Barack Obama's Inauguration

Being a strong Obama supporter throughout both the primaries and the general election, I was pretty disappointed knowing that I would miss his Inauguration. However, watching the event at the Imperial College Union allowed for a greater understanding of how both the United States and its politics affect the lives of many people around the world. I was very surprised to see how many people in Britain followed the Election and the amount of support they particularly showed Obama. On many occasions before the Inauguration, I would run into people who were excited to be talking to an American about how grateful they are for President Bush to be leaving office and for a new face like Obama to be entering. Many people were surprised that a country with a somewhat racist past could elect an African American to the presidency. 

Living in America, we never notice how much our actions affect the rest of the world. Being in a foreign country during one of the most exciting and historical times for our nation, I became even more proud to call myself an American. At the same time, I was humbled to know that our country is still the most watched nation in the world because the United States really does impact many nations' lives, governments and economies. Prior to my experience of enthusiasm by British individuals as the Inauguration, I was beginning to believe that America had lost it's foot-hole as the strongest country in the world. However, our changing of leadership showed me otherwise. It is often impossible to separate the 20th century politics and culture of Europe with that of American because both affect each other in different ways. Whether the topic is musical artists, actors, politicians, wartime or economy, the countries that make up the continent of Europe affect American just as much as our actions affect the countries on this continent.