The Striking Obama Record

One year after the election, President Obama has not: ended world hunger, brought about perpetual peace, banished unemployment, abolished crime, or even managed to prevent snowstorms and floods from occurring.

What he has merely done, however, is to: prevent a new Great Depression from occurring by rescuing the banking system and Wall Street, partly by backing a stimulus plan that his conservative opponents denounced as the beginning of socialism; ensure that Congress will pass a comprehensive health-care will be passed that his conservative opponents are depicting as full-blown socialism; preside over the beginning of the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq; push for a global warming bill; and, along the way, be everything that George W. Bush was not.

No, no, no, cry Obama's biggest detractors -- on the left. Not good enough. Bad Obama. We want more. Obama is too passive. He doesn't understand Washington. He's getting rolled. And so forth.

Don't believe a word of it.

This is no time for buyer's remorse when it comes to Obama. Compare Obama to John F. Kennedy and his record starts to look pretty good. For one thing, he's avoided disaster. He hasn't launched into a Bay of Pigs. Nor has he been taken to the cleaners by any foreign leaders. Instead, Obama is carefully thinking over the consequences of America's involvement in Afghanistan. Obama, like Kennedy, is a young president, which means that he's learning on the job.

Sure, Obama may be idealistic and underestimate partisanship in Congress. But it was a shrewd maneuver on his part to let the conservatives blow off steam in August. Now Obama has the momentum and is on the verge of getting a health-care bill. Anyway, is idealism such a bad quality in a president? It's carried Obama all the way to the presidency and may well allow him to chalk up some real accomplishments in foreign policy.

One thing is clear: anyone looking for Obama to become a new version of George W. Bush, blasting away at the opposition is going to be disappointed. After Obama has been in office for four years, however, I bet his actual record will not provide much grounds for disappointment. One year later, Obama doesn't deserve brickbats, but plaudits. Bravo, Mr. President!

So, one year after the election, what do you think Candidate Obama would think of President Obama? Tweet your response (our Twitter hashtag is #OneYearLater), or post it in the comments section.

 

Comments

[lobear00]

This presidency is not Mr. Obama's, the presidency is still george w bush's. Mr. Obama has chosen to stay and walk in the shoes of george bush.
Mr. Obama has chosen not to change anything relating to crimes committed by the previous dictatorship, the so-called justice department is still under the gripes of bush, along with the attorney general who has decided to reluctantly not do his job, but look the other way . Not a thing has changed except people are once again misled.

Mr. Obama you talk a good game of change! by word of your mouth you could command change and get away from the bush/cheney policies but you chose not to do that. People in the government of this nation are to corrupt, not all but a good majority.

[Mikyung Lim]

I agree with you, Mr. Heilbrunn.

Idealism is a necessary, important quality for a leader. President should have vision, idealism, and good judgements / decision making skills and management skills of his staffs, Congress, and people to work on the details of carrying on the agendas, specific policies to fulfill his vision, idealism.

I call it as "Eagle's Vision". I wrote about this Eagle's Vision.

http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2009/10/obamas_nobel_peace_prize_anyth.html

[Scott Petiya]

Obama certainly stands far above Bush in competence. But his record isn't really 'striking' yet. His supporters voted for him to do big things, and he hasn't completed a major legislative accomplishment that will be long remembered. As difficult as it's been in the first year, it tends to get more difficult later. Once health care is complete--and it better not slide into 2010--he'll have to focus on the economy and nothing else (messagewise, at least) for the whole year.

[Leatherhelmet]

The disasters will be health care reform and cap and trade and the mismanagement of the Afghanistan War.

[wearyvoter]

When Bush took office in 2001, he was handed the keys to a metaphorical sedan in reasonably good repair. When he left office last January, he handed over the keys to a car that had been wrapped around a tree and run over by two semis, leaving the new administration to make repairs with a House and a Senate that are the equivalent to a rusty allen wrench, bubble gum, and a box of dried out bandaids. It's going to take some major MacGyvering to get things back on track.

[abbyrose86]

GREAT analogy! Fantastic.

[Scott Petiya]

yup, that's about the size of it.

[Imago]

Oh, THANK YOU!!!!!

[anthonyve]

Hear! Hear!
For months I have been arguing in these forums for patience and a reality check when assessing the President's first (so far) 10 WHOLE MONTHS in office.
He inherited the worst mess that any president has in living memory. He has plotted a cautious path through the minefield and things are moving steadily in the right direction.
Despite the huge economic and international relations messes he was handed, he has come closer to achieving health care reform than any other president, ever.
I stand by my prediction that in seven years time, objective, fair minded people will be mourning the end of a truly great presidency.

[ahumbleopinion]

This is a marathon, not a sprint - keep moving, pace yourself and keep the goal in sight. President Obama can't do it by himself. If there is something important you want him to accomplish, grab a mop and get to work!

[Inquisitr]

You want me to compare OBama to JFK?

JFK stood up and announced we were going to the moon when he had no idea if it could actually be done..

Obama has begged the republicans to play nice.

Thus ends the comparison.

[rertmr]

That's ridiculous. JFK was also obsessed with Castro and nearly destroyed his presidency trying to get rid of him. He was also lucky to have avoided a major scandal related to his womanizing. He was operating in the wake of the Eisenhower administration, not the W. administration, which is a huge difference. Now, if Obama suggested we send all Republicans to the moon to live by the end of the decade, I would be all for it.

[dzuh]

I don't recall Obama ever "begging" the Republicans to do anything. If anything, the president has shown remarkable patience and maturity in dealing with a GOP that has become a bunch of whiny, spoiled little babies who don't even know what they want, but throw temper tantrums whenever they don't get it.

[BartRoberts]

Until 2005 I WAS a republican, and I don't expect Obama to be able to clean up all the 5h!+ Duh-byah left behind in a year's time.

Bush had eight years to wreck the economy and destabilize the world. It will take AT LEAST as long to clean up Bush's mess, and it's a task Obama's successors will probably have to finish.

Even honest conservatives will tell you that if anyone's to blame for the sorry state of affairs the world is in, it's Duh-byah.

[MFS001]

Thank you. Sometimes in this world of 24-hour news cycles -- where everything must be exaggerated and debated -- we lose the forest for the trees. And it's good to get a little historical perspective and realize that, in the past, people ran around with their heads cut off, perpetually reacting to things in a vacuum. A month ago, I was in Kansas City and visited the Truman Presidental Library. As I walked through the exhibits, I noticed how things haven't changed: There was a newspaper article quoting a Republican Senator, claiming the reason there was a meat shortgage was that Truman was siding with the far-left; then there was a picket sign, telling veterans "We fought tyranny overseas, now it's time to fight tyranny at home." AND SO IT GOES -- at any given time, some peopole will be happy, and most others will be upset because the world doesn't revolve around them.

[ellbit1]

"preside over the beginning of the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq" When did this start happening? Don't count your chickens before they hatch...

[FearlessFreep]

Who's making a premature judgement now? I'll believe the US is leaving Iraq when it's actually out.

[MrOctober]

Compared to Kennedy - who is entirely overrated as a president because of his name. Kennedy - the guy who started escalating the Viet Nam war, but somehow is blameless because of devoted fanatical following. And while Kenedy escalated troop levels in Viet Nam, his supporters say he secretly wanted to end the escalation. I suppose like Obama secretly wants to withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan and close Gitmo.

And if you are going to give credit to Obama for saving Wall Street, you have to give credit to Bush/Paulson who started the process. Rememeber the TARP bill from Bush, that Obama was in favor of?

[realpolitic]

Yes, this health reform bill is a massive bill, but perhaps his agenda will pick up speed once this historical bill passes, Overall, I think President Obama is doing a great job. We finally have a competent, inspired government again.

[lamberton]

The critics of the President bring to mind Secretary Clinton's joke that if Obama walked on water his critics would complain he couldn't swim. In his first nine months he has averted another Depression.. This accomplishment alone would be enough, in my opinion, to rank him above the average US President in positive contribution. He is on the verge of achieving the most substantial healthcare reform in more than 40 years. He has turned around perception of the US, particularly in the Islamic world. He has not made any major strategic mistakes, IMHO, and has a lot of promising initiatives going forward.

I would take this first year track record any time, from any President, of either party.