While many people never expected Donald Trump to become president of the United States, his victory seemed more likely when you considered what he was up against. Hillary Clinton was considered the ‘safe’ choice for Democrats to run, and there was an air of arrogance about the fact they believed she could automatically beat Trump.

Trump was seen as such an unwinnable candidate that Clinton was arrogant from the start about her inevitable victory. However, Hillary had her fair share of skeletons in her closet that were brought up during the election campaign that made her increasing unpalatable.

Hillary had a provable history of political corruption and simply riding the wave of the corrupt system. Donald Trump seemed to many like an outsider who would, at least spitefully, shake up that corrupt system.

Hillary was described by many as a shrill and robotic type of candidate who did not have any sincerity about her. Even though Trump was dishonest, he was much more colloquial in his speech and attitude, giving him the outward appearance of someone who was more honesty and likeable.

Trump made no apologies for his abrasive attitude, which was attractive to people who were tired of the ‘fake’ persona that career politicians had. In many ways, Hillary was the worst candidate to run against someone like Trump because she was totally part of the political machine and dripped with insincerity.

Trump’s victory can be attributed to many factors, but one is that he was running against a candidate who arrogantly stuck to the status quo. Hillary never once showed any indication she took Trump or those who sympathized with the change he might have offered seriously.

This can be seen as one of the main reasons Hillary Clinton was considered an unpalatable candidate by many Americans.

Barrack Obama is one of the best-remembered leaders of the 21^st century so far. He was more than just the first non-white president of the United States, he was someone who managed to inspire millions with a unifying political agenda.

While Obama caused a lot of division and inspired a lot of hatred from his opponents, he managed to stay headstrong and not give in to despair. While he would often look tired and defeated, he never said anything that would make people lose hope.

Obama was ultimately a victim of a system that was no ready for the change he wanted to implement. Obama was curtailed at every turn, and despite his sincere efforts, was unable to create all of the changes he wanted to. Regardless, Obama is remembered as a good leader overall.

So, how was Obama a great leader, and how can you replicate that leadership?

1.   Use the term ‘we’ not ‘I’.

Obama famously used the term ‘we’ when making speeches. This straightforward choice of words meant that he was speaking to Americans as a collective that he was a part of, rather than him being a leader who looks down on them from the outside. This made him appealing as a leader for many people because he was relatable on that level.

2.   He wanted to unite people

Obama did not write of the half of the population that disagreed with him; he was always wanting to win them over. He did not dismiss his opponents, he focused on speaking about the things he believed in and did not acknowledge the opposition that was simply blind hatred.

3.   He was passionate

Obama had a fiery passion, especially in the early days before the weight of the presidency got to him. This inspired many people.

On two separate occasions Bernie Sanders was sidelined by democratic voters. While Bernie had a strong start in both races, he was unable to secure a final victory and become the Democratic nominee to run in the presidential election – but why is that?

Ultimately, it boils down to the fact that Bernie was seen as too radical for the majority of voting Americans to side with. Those in the democratic party were more worried about beating the other candidate by any means and did not want to take a risk with someone who might be rejected on the election stage.

Despite Bernie starting a grassroots democratic movement that had real potential to change the US political system for the better, many democrats were too worried that he was unelectable by the general voting public. This is no doubt due in part to Bernie’s status as a democratic socialist, with ‘socialist’ being a dirty work in America.

Because of America’s famous rivalry with Soviet Russia during the Cold War, many people are afraid of the term ‘socialist’ because it shares some of the views of communism. While communism itself is not necessarily an evil ideology in theory, the way it was applied in Soviet Russian and other totalitarian states like North Korea means that many people associate it with those evils.

This is some capitalized on by all of Bernie’s political opponents, no matter how dishonest it really is. Simply conflating Bernie with communism is enough for many voters to dismiss him out of hand.

Bernie is likely too old now to get a third chance at running for President, which is a shame for many people who had faith in the change he wanted to bring. Other candidates simply have more ‘mainstream appeal’.