This morning, President Barack Obama met with Norway’s King Harald V and Queen Sonja, shared pleasantries, and had a very public burden placed on his shoulders…

President Obama’s day began by meeting with the 5 member panel that selected him for the award, then he and Michelle Obama met Norway’s royal family.  From there, they travelled to the Nobel Awards ceremony, where President Obama, in humility, received his Nobel medallion, a diploma and a check for $1.4 million dollars.

We’ve all heard the controversy regarding the prize being given to a man who it seemed to have barely taken office.  I suppose it would make President Obama’s detractors even more angry to know that the formal nomination of Obama occurred a month before he was even elected into office.

The prize has nothing to do with attaining the Presidency, or any public office. It had nothing to do with the duties of a U.S. Senator.  The prize was awarded for peaceful “rhetoric,” in ideals embodied in the many speeches Obama gave, in ideals he often promulgated in many forms, for the very energy he brought to so many people who listened to his views on international relations.

Did Barack Obama deserve the Nobel Peace Prize? What did it mean for him to receive it? Let’s take a look…

When wealthy industrialist Alfred Nobel passed away in 1896, his will called for an annual prize in 5 areas:  Chemistry, Physics, Medicine, Literature, Peace and Economics.  Each individual prize had differing requirements for awarding.  The Peace Prize, according to the dictates of Alfred Nobel’s will, was to be awarded to individual(s) who “shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”  So in essence it went to someone who worked hard to bring together leaders of nations otherwise at conflict, toward reducing their perceived need for dangerous war machines, and increasing their positive acceptance of peaceful rhetoric.

Unlike the other Nobel prizes, which are awarded to major accomplishments in a specific area of science, literature or finance, the Peace Prize has historically been given not only to individuals who have under their belts any number of successful peace accords, but also to persons who were working toward peace or in the resolution of conflicts.  And unlike the tendency toward retrospect in other Nobel prizes, the Peace Prize has historically been awarded much more often to individuals working with more immediate circumstances.  In other words, you could get an award simply for working on something now, and even if you were still in the process of achieving a greater peace.

President Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize of 2009 for creating what the Nobel Peace Prize committee called “a new climate in International politics.” Through his speeches and calls to action, Obama embraced the use of agencies such as the United Nations in a new form of international diplomacy, where “dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts.”

The selection committee went on to say that Obama “captured the world’s attention and (has) given its people hope for a better future.”  Adding additional weight to the value of Obama’s accomplishments, the committee unanimously stated that since its inception, the Nobel Committee” has sought to stimulate precisely that international policy and those attitudes for which Obama is now the world’s leading spokesman.”

The Nobel Peace Prize committee knew what it was doing, producing a burden for President Obama, quietly forcing him to prove to the World that he can and will follow through with the very rhetoric that got him the prize.  They chose a dynamic personality who has the popular support of much of the free World behind him, all expecting great things from this new, young leader.  A man with a singular legacy to create, as the first African-American President.  A man who has emerged in the shadow of John F.Kennedy with a beautiful family, brilliant wife, and indomitable fortitude.  If he can follow through on his rhetoric, the World stands to see a glimmer toward the fruition of Alfred Nobel’s dream.

During his acceptance speech, Obama stated that the Nobel Peace Prize “speaks to our highest aspirations — that for all the cruelty and hardship of our world, we are not mere prisoners of fate. Our actions matter, and can bend history in the direction of justice.” Given the requirements as stated by Alfred Nobel himself, and given the unique position that our new President finds himself in, Barack Obama just may indeed deserve the Nobel Peace Prize.  I believe he is poised to bend history in favor of kindness and fairness, to direct the avenues of our government toward Justice.  I believe he asked for, and can carry this burden.  I wish to reiterate my support in helping him.