David Remnick’s article “Obama Reckons with a Trump Presidency” displays the reaction within the White House before and after the Election of 2016. Remnick begins the article with a scene of the aftermath of the election. The display of defeat to the Democratic party left not only the White House staff but numerous Americans. Remnick ends the introductory paragraph by illustrating how Obama seeks to still the storm that brewed after Trump was elected President. Remnick introduces Obama who projects the idea that it isn’t the end of the world.
Through the repeated use of Obama’s quotes and scholarly articles detailing philosophies, Remnick tells the story of Obama’s perspective and his thoughts on everything that has occurred. White House staff are utilized in and out with their personal accounts on the matters that the country will face after the election.
The article is written in the past tense. The sections are separated with the account of the beginning, the middle and the end. The beginning starts with Obama’s recollection of Trump being introduced to the political scene in 2008. Remnick details the forthcoming of Trump’s win through a passage of a philosopher that said change was imminent. The middle tells the accounts of Obama and the White House staff in the election of 2016. Displays the high hopes for Hilary Clinton to win the Presidency with the current democratic President by her side. Details and circumstances surrounding the election build. The end details the comments of Obama after Trump won the election. The scene of a reality unfamiliar to Americans as Trump and Obama sat side by side. Looking forward, Obama sets his sight on helping the nation remain strong with providing thoughts of hope in the end.
The nutgraf appears in the third paragraph. The account of Trump wining the presidency and the residing disheartened Americans display the past compared to the present.
The writer weaves in quotes from Obama on specific timeframes. He also utilizes the expert quote of Matt Lauer, a journalist of the Today Show and David Simas, Obama’s political director in the middle of the passage with situations surrounding the Election of 2016. The use of experts strengthen Obama’s image of a America that needs to stand together now more than ever. Accounts of reactionary comments from White House staff weigh in on the circumstances surrounding the White House from the beginning of the article to the middle.
The narrative does come full circle in the end. Remnick began the article with Obama’s encouragement to the citizens of America to remain hopeful. Despair laid in the hearts of many Americans believing it could be the end of the world but Obama emphasized otherwise. Through recounts of Obama’s legacy, Remnick ends the article by reemphasizing that the world is not ending. The article ends with a quote that was said when Obama was first elected as President: “If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible,” he said, “tonight is your answer.” The full circle of past to present reference and the end of the Obama legacy details the hope Obama rests in the citizens to look forward to the future.
