For Obama, two defining moments

Friday began with President Obama, an emblem of the nation's progress on race, speaking profoundly about a landmark Supreme Court decision on a new generation's civil rights fight. That was something.

And when, just hours later, Obama spoke to a mourning black congregation in South Carolina in an address that wove together meditations on racism and hate and healing and grace — capping it all off by singing "Amazing Grace" from the lectern, solo — well, that was something else.

I'm no historian, but there can't be many days on which a president gave two speeches so remarkable. And no one else on the ballots in 2008 or 2012 could have given quite those responses in quite those ways.

In those two moments, we saw the person Obama's supporters thought they were getting when they elected him: a man shaped by a certain back-story, with a certain temperament and way of looking at the world, who had a talent for stirring oratory.

It was impossible to predict exactly how those traits would shape events, because it's impossible to predict what history will throw at each president.

No one could foresee that Dylann Storm Roof would go to a church to kill black worshipers. No one could predict that same-sex marriage would so suddenly sweep through the country; even Obama in 2008 still favored civil unions.

But voters chose a new-generation leader.

So we had a president who himself broke an historic barrier speaking about "justice that arrives like a thunderbolt" after years of uneven progress. We had our first black president rousing a grieving congregation with an audacious conclusion that made your breath catch in your throat.

Immediately you knew: This scene will be part of the lore of presidential leadership.

This is not to say Obama was the only person who could have produced meaningful responses last week.

Hillary Clinton or John McCain or Mitt Romney all would certainly have raised strong voices — in agreement or disagreement — to mark the Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage (though perhaps under a Republican administration a different set of judges would have produced a different result). Each could have been dignified and powerful in trying to help a community and country heal in South Carolina. Each had unique experiences to bring to the task. But America chose Obama to meet such moments.

The way our voters, political system, and media come together to choose presidents, of course, is deeply flawed (see: Trump, Donald J.).

But amid all the silliness and stunts, campaigns show us how candidates think, how they react, how they communicate. We glimpse how our leaders will answer when these giant moments come knocking and the country looks for a way forward.

Like Obama last week, the next president will inevitably face equally huge events and decisions that we can't fathom today.

That's why 2016, even when it seems like a circus, will still be important.

Jonathan Tamari is The Inquirer's Washington correspondent.  jtamari@phillynews.com @JonathanTamari