That’s How Change Happens. Watching the President Speaking at Howard

As Jan and I sit here watching the president give the commencement address at Howard University, I find a number of emotions racing through me.

Not only is he the first genuine intellectual to serve as president of our country in many years, he also brings such a breadth of concern for our human condition that simply will not be replicated whomever the next president might be. (As he said at the White House Correspondence dinner, it’s anyone’s guess who she will be…) The president is such a unique combination of traits and history, the whole blessed country brought into one life. The substance he brings to the table is breath taking.

But, most of all, in this moment, just in the moment not as the most important thing, I realize there’s a level of what my father used to call “class” that is also going to be going with his leaving the White House. He and the first lady taken together. And, yes, the kids, too. Just as a matter of style there is something in this White House unmatched since it was called Camelot. Again, as my father would say, class act.

Something rare. Particularly in our American politics. Something wonderful.