Posted on 08/03/2015 3:55:16 AM PDT by markomalley
For a man who has 17 months left in the Oval Office, President Obama can alternate between sounding like an ex-president, and one who has many years still ahead in the White House. But in many of his remarks, he's starting to drop hints about how a former President Obama might stay busy.
The most recent hint came last week when Obama was in Africa.
"I'm looking forward to life after being president," Obama told the African Union. "I won't have such a big security detail all the time. It means I can go take a walk. I can spend time with my family. I can find other ways to serve. I can visit Africa more often," he added to applause.
Picking up on the "other ways to serve" idea, Pulitzer prize-winning presidential historian Joseph Ellis predicts that Obama will return to Chicago and possibly emulate President John Quincy Adams and run for a lower office.
"I think he could be mayor of Chicago; he's got nothing to prove," Ellis said, noting that Quincy Adams entered Congress when his time as the nation's sixth president expired.
Obama did sound like someone with another election in him when he addressed the African Union. Noting that at 53 he is still relatively young (he turns 54 on Aug. 4), Obama explained that he is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term, but then joked, "I actually think I'm a pretty good president, I think if I ran I could win."
"So there's a lot that I'd like to do to keep America moving, but the law is the law," he added.
Obama first discussed the notion that a third term would be his best yet in a podcast with comedian Marc Maron June 22.
"I was talking to somebody the other day about why I actually think I'm a better president and would be a better candidate if I were running again than I ever have been," he said. "It's sort of like an athlete. You might slow down a little bit, and you might not jump as high as you used to, but I know what I'm doing, and I'm fearless."
He's been discussing how he will use that fearlessness to push his late-term agenda, which includes overhauling the criminal justice system and rebuilding the nation's infrastructure, even though his list far surpasses how much time he has left as commander-in-chief.
"I am really interested in the possibilities, the prospect of bipartisan legislation around the criminal justice system," he said in June, responding to a question about his agenda. "I want to keep on making progress on job training and making sure that the idea of two years of free community college starts taking root."
"And the list is long," he continued. "And what we're going to do is just keep on hammering away at all the issues that I think are going to have an impact on the American people. Some of them will be left undone. But we're going to try to make progress on every single one of them."
Obama has acknowledged several times that his desire to tighten the nation's gun laws will go unfulfilled. He's discussed it in the context of recent mass shootings as well as during speeches on race relations and the criminal justice system. Those themes are likely to carry into his post-presidential work.
His imitative to help young minority males, "My Brother's Keeper," and first lady Michelle Obama's "Let Girls Learn" program are indicative of what causes the Obamas will purse, the White House has said.
Unlike President Clinton, who started a massive philanthropic foundation, or President Carter, who has become the most-traveled ex-president ever, Obama will likely return to his scholarly and community organizing roots, Ellis forecasts.
"I think he's going to write some books and not just about his presidency," Ellis said. "He's still a thinking guy; he's going to write some stuff and I predict the book he is going to write that is going to be a biggie is going to be about race."
Even as he discusses his outstanding agenda, Obama often reflects on what he has accomplished so far and how those feats will be perceived and measured after he leaves office.
"I know what I'm doing," Obama told Jon Stewart in his last appearance on "The Daily Show" before Stewart steps down Monday. "A lot of the work that we did early starts bearing fruit late. The way I'm feeling right now is, I've got 18 months."
He's also been frank about what he will leave undone.
"I think my key goal when I turn over the keys to the next president is that we are on track to defeat ISIL, that they are much more contained and we're moving in the right direction there, that we have jump-started a process to resolve the civil war in Syria … and [that we're] in a conversation with all our partners in the region about how we have strengthened our security partnerships," he said in discussing the nuclear deal with Iran on July 15.
"It's been a remarkable few weeks in America," Obama said speaking in LaCrosse, Wis. on July 2. "Health care is now affirmed as something that everybody can get, not just some, and so that was a great affirmation … And then, the freedom to marry who you love, that's now open to all of us. That's a good thing. That's a good thing."
Despite such reflection, Obama says he is not done, and is promising to squeeze every last drop of authority from his presidency.
"And my instructions to my team and my instructions to myself have always been that we are going to squeeze every last ounce of progress that we can make when I have the privilege, as long as I have the privilege of holding this office," he said while appearing at the White House with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on June 30.
Yes, you can serve, by moving to ISISLand. By the way, when you leave office STFU...
I believe he will go into a deep funk after leaving office. He has no idea what a let-down it will be. It is one thing that brings me comfort when I think of him.
This from the laziest President ever.
He can fund raise, take his daughters to NYC, golf like a fiend and still not find time to have a strategy to fight ISIS.
I would like him serve in 2017.
Behind bars.
There is a well in Iran he could visit.
(Odumbo stated, “So there’s a lot that I’d like to do to keep America moving, but the law is the law,”.....
Exactly WHEN has odumbo followed our laws? He and his ilk have broken just about every damn law this country has ever created. Speaking of “created”, he makes his own laws without any resistance from his opponents. Perhaps he may wish to recall that stupid statement.
“And the list is long,” he continued. “And what we’re going to do is just keep on hammering away at all the issues that I think are going to have an impact on the American people.
***********
Yeah, he’s going to hammer away at all the issues that he thinks will have an impact on the American people - such as taking away our guns, destroying religious liberty, every evil agenda and perversion he can come up with - and isn’t it interesting that he used the word, “hammer?” As in hammer and sickle. Oh yeah, let’s not forget giving away our sovereignty to the U.N. - that’s a high priority of his as well as flooding the nation with illegals and turning us into a 3rd world hell hole.
Someone has been feeding him a load of bull crap if he thinks he is beloved by the American people and could win another term.
He’ll be living large in Hawaii while America is stuck in a post nuclear apocalypse thanks to the Iran “deal”...
He’ll take over the reins as America’s #1 race pimp forcing Jackson and Sharpton to retire.
Agreed. Although, I think he will be far worse than those two combined. He will be completely unhinged when he opens his mouth.
bttt
I hope the enemedia doesn’t put him on the news every time he opens his mouth. My mute button is nearly worn out.
Or maybe he can finally serve Bill Clinton that cup of coffee.
the black plague will continue unabated for years and years
Would not be shocked if he declared marshal law before Election Day 2016. He has removed the problem generals for a smooth transition into dictatorship
Obama’s true goal is “to serve man” or something just as noble. I expect him to devote any sober intervals in the remainder of his life to that cause.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5NWCD7D5n8
Yup; and when we get ENOUGH of it; we can CHANGE it!
its all good.
Spelling:
It is a damn poor mind indeed which can't
think of at least two ways to spell any word.
Andrew Jackson
... which was really a massive influence peddling and money laundering device...
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