My Commander in Chief is Black! The Mental Health Significance of Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential Election for Military Veterans

This study investigated the mental health significance of Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential election for military veterans. Many believed his election signaled a progressive shift in race relations and crucial challenge to White supremacy. Furthermore, many argued his election generated hope, especia...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Armed forces and society 2023-07, Vol.49 (3), p.846-865
Main Authors: Gorman, Quintin, Brown, Tony N., Culver, Julian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Armed forces
Black people
Black white relations
Commanders
Elections
Hispanic people
Mental health
Obama, Barack
Presidential elections
Presidents
Progressivism
Race relations
Risk behavior
Risk factors
Social factors
Surveillance
Surveillance systems
Veterans
White supremacy
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Summary:This study investigated the mental health significance of Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential election for military veterans. Many believed his election signaled a progressive shift in race relations and crucial challenge to White supremacy. Furthermore, many argued his election generated hope, especially among Blacks. We therefore hypothesized Black and Hispanic veterans would experience improved mental health after installment of the nation’s first Black commander in chief. We also hypothesized White veterans would experience no change in their mental health. With nationally representative survey data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), we tested these hypotheses by predicting poor mental health days self-identified Black, Hispanic, and White veterans experienced preelection and postelection in fall 2008. Net of established social determinants of health, we estimated Black and Hispanic veterans, respectively, experienced approximately 2.01 and 2.17 fewer poor mental health days postelection, whereas White veterans experienced no significant postelection change. Sensitivity analyses seemed to corroborate these findings.
ISSN:0095-327X
1556-0848
DOI:10.1177/0095327X221082211