Friday, February 6, 2015

Destiny in the Making: President Obama Made History 25 years Ago Today

by Nomad

A quarter of a century ago, one soft-spoken student with a sense of destiny took his first steps into the public spotlight. His name was Barack Obama. 


Twenty five years ago, Barack Obama was elected the Harvard Law Review's first black president. Here is the New York Times announcement.

(Hat-tip to my long lost cousin, Angel.)

At the time Boston Globe's Linda Matchan wrote a piece on the rise of student Obama. 
The position of president of the prestigious law review came after a marathon 17-hour selection process that pitted him against 18 other candidates
"He held onto me for a long time," said Obama, 28, a second-year student at Harvard Law School. "It was an important moment for me, because with that embrace I realized my election was not about me, but it was about us, about what we could do and what we could accomplish."
In a moment of prognostication back in 1990, John Owens, one of Obama's friends and a former co-worker from Chicago, commented on Barack's self-confidence. 
"I thought, 'This guy sounds like he's president of the country already..I've never met anyone who could leave that impression after only five minutes."
There was always a sense of destiny about Obama, it seems. The article concludes with this quote:
"I have a certain mission to make sure that the gifts I've received are plowed back into the community."
And to the country too.