The Extraordinary Skill Set Demonstrated by Barack Obama in Times of National Crisis

As an eyewitness to every U.S. president in the television era, I suspect we will not see anyone with Barack Obama's particular skill set any time soon.

I can close my eyes and still visualize President Eisenhower warn of the dangers of the "military-industrial complex."  

My  personal  impressions of the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon debate remain.  I don't need to revisit them on some CNN documentary.

Vaughn Meader on TV in 1962 as JFK

A friend, Steven, who lived just down the street from me in the Highland Park subdivision of Renton, Washington, bought the "First Family" album featuring Vaughn Meador doing his near-perfect impression of John F. Kennedy.  We listened to both sides of the album together at his house.

President Reagan:  "Tear Down That Wall" Speech

Along with many of you, I've watched Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, the two Bushes, Bill Clinton and now, Barack Obama, deal with national crises, military efforts, speak at inaugurations, state of the union speeches or during addresses to the nation, all on national TV.

All of the above were educated men, articulate, choosing or reading their words before the nation carefully.  None, in my opinion, possessed the total skill set of Barack Obama.

Obama's words at the Dallas memorial for five slain police officers, spoken from the heart, were nothing short of magnificent, carefully walking the emotional tightrope between police officers murdered while defending the community and the recent proliferation of videos showing black men unnecessarily gunned down by police.

Hillary Clinton does not possess Obama's dexterity in approaching sensitive, possibly explosive issues.  

Donald Trump?  If I need to answer that, you may not be thinking independently, free from partisanship.

Sometime, during the first national tragedy of 2017, many of us will quickly realize the void left by Barack Obama as so-called Comforter-in-Chief.