A New Vision
Obama's speech reflected his zeal to remake America's image in the eyes of the world
I have covered inaugurations for 20 years but never saw the sight I just saw: a seamless mass of humanity, millions strong, stretching from the West Front of the Capitol all the way to the Lincoln Memorial. From my vantage point below the podium, I looked west across what looked like a vast field of wildflowers, many of them a pale, delicate red—red from American flags.
When Barack Obama arrived, they let out a loud cheer that echoed back and forth across the Mall. When he spoke, they waved their flags and the whole vista seemed to sparkle faintly in the bright sun.
The launch and now the arrival of the Obama presidency both happened in the cold. I was in Springfield, Ill., in February 2007 when he announced his candidacy. It was beautiful but bitterly frigid that day. Less than two years later—an astonishingly short time in politics—here was Obama again in the cold, once again declaring his belief in hope and in the idea of the American community.
The conventional wisdom is that Obama has risen on the strength of speeches, and it is true that he has given some memorable ones—especially the one he gave to the Democratic convention in 2004. But sometimes the words he utters mean less than the tableau he creates. Was that true today? Perhaps.
I was expecting more soaring emotion than I heard. On economic and domestic policy, Obama warned repeatedly of "crisis" and the need to confront "unpleasant choices." His language was spare, and his vision of the hard work and sacrifice—from the pioneers and slaves to our warrior heroes—was inspiring, but in a sobering way.
Eschewing poetry or Lincoln, Obama resorted to old movies for lines. The "pick yourself up, dust yourself off" language was from a surprisingly pedestrian source: a 1936 Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers movie called "Swing Time."
Was there an easily encapsulated slogan or idea in the speech? We heard no New Deal, no "nothing to fear but fear itself," no New Frontier. Instead there was the man himself and the scene of hope and renewal he had created.
Obama found more urgency and emotion when he turned his attention to foreign policy. There, it was less about sacrifice than about a new vision—one diametrically opposed to that of the man he replaced. His words were forceful and less clinical. We would not apologize for our way of life, he said; he pledged to seek a "new way forward with Muslim nations, and challenged leaders "who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent" to "unclench their fists." If they did so, he said, they would find a new spirit of cooperation and respect.
It was that new vision of foreign policy that led to Obama's candidacy and, in fact, to his nomination. The economic situation is his most pressing challenge, but his heart is in a new vision of America in the world.
And there is nothing wrong with that.
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Howard Fineman is Newsweek's Senior Washington Correspondent and Columnist, senior editor and deputy Washington bureau chief. He is the author of "Living Politics," a column that began on MSNBC.COM and Newsweek.com and that now also appears in the print magazine. An award-winning reporter and writer, Fineman also is an analyst for NBC News and MSNBC, appearing regularly on "Countdown with Keith Olbermann," "Hardball with Chris Matthews" and "TODAY." The author of scores of Newsweek cover stories, Fineman's work has appeared as well in The New York Times, The Washington Post and The New Republic. His 2008 national best-selling book, "The Thirteen American Arguments," was released in paperback by Random House in the spring of 2009.
One of the nation's leading political reporters, Fineman has interviewed every major presidential candidate from (then-vice president) George H.W. Bush in 1985 to (then senator) Barack Obama early and often in the 2008 campaign cycle. His current work focuses on the Obama Administration and its top officials, as well as on Congress and politics throughout the country. Although based in Washington, Fineman travels widely in the U.S. and has covered politics and other events in 49 of the 50 states.
Fineman's work has produced many milestones and awards. A cover story in November 2001 featured President George W. Bush's first extensive interview after 9/11. Another cover, "Bush and God," was part of a series of articles that won the 2003 National Magazine Award for General Excellence. His reporting has helped Newsweek win many honors from the Magazine Publishers Association and the American Journalism Review. Other awards include a "Page One" from the Headliners Club of New York, a "Silver Gavel" from the American Bar Association and a "Deadline Club" from the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ). In 2006 he received the Alumni Award from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.
As a reporter and writer, Fineman ranges widely. Besides campaign-year covers, other projects have included: race and politics, the impact of digital technology on society, the influence of Hollywood on politics, the rise of the religious right and of conservative talk radio. He has interviewed business leaders such as George Soros, Bill Gates, Steve Case and Robert Rubin and entertainment figures such as Warren Beatty, Jane Fonda and Jay Leno.
Although now under exclusive television contract to NBC, Fineman over the years has appeared on major public affairs shows, such as Nightline, Face the Nation, Fox News Sunday, Larry King Live, Charlie Rose and the NewsHour. He was a regular panelist on Washington Week in Review on PBS (1983-95) and on CNN's Capital Gang Sunday (1995-98). He worked with Ted Koppel on Nightline specials, and has been a guest on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report."
A native of Pittsburgh, Fineman began his career at The Courier-Journal in Louisville, covering the environment, the coal industry and state politics before joining the newspaper's Washington bureau in 1978. He moved to Newsweek in 1980, was named chief political correspondent in 1984, deputy Washington bureau chief in 1993, senior editor in 1995 and senior Washington correspondent and columnist in 2008.
Fineman holds an A.B., Phi Beta Kappa, from Colgate, an M.S. in journalism from Columbia and a J.D. from the Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville. His legal education included a year as a visiting student at the Georgetown University Law Center. He received Watson and Pultizer Traveling Fellowships for study in Europe, Russia and the Middle East, and has traveled to more than 40 countries, among them China, Vietnam, Japan, Ukraine, Israel, Turkey and the West Bank Palestinian Territories.
Fineman is married to Amy L. Nathan, a senior counsel at the Federal Communications Commission. They live in Washington with their two children, Meredith and Nicholas.
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