Conclusion: Who Was Thomas Paine, and Why Does He Still Matter?

The following is the conclusion to my big research paper. I'd like to add that the introduction/thesis I posted on here about a week ago is much different now, thanks to some eleventh-hour revisions. Incidentally, as a result of said revisions, the paper's length now totals 13 1/4 pages.
Conclusion:
So, who was Thomas Paine anyway? Simply put, he was a writer, self-taught scholar, philosopher, spin doctor, and revolutionary. A more complex answer is necessary, however, to answer this question. Paine was a man who was misunderstood, even ostracized, in his own time. Essentially a man without a country, Paine was banished from his native England, contributed intellectually to-- and subsequently questioned-- a revolution in France, and helped found America through his pen. His ideas regarding equality, justice, diplomacy, and economics are nothing less than prophetic. He dared to say what needed to be said and endured harsh punishment for doing so. Besides being the author of literary and political masterpieces, including Common Sense, The Rights of Man, and The Age of Reason, Paine laid the groundwork for generations of progressives and freethinkers on an international scale. For this, he is simultaneously a true American hero and citizen of the world. Most importantly, Paine is a genuine original whose unparalleled life must be studied in order to understand the current national and global situation.
This leads to a second question-- why does Paine matter? Answer: He matters, because everything that is happening now would not be possible without him. Just as 1776-- the year of the American Revolution-- was a year of change, so was 2008. And, in the same sense that Paine made the Revolution possible, he made the outcome of the 2008 presidential election a reality. To an extent, President Barack Obama owes his victory to Paine's courage to broach the race issue. Had individuals such as Paine not spoken out about the necessity of equality and freedom for all human beings over two centuries ago, Obama could never have become president. Paine's relevance to current events goes far deeper, though. This relevance can be traced all the way back to those immortal words Paine wrote in The Crisis: "These are times that try men's souls." The Crisis was written during a trying time in America's history. Today, the nation is enduring involvement in multiple unpopular wars and an economic crisis, but through the application of common sense principles, diplomacy, and a can-do optimism tempered with no-nonsense rationalism, its current commander-in-chief is invoking Paine's ideals in order to solve these problems. Thus, Obama is, in a sense, giving credit where credit is due vis-a-vis his handling of latent crises and essentially salvaging Paine's legacy. This is precisely why Paine still matters.