Summary 3

In the article “Perfecting the Union” by Roger Cohen, the author argues that prior to Barack Obama winning the Presidential election, the American people had been lied to, and sacrificed their lives in the war in Iraq for weapons that did not exist. And because of this, what Cohen describes as “serial incompetence” it was the American people’s self-respect that was at the highest importance at the time of Obama’s win. He points out that Barack Obama spoke about the American people being connected as one in a speech he gave in 2004 at the Democratic convention. And kept with that belief of America as one people in his victory speech he gave in Chicago. Cohen insists that Barack Obama himself symbolizes a “more perfect union” for various reasons. First because of his belief of the American people as one, and the thought that America can be better that what it has been. Another reason the author points out is Barack Obama’s Kenyan father, the fact that an African- American was elected into the white house after years of slavery shows how the American people are becoming more united, more as one nation, one people. It is because of these reasons Cohen believes that Obama is a symbol of a “perfect union”.
I don’t want to come across as being bias, considering the fact that I to like Cohen voted for Barack Obama. But I would have to say that I do feel that given the fact that an African-American is now the President of the United States of America does prove that we can be better than we have in the past. And it also proves that as Americans, we are showing efforts in our attempt in becoming one people. We can look past things such as a person’s race and look at what is more important, like in Obama’s case, what a person believes in or what they stand for. This is clearly a sign that America is on its way to being a “Perfect Union”.