Dear President Obama,

I remember Election Day in 2008. I sat beside my mom – taking on the seemingly impossible combination of the classic, involved PTA mom and a working parent – at the bake sale of my public school, watching the constantly long line bring people in and out of booths, casting their votes. I remember going into the booth with my mom and selecting Barack Obama, noting that there was no longer a slip of paper and a lever like there was in 2004, when I had excitedly cast my mother’s vote for John Kerry. I was given a tee shirt; I still have it and, naturally, it still fits me, although the bold, “Vote Obama Biden Nov 4^th” is now faded. I remember watching the inauguration with my fifth grade class in the library. At age 10, I wasn’t political – none of us were. We didn’t know the difference between Democrat and Republican, liberal and conservative. We didn’t know the platforms that candidates ran on or the issues people cared about, and our knowledge of government didn’t extend much beyond knowing the three branches. But you were different. We knew the fact that you were becoming the president was a big deal.

In elementary school, we learned about segregation. We knew all about Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. But growing up in a household where nobody ever told me that the color of my skin made me any different from my friends who were darker, in classrooms where I played with children of all different colors and religions, in a city where all types of people could live together, we didn’t really know that racial inequality was still very much a problem. But we knew that the first African American president mattered. I still remember watching that inauguration with a combination of awe and elation.

You continued to impress me as I grew up, as I became increasingly interested in politics and I truly began to understand. I watched you handle countless speeches with absolute eloquence and grace. I listened to the countless criticisms being thrown at you – on the news and from my grandparents who asked me each time they saw me if I still liked Obama. But you handled it all with grace, with an iron exterior so contrasting with the maturity of our next president. You were a role model not just to minority children, but to all children; you were a model of a unique poise, respect, and maturity that the children of the next four years will see the antithesis of.

People accuse you of being a divisive and polarizing figure. In some ways, you were. I don’t think the President of the United States could possibly not be, unless everyone in the country had the exact same opinions. As President, you are at the forefront of enacting policies; inherently, some people will disagree with those policies, making you inevitably divisive. Conservative TV screams about how you created a divided America, that racial divisions are worse now. But I don’t think you divided America – I think you made the division and inequality in America more clear, more obvious. You made (not just racial) equality more vivid and real both for people who opposed it and people who supported it. With you as President, equality became more feasible, it brought us one step closer to achieving it. And as equality became more real, it became more offensive for racists and right-wing extremists and more promising for progressives and those in support of it. So yes, in ways you were divisive, but the only way to avoid that division would be to refuse change, to remain in the status quo and continue to deny equality and respect to many in our country. You were controversial because you were black and because you promised change. It seems that divisions have escalated but really, they just became more relevant, because division only becomes apparent when the status quo threatens to legitimately change.

So as a political figure you were divisive, of course. But in many ways, you rose above political division. Our next president conceives of everything in terms of us versus them; any dissident becomes an enemy, any vocalization of disagreement provokes a feud instead of an open and productive dialogue. But you showed the American people, whether or not they realized it, how to handle opposition gracefully, respectfully, calmly. You entered office with the country in shambles, and were expected to create a new nation, immediately prosperous, every problem eradicated. Every step of the way throughout your presidency you faced opposition and obstacles, but you remained composed and civil, always. As you campaigned for Hillary, you told the American people “progress is on the ballot.” And it was. Your progress, your legacy, were on the ballot. Even now, while you are still in office, the health care plan that you worked so hard to enact is being disabled. Your successor has in many ways vowed to try and turn back the clock, to quite literally dismantle all of the things you worked so hard to do: mitigate climate change, provide healthcare to millions, boost the economy, create a safer international space, and advance equality for all genders, races, and sexual orientations. And while throughout the campaign you opposed Trump, you have respected the results of the election, insisted on a peaceful transition, and consistently told your supporters to do the same. I agree with your policies and opinions, but the reason you are so significant is because your kindness and elegance transcend political ideology. You show the children of America to have respectful dialogue, not hateful tweets. To handle criticism with grace and politeness, not by hurling insults and refusing to converse.

So thank you. Your work to create a better country and better world for all, not just a few, has meant more to me than I can eloquently describe. But someone else may have been able to advance the progressive platform that you dedicated yourself to; while significant, that alone is not why you were so remarkable. You were remarkable because you were able to do it while being a role model, someone that all Americans – young or old, rich or poor, Democrat or Republican – could learn from. The poise, respect, and kindness that so clearly guide your life have never faltered as you faced the most difficult of climates. So thank you for showing me that dedication to change and progress in society is most valuable when it is accompanied by poise, kindness, and respect.

Sincerely,

Olivia Turano