During his watch America dug itself out of a recession and rebuilt its economy, but it also lost footing on the global stage as Obama's foreign policies weakened our stance in many parts of the world.

Many people are bemoaning the changes that are about to take place in Washington. They fear the future. Where the nation swung left eight years ago, it is about to swing right. It is the natural course of politics in this country.

Obama seems to recognize this fact, and while he touted the accomplishments of the past eight years, he also asked citizens to look ahead to the next administration with hopeful hearts. America is strong, he said, and can weather whatever storms await us. He called for healing of the nation's political wounds and for unity of purpose.

It was a fitting, eloquent and sometimes emotional end to the Obama era. When he first sought election his slogan was "hope." It still is today.

Published in Editorials on January 11, 2017 10:01 AM