I often quote Obama's description of Kansas in his grandparents' day.  His mother was born in Wichita in 1942, so that time was pretty close to ours.  I don't believe Obama had ever been in Kansas when he wrote this.  It's 25 words, and every word is just perfect.  I couldn't describe Kansas more completely in 25 thousand words.  Try to imagine any other politician saying something like this, either in the content or in how well it's expressed. 

 "... a place where decency and endurance and the pioneer spirit were joined at the hip with conformity and suspicion and the potential for unblinking cruelty."

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance (Paperback), p. 13.