He has also had to grapple with a dangerous world, including escalating tensions in the Middle East. These challenges have forced him to deviate from the inspiring, common touch of the rhetoric of the campaign. However, some of the perceived shift in tone in Obama's leadership seems less due to circumstances and more due to greater knowledge of his character, such as his more aloof and cerebral side that his advisors tried to hide during the campaign. These qualities have made it difficult for him to communicate the full benefits America has accrued from his leadership, and allowed some of his political adversaries to position him as elitist, despite his relatively modest upbringing. But although he may not always be as charismatic as a reasoned and cautious leader, he is always transformational in his aspirations -- otherwise he would never have undertaken the risks of reforming healthcare at all. There...

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