Obama-era culture shifted decisively toward cosmopolitan values on multiple fronts.

Evidence

Yet, outside the gridlock of formal politics, the overall culture seemed to shift decisively toward cosmopolitan values. Obama’s presidency repaired America’s global image: In 2016, confidence in the US president “to do the right thing” surged to 86 percent in Germany and 84 percent in France. Domestically, the Obama years saw dramatic progress in racial and sexual inclusion. In 2011, a majority of Americans supported legal same-sex unions, culminating in the Supreme Court’s landmark 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges that enshrined marriage equality. Transgender visibility also increased, with Caitlyn Jenner’s public transition receiving widespread support. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 410

Categorization

• XREF: These concrete data points (86/84 percent approval, one-third socially liberal) ground Marx’s periodization of the cosmopolitan ascendancy that the reader will need to rebut or nuance.