Though there were many times that I felt he did not do enough; I am proud to say I voted for him twice and believe he was head and shoulders above any competitor.
And intelligence. Represented us well. A politician who broke through my cynicism. I think he is in this for noble reasons.
And you don't have to turn your head very far to the right before you find the reason that he didn't get more accomplished. Just look in the Federal Day Care sometimes known as Congress. What a waste of tax payers money. He had a lot of angry eyes watching him all 8 years, and he was up to the challenge. That is probably why they didn't like him. He made them all look like little babies.
It's depressing to imagine what could have been accomplished had the opposition not behaved like a bunch of spoiled children whose idea of compromise is "give me everything I want, and your ideas can pound sand".
I really like Obama and voted for him twice. He strikes me as a highly intelligent and principled man who is very confident and comfortable in his own skin. However, I think his principles and ideals led to his being a not very effective president. While we can admire him for standing his ground on many issues, I think history will remember him as the first black president but, sadly, not much more. But in the near term he will be missed, I have no doubt about that.
I think history will view him very well. Start with averting a second Great Depression. It's easy now to think that was inevitable, but it was NOT a gimme.
I've heard this sentiment expressed many times, but I really don't see it. I think he did as much as any Democratic president could possibly do. Why do I say 'Democratic'? Because when you come right down to it, modern Republicans are *not* willing to give their opponents one iota of support. Lest we forget, they were talking excitedly about taking Obama down BEFORE HE EVER EVEN TOOK OFFICE. And by the way, they were blaming HIM for the market crash too, again BEFORE HE TOOK OFFICE. If that isn't obstructionism that's impossible to reason with, I dunno what is. FWIW, Democrats rallied in support of Reagan and even Bush II in large numbers. They're willing to get behind someone, at least enough to give them a chance to try. Republicans? Not so much. So in my view Obama did an amazing job. I doubt any modern Democrat could've done better, and I fear someone else (Clinton perhaps) might do a damned sight worse under Republican obstructionism—paving the way for the next Donald Trump to be president.
I hear ya, but I think history will credit Ben Bernanke with saving the economy, not Obama. And justifiably so in my opinion.
I agree with you to a point. However, I recall early in Obama's presidency some key political insiders such as David Gergen being baffled by his unwillingness to work with Nancy Pelosi and Congress. I think I remember it being said he had spoken to Pelosi only twice in his first nine months as president. Obama set the tone early on that he felt he get get things done without having to work too closely with Congress and boy did the Republicans challenge him on that when they took over the House. The Republicans weren't easy to work with (to say the least),but he didn't try very hard either. The result was a pretty ineffective presidency in my opinion.
I have to disagree. For starters, I think Bernanke will be viewed as having a mixed record at best, for not foreseeing the coming crisis to begin with, if nothing else. That was part of his job. Second, steps were taken to save the economy that had nothing to do with the Fed or banks in general.
Sure, it's definitely fair to lay some blame for the financial crisis at the feet of the Fed. But, to their credit, they almost singlehandedly took the right steps to correct the situation, thanks in large part to Bernanke's being a student of the Great Depression. He knew what to do (and not to do) and successfully avoided a total collapse of the financial system, which will certainly be remembered. Most notably, he took some creative and controversial steps to stave off a total collapse, and they worked. History remembers risk-taking and courage and will study the Fed's response for a long time to come. What Obama/Congress did was alleviate some of the symptoms of the financial crisis through some questionably effective stimulus bills (the most effective related to increased unemployment benefits as it turns out). Those of us who lived through the crisis remember that, but I'm not sure history will look to those things as what saved the financial system from imminent collapse. I do think Obama deserves some credit for leading the country during the crisis, but I'm not sure history will remember him as being the key figure in the recovery.
I think history will remember the Fed and Bernanke as doing the right thing when finally forced to and judge them rather harshly for not seeing the train wreck coming. And I think it will remember Obama as the guy who continued the Fed policies that worked, and added more of his own, leading to the strongest recovery of all comparable nations (don't forget it wasn't just the US economy that collapsed), as well as staving off calls for austerity that other nations tried to their later chagrin.
I haven't heard any similar stories (not saying they're not out there, I just haven't come across them). If true, that's *definitely* a big strike against him. p.s. Speaking of such issues, can you imagine a Trump administration? I don't think we've ever seen BOTH sides of congress (and at least one member of the supreme court!) actively working to thwart the president. It could get ugly!
The scary part of that statement is the line about a Supreme Court Justice. They need to stay out of this from a political perspective. And, trust me, I in no way in **** want Trump in the White House even to visit!
