Obama

Everyone on the planet knows that President Elect Obama will have his Inauguration on January 20th, 2009. Some rejoice in his success, some rejoice in the fact that George W. Bush will no longer be President, and some are unhappy. Fortunately, the latter seem to be a minority otherwise Obama wouldn't have won the election.

All things being equal, January 20th seems to be a really big date. Personally, I had thought to attend the Inauguration. I was born when Nixon was President. Ford followed. Jimmy Carter was the first that I remember. There was Reagan, then George Bush, then Bill Clinton and then this last President - George W. Bush. 7 Presidents in my lifetime, with an 8th soon. Of them, though, only 4 were Presidents whose policies I followed and whose policies had an impact on me. Reagan, Bush (Desert Storm), Clinton (base closures and making 'oral sex' an household phrase), George W. Bush (list too long)... and now Obama.

So there are presently 43 U.S. Presidents. Soon to be 44. And of the 43, I've been alive for 7. For roughly 16.279% of all the U.S. Presidents of history. But President Elect Obama will be my President, not because he's partly of African descent or because of any reason attributed to him - rather, I'm of an age now where I pay attention to what is going on a bit better... and, admittedly, Obama's predecessor has/d a lot to do with that(!).