Mr. Obama will be a relatively young man when he retires from the most powerful position on earth – the Presidency of the United States. He will be 55, just a year older than Bill Clinton was when he left office, and seven years younger than was George W. Bush. What will he do for an encore? Will he go back to Hawaii and paint, like Mr. Bush? Will he use his years in public service as a means to accumulate personal wealth, as Bill Clinton has done? Or will he use the Presidency of the U.S. as a stepping stone to become the leader of the world – free and not free?
Descending from the imperial throne of the American Presidency cannot be easy. Though, there have been Presidents like Harry Truman, Gerald Ford and George W. Bush who, like Cincinnatus, exchanged the robes of Commander in Chief, if not for the plowshare, at least for a life away from the media and the siren call of fame. But humility is not in Mr. Obama’s DNA.