Obama's America is the one we hope for. Trump's America is the one we live in.

Did Trump prove Obama wrong about America?

Obama posters and President Trump.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Aaron Alex/Alamy Stock Photo, Juhku/iStock, Mitrija/iStock, Oliver Contreras-Pool/Getty Images)

In the shock that followed the 2016 election, there was no moment more poignant to me than when the sitting president welcomed the president-elect to the White House. There was Barack Obama, who had conducted himself in office with unusual grace, class, and thoughtfulness, having to hand over the government not only to someone who had none of those qualities, but who had for years waged a racist campaign questioning his birthplace and academic qualifications. Of course, Obama was gracious and friendly when he and Donald Trump met, itself an act of almost superhuman restraint.

In an upcoming book, Obama adviser Ben Rhodes reveals that Obama was actually as dismayed as anyone by the results of the election, not just because of what it would mean for the next four years but because of what it said about America. The New York Times describes the story Rhodes tells:

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Paul Waldman

Paul Waldman is a senior writer with The American Prospect magazine and a blogger for The Washington Post. His writing has appeared in dozens of newspapers, magazines, and web sites, and he is the author or co-author of four books on media and politics.