With Donald Trump’s inauguration looming, the Obama Whitehouse era is drawing to a close leaving many Americans with mixed sentiments.
So, what can be made of Obama’s eight year tenure?
- Surviving the worst economic period since The Great Depression
Whilst a significant criticism of the Obama administration has been his inability to get things done and make “change happen”, it must be acknowledged that the 43rd President had to overcome the worst period of economic crisis since the Great Depression.
Sluggish economic performance impeded the progression of his agenda significantly, and legislative activities were often held ransom as cross-party negotiations over tackling the debt-ceiling crisis failed to make progress.
Nevertheless, as Obama was clear to assert in his final state of the union address, he had resided over the longest period of job growth in the nation’s history, lowering the unemployment rate by 5 percent.
2. Securing a fragile foundation for Healthcare
Despite frequently being referred to as the most developed nation on the earth, the healthcare system in the United States continues to pose problems.
Obama made key strides in securing the passage of the ‘The Affordable Care Act’, which is often referred to as ‘Obamacare’, and by liberals, is considered one of his greatest political achievements having provided health insurance for around 20 million Americans. However, the act remains flawed. Various concessions made in order to pass the legislation meant that the Act is not as comprehensive as the administration had envisaged. In addition, critics have argued that the provision has been an over extension of executive power and has in fact made Healthcare more expensive. These precarious foundations means the act is a fragile achievement at best and vulnerable to overturning by his opponents.
Ultimately, ‘Obamacare’ remains unpopular amongst conservative and the majority Republican party, with Senate Majority Speaker Mitch McDonnell pledging to repeal the Act after Obama leaves office.
3. Fear over Hope
Perhaps Obama’s greatest failure may have been his inability to convince the American people of his progressive call for ‘Hope’, as evidenced by the election of Donald Trump and the resonance of the rhetoric of fear and ultimately the rise of populist sentiment.
In 2008, Obama broke barriers when he became the first African-American President in the nations history. However, racial tensions remain fragile amidst a rise in several shootings and incidences of racial violence outbreaking in recent years.
In addition, increased security fears following the rise of ISIS have led many to question Obama’s foreign policy endeavours interpreting his restraint as weakness. This was something capitalised upon by Trump’s campaign, as he pledged continuously to restore American prestige and “Make America Great Again”.
Mr Trump has frequently cited that he aims to repeal the ‘disastrous’ Obamacare, calling Obama’s key policy achievement into jeopardy and thus ultimately many of his legislative legacies. Following a primary transitional meeting between the President-elect and his predecessor, Mr Trump did praise him as “a very good man”, and said he would seek his counsel on issues in the future. It remains to be seen however, whether Trump will pledge to unravel the progress of the previous presidency.
4. Reversing the ‘Lame Duck’ tradition
The final half of a president’s second term is deemed the least powerful, due to the constitutional two term restriction, and often leads many to refer to this as the “lame duck” phenomenon. Similarly, during the transitional period until the inauguration of the new president, presidential power is also deemed to be limited as foreign heads of states look towards the new administration for direction.
However, Obama’s utilisation of “Executive Orders”, which do not need congressional approval has meant that thus far he has bucked such a trend.
In a bid to protect his legacy, Obama has issued various Executive Orders in order to ensure the safeguarding of many of his legislative priorities. For instance, most recently, an Executive Order was used to protect federal workers contracts and their rights, amid concerns over a Trump reversal.
However despite accusations to the contrary, research conducted by think-tank PewResearch concluded, that he averaged less Executive Order’s than any President since Cleveland.
President-elect Donald Trump is set to be inaugurated this Friday in Washington D.C.