Comparing President Barack Obama and Senator John McCain - Essay Example

Pres. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain: A Comparison-Contrast “I stand here knowing that my story is part of the larger American story, that I owe a debt to all of those who came before me, and that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.” (Obama 2009, 1) -Barack Obama, President of the United States Both the stories of President Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain are unique ones. But both men share similarities as well as differences. The both have a strong education and love of writing. They also had great conviction to win the Presidency as well as motivation. Their differences lie in their background. Barack Obama is more cosmopolitan, whereas John McCain served in the Navy—which resulted in different views in foreign policy. The other difference these men have, last but not least, is that Pres. Barack Obama is a good public speaker with a fanciful rhetoric like men of old, whereas John McCain is not a good public speaker. These embody the similarities and differences of both men, and will serve as important markers by which one can compare and contrast them. Both President Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain have strong educational backgrounds. President Obama went to high school in Hawaii, and attended college at Columbia University in New York. At Columbia, Barack attained his B.A. in political science with a specialization in International Relations. (Wikipedia 2009, 1) Later on, after being a community organizer for awhile on the South Side of Chicago—helping Blacks, Latinos, and whites in the midst of an economic crisis due to steel mill closures—Barack decided to attend law school. Barack matriculated to Harvard Law School in 1988. He was selected as the first Black student to become the head of the Harvard Law Review. (Wikipedia 2009, 1) For twelve years, Barack was a constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago; for seven years, he was appointed state legislator in the Illinois Senate; and finally, for four years, Barack was a U.S. Senator for Illinois. (Wikipedia 2009, 1) Next, of course, he ran for the office of President of the United States against Republican rival Sen. John McCain and won. So that is a brief educational and career history of the President. It is evident that the President has a love of writing in the fact that he penned two books, Dreams From My Father in 1995 (re-released in 2004) and The Audacity of Hope in 2006. (Wikipedia 2009, 1) Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance is a memoir that the President wrote telling about the time from the beginning of his life in Hawaii up until his entry into Harvard Law School. (Wikipedia 2009, 1) This book told about the challenges he had growing up in a household, where his father was a Kenyan and his white mother from Kansas raised him. Next, Barack talked about his life in Indonesia, where he lived briefly for a time. He also talked about his experiences with race and race relations in the United States. (Wikipedia 2009, 1) In his next book, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, Obama based his work on a speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, and also was inspired by a sermon of his then-pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. (Wikipedia 2009, 1) It was at the Convention that Obama first rose to national prominence, where there was talk of him becoming a Presidential contender. (Wikipedia 2009, 1) John McCain, like Obama, had a very solid educational background. McCain, like his father and grandfather, followed his male antecedents into the service of the Navy, graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1958. (Wikipedia 2009, 1) McCain, also a strong writer, having written five books. His book titles are as follows: Faith of My Fathers; Worth the Fighting For; Why Courage Matters: The Way to a Braver Life; Character Is Destiny: Inspiring Stories Every Young Person Should Know and Every Adult Should Remember; and last but not least, Hard Call: Great Decisions and the Extraordinary People Who Made Them. (Wikipedia 2009, 1) Two of McCain’s books will be expounded upon a bit here. Faith of My Fathers “is a 1999 best selling non-fiction book by United States Senator John McCain with Mark Salter.” (Wikipedia 2009, 1) Worth the Fighting For was a part autobiography, part mini-biographies of others, published in 2002. (Wikipedia 2009, 1) In all, it would be an understatement to say John McCain is prolific. He is a fantastically gifted writer. Both Barack Obama and John McCain had great drives to win the Presidency and the motivation to do it. McCain, even though he was in his 70s, was determined to match the enthusiasm and charisma of Barack Obama. As John McCain noted in his concession speech, “In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving.” (McCain 2008, 1) Barack Obama and John McCain, however, differ sharply when it comes to foreign policy. This is mainly because Barack is a Democrat and John is a Republican, but their differences of opinion on foreign policy issues is more far-reaching than just a divide between party lines. Their difference of opinion is one of ideological difference. While Obama feels that the war in Iraq was started unjustly and was originally against it, John McCain was all for the war and threw the full weight of his support behind it. While Obama thought that less focus needed to be on Iraq and more troops needed to be sent to Afghanistan to fight the growing insurgency there with the Taliban, John McCain declared that we had still not proclaimed victory in Iraq and thus couldn’t leave. McCain’s argument was that if the United States left without proclaiming victory, Iraq would be the launchpad for Iran to start using nuclear weapons—which would leave the Middle East in a vulnerable position at best, especially Israel. McCain charged that Barack would sit down with any world leaders at the negotiation table without preconditions, scoffing that it was a terrible idea. Obama said in rebuttal that the Presidency should not be used as a bludgeon, and that the President should not only make efforts to sit down and talk with foreign nations but that it should welcome dialogue—and although this dialogue be without preconditions, it would not, of course, be without preparation. Most likely these differences of opinion come from the candidates’ own backgrounds, where Barack Obama is more cosmopolitan and John McCain speaks from the point of view of a former military man. The final difference between Barack Obama and John McCain is that Barack Obama is a gifted speaker, like Aristotle was—whereas McCain is not. Obama’s speaking abilities are a rare talent. In the debates, Barack had the upper hand. He was a more eloquent speaker than McCain, who was not as polished a speaker as Obama. Obama and McCain were both educated, good writers, and had equal motivation in their run for the Presidency. However, they opine differently and have different abilities as speakers. These are the similarities and differences between Obama and McCain, which will make them both forever distinguished in the history books. REFERENCES J. McCain. Transcript: McCain’s Concession Speech. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/04/us/politics/04text-mccain.html. Retrieved 4 May 2009. B. Obama. Barack obama quotes. http://thinkexist.com/quotes/barack_obama/3.html. Retrieved 4 May 2009. Wikipedia Online Dictionary. The audacity of hope. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_audacity_of_hope. Retrieved 4 May 2009. Wikipedia Online Dictionary. Barack obama. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama. Retrieved 4 May 2009. Wikipedia Online Dictionary. Dreams from my father. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreams_from_my_father. Retrieved 4 May 2009. Wikipedia Online Dictionary. Faith of my fathers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faith_Of_My_Fathers. Retrieved 4 May 2009. Wikipedia Online Dictionary. John McCain. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain. Retrieved 4 May 2009. Wikipedia Online Dictionary. Worth the fighting for. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worth_the_Fighting_For. Retrieved 4 May 2009. Read More