On the eve of his inauguration, eight world leaders tell Barack Obama how not to screw up.
On Jan. 21, 2009, Barack Obama will wake up as president of the United States -- a position only four other living people have held. And although the new president will have a well-stocked cabinet of advisors, very few can relate to what it feels like to suddenly be in charge of an entire country. It is precisely because of Obama’s dual challenges -- domestic and international -- that FP sought the advice of former heads of state and government the world over. In telephone interviews over the last few weeks, past presidents and prime ministers on four continents passed along their advice and congratulations for the new leader of the free world. Excerpts:
On the meaning of Obama’s election:
[As the first woman president of Ireland], I thanked the women of Ireland on the night of the election count. … I felt I owed it to them to be a president who was proud of the fact that I was a woman. So I would say [to Obama], be yourself in that sense—as an African-American who has received the trust of the people. Do it your way. Be very conscious of being true to that difference that has been accepted and trusted to bring about change in a very difficult time.
--Mary Robinson, president of Ireland (1990-1997)
Obama will be the person who lives up to [the] title “leader of the free world” more than any U.S. president in the past. Before, with all due respect, it was kind of like the baseball World Series. It was the “World Series,” but it was really just the American baseball championship. I don’t think anyone has had the characteristics -- biography, lifestyle, and aptitude -- that Mr. Obama brings to that job.
--Jorge Quiroga, president of Bolivia (2001-2002)
“[In India], we have many things in common with the poor of America. Indians have a great deal of regard for American society, and Obama’s coming up shows again how any person can come up. We admire it.”
--I.K. Gujral, prime minister of India (1997-1998)
I went to the U.S. for the first time in 1951 to start [at] Duke University. The first day that I landed in Raleigh airport, I discovered restrooms for white men and colored women. This is the same United States that elected President Obama. That capacity to change … is what allows the so-called American dream. Those values are probably the best tools that the next president can show to the world. … [Obama] will have tremendous moral power precisely because of what he has achieved in his personal capacity.
--Ricardo Lagos, president of Chile (2000-2006)
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