President Obama left office in January 2017 but has maintained significant influence over the Democratic Party since then. With another critical Presidential election imminent, let me correctly assess his 8-year Presidency, highlighted as follows:
- Overall, was he a good President? No!
- Have both his immediate predecessor and successor made him look better? Yes!
- History will not be kind to him (nor to GWB)!
Now, let me break it down into the good, the bad, and the ugly …
1. President Obama: the good
Obamacare!
I believe basic healthcare is not only a human right but also a national economic issue. Note that I emphasize “basic healthcare,” which is a safety net rather than a robust coverage of everything for everybody. One main reason: in a free society like ours, we revere all forms of freedom, including alcoholism and obesity. But nobody should pay for your illness, as a result of your personal choices!
Having healthcare coverage for all Americans is a good idea. President Obama finally made it happen – a good thing!
As an Independent, I was initially critical of Obamacare. However, after it became law, I accepted it for one simple reason: overturning it without a better replacement would be hugely chaotic, at least, and it takes time to develop a better replacement.
Very importantly, Chief Justice John Roberts twice had a chance to overturn Obamacare but chose not to—he got this one right for America!
2. President Obama: the bad
Obamacare!
It is hard to make a huge program like Obamacare work without reforming our overall system, from the pharmaceutical industry to the hospital system (60 Minutes: How a hospital system grew to gain market power and drove up California healthcare costs) at the same time, which President Obama did not do. As a result, Obamacare became just yet another huge giveaway, taxing Mary to subsidize John.
Two big problems initially:
- The “individual mandate” was just too expensive for some.
- There are too many exemptions, including Congress and Congressional staff.
Bottom line: Congress must pass no law that does not apply to itself. For more, read What Democrats Can Learn From Obamacare, According To Barack Obama.
3. President Obama: the ugly
In his exit interview with George Stephanopoulos, President Obama recalled that the most difficult decision he made throughout his presidency was sending ” 30,000 troops to Afghanistan.”
Why was that decision so difficult for him? Only he knows. However, many signs indicated that he recklessly did it primarily for his 2012 re-election bid. For more, read For Obama the Road to Reelection Runs through Kabul.
Worse yet, he also recklessly “ended” the Iraq War by withdrawing all American troops from Iraq by December 2011, just in time for his 2012 re-election bid. As a result, Iraq became chaotic, and he had to re-launch the war in 2014.
Worse still, his 2009 speech in Cairo decisively incited the Arab Spring, which brought the Mideast into total chaos.
In other words, President Obama blindly and recklessly (yes, by force sometimes) exported democracy, which does not even work at home!
Another example: A Coup Or A Revolution? The U.S. Ambassador To Ukraine Explains.
The truth: The Obama regime was behind the coup that overthrew the democratically-elected government in Ukraine in 2014, which eventually led to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022!
4. It is the political system, stupid!
Simply put, President Obama was just yet another false “savior” of our failing political system. Two examples:
- Getting re-elected ad nauseam! For President Obama, everything was used as a tool for his 2012 re-election bid, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
- President Obama was simply too young and too inexperienced for the top job in the nation.
Yes, President Obama was the epitome of our failing political system, which seems able to endlessly turn good people into bad ones. For example, in 2006, Senator Obama correctly voted against raising the debt ceiling to $9 trillion, which he labeled “unpatriotic.” But under President Obama, our national debt ballooned to well over $19 trillion.
Older and wiser after eight years in office but still very young, what has former President Obama been doing after leaving office (and for the rest of his life)?
Follow the footsteps of former President Bill Clinton and out-Clinton Clinton in two major ways at least:
- Become fabulously wealthy by selling his influence (Bill Clinton raked in $100M in speeches over last decade).
- Remain a top politician for the Democratic Party instead of selflessly maturing into an above-partisan statesman for the country!
The new political mantra in America seems to be “Ask not what you can do for your country, ask what your country can do for you.”
5. Discussion
Two grand perspectives define President Obama’s legacy:
- Internationally – America’s global standing: he utterly failed in this regard! For example, His entire Mideast policy was a total disaster not only for the region (Map shows where President Barack Obama dropped his 20,000 bombs) but also for Europe (yes, Ukraine now) and America.
- Domestically – There would have been no President Trump without President Obama!
Now, let us discuss President Obama’s other major accomplishments or lack thereof.
- Saving the economy in 2009. President George W. Bush was a total disaster. Anybody reasonably intelligent could have done at least as well as what President Obama did with the economy, especially with excessive spending.
- Killing Osama bin Laden: Again, anybody reasonably intelligent could have done what President Obama had done.
- Barack Obama knew how to win elections but not how to govern!
In summary, President Obama was just yet another American President who, throughout his Presidency, damaged America more than all of America’s enemies had done combined!
6. Closing
Time is the best judge for everything, including American Presidents. But the sooner we can do it for President Obama, the better for America!
For more, read History 2.0 – China’s Comeback vs. America’s Decline.
