George H. W. Bush Quotes

I think it is so great right now that we are in an age where there's an African American president in office. I think it is important for our generation to really witness that.

Because of where I come from, I never thought I'd see in my life a black candidate running for President.

Electing a black president was probably the only coup America could pull off.

Obama is the first African-American president, and for some people, that means a great deal, and for some people, it means very little.

My grandmother probably never thought she would see a day where, you know, a young black woman would be seen as a leader, which is incredible.

Black people have been qualified to be president for hundreds of years. George Washington Carver could have been president. I could go on with a list of black men that were qualified to be the president of the United States. So the Obama victory is progress for white people.

We do have a black president, and that means a lot. People ask, 'What has he done?' What he's done is change the color up, which you see on the screen. When the head of the free world is black, there's got to be some sort of spin-off from it.

You look at how Barack Obama has had to conduct himself as president. It reminds me of Jackie Robinson, how he had to be very careful to reassure people that this was all right.

America is Tiger Woods country for a reason, and she elected Barack Obama to punctuate this new reality.

There still aren't many black women on prime-time TV. Times are changing, but it's interesting: we're in 2013 and still experiencing firsts... Hopefully, in the next 100 years, things will balance even more.

I always believed there would be an African-American president. It was something I'd dreamed about, thought about, but certainly did not believe would happen in my lifetime.

Barack Obama's official nomination as the Democratic Party's standard-bearer was a very poignant moment for millions of Americans. As the first non-white major party nominee, Obama is carrying a big load on his shoulders. He's holding the hopes and dreams of a lot of folks who thought the presidency was only reserved for white men.

Let me tell you the truth: I'm 45 years old. I never thought that I would live to see a black president.

My Uncle, of course, would have been pleased to see someone with brown skin holding the office of president.

I think the legacy of the civil rights movement is that now whites are more open to being represented by people of color or people who are women or, again, non-traditional candidates.

The very fact that Barack Obama - an African-American - was twice elected to the presidency will always be the lead line in that hard-to-meld, gold-plated paragraph.

What people forget is that the most radical thing about Obama is that he was the first black man in history to imagine that he could become president, who was able to make other Americans believe it as well. Other than that, he is a centrist, just like I try to be. He's been bridging divisions his whole life.

Are things getting better with each generation? Yes. It's quite interesting to be living in these times, for me to witness an African-American being elected president. It's quite extraordinary.

'The Cosby Show' - no one thought there's doctors and lawyers who are married and live in brownstones! Back then no one would have thought we would have an African-American president. They would have laughed in your face.

I am extremely ecstatic about the presidency of Barack Obama. I think he is paving the way for young African-American men like myself. I have very high expectations for Obama, and I am extremely hopeful that he will bring great lasting change not just to America, but to the entire world.

The first black president will be a politician who is black.

When I first heard that Barack Obama was going to be the first black president, I wanted to do the smallest, biggest tribute in history.

Africans took a lot of pride in the election of Obama, because it proved wrong those who believe in racist assumptions, that a black man could not live up to a white man.

In the Fifties, there were certain places we couldn't ride on the bus, and now there is a possibility of a black man being in the White House. You have to feel good about it.

Children today will grow up taking for granted that an African-American or a woman can, yes, become the president of the United States.