As the 2016 elections enter the general election season, everyone will be anticipating who will be the next president. Before everyone moves onto the next administration, it is imperative to review the current president’s legacy for it will affect the next president’s agenda. While many reflections will be written about President Obama’s tenure in office, a surfeit of these articles will tend to have a political bias in one way or another. Although attempting to discuss President Obama’s 8 years will not be an easy nor concise feat, an attempt at an adumbrated and neutral discussion is provided below.
Promise of a Candidate vs. Actions of a President
Before any discussion is done about the presidential tenure of Obama, readers must first remind themselves of the young senator from Illinois who broke many barriers in his run for the presidency. Senator Obama rose to the presidency on a promise to create a post-partisan utopia that many were yearning for. With voter confidence in government at an all-time low due to the false premises behind the Iraq War, Wall Street malpractices leading to the greatest economic disaster, and partisanship bifurcating the country; Obama appeared to be the savior the country needed. The political mantra of hope and change helped invigorate a public that was all but hopeless. The promise of creating the most transparent administration helped deliver Obama to the presidency. Many saw Obama not as a politician but as a redeemer who would restore the economy, public trust, and American global standing back to where it belonged. To the chagrin of many, the ascendancy of Senator Obama to the presidency did not live up to the hype that was promised. A look at the promises of the candidate versus the actions of the president will allow one to capture the president’s legacy and whether or not he stayed true to his principles.
Domestic Policy
Civil Liberties
Candidate Obama criticized President Bush’s draconian Patriot Act as undermining the civil liberties of all Americans. He promised to provide the effective tools necessary for law enforcement while restoring the Constitutional rights of Americans. As president, Obama not only extended the Patriot Act but also signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The Patriot Act pales in comparison to the NDAA. One of the most chilling aspects of the NDAA is the indefinite detention of American citizens in the US. Not only did President Obama not keep true to his promise, but under his tenure the US has entered a darker period with respect to civil liberties.
Healthcare
One of the most remembered piece of legislations during President Obama’s tenure will be Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The outcome of this law has been mixed. While promising the utmost transparency and claiming that the days of closed-door negotiations were over, President Obama promised he would broadcast the process on C-SPAN. That did not happen, instead insurance lobbyist met with the President’s staff to craft a law in their favor. Later, President Obama acknowledged he did not keep his promise.
While the ACA did bring uninsured people into the system, it also raised costs for others and pushed many out as well. According to a RAND Corp. study, approximately 23 million people gained insurance under the plan while 6 million lost coverage. One of the more beneficial aspects was the requirement to cover those who have pre-existing conditions as well as extending the maximum age for young adults under their parent’s coverage. However, the spirit of the promise was lost by negotiating and essentially allowing lobbyist from the insurance side fashion the law, which naturally they did to their own benefit. One of the most remembered piece of legislation from this administration has not lived to the spirit nor intent of what was promised.
Immigration
As a candidate, Obama promised to provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants as well introduce a comprehensive immigration bill to overhaul the failed immigration policy in the US. Such promises made Obama popular amongst the Hispanic voting bloc. Nevertheless once in office, President Obama not only failed on delivering on these two major promises but also increased deportations of illegal immigrants more so than his predecessor. It is believed that President Obama has deported 2 million immigrants during his tenure. One notable action by President Obama in favor of illegal immigration is the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA). The plan defers actions against illegal immigrants who have children who are either citizens or permanent residents. This plan is currently awaiting a decision by the Supreme Court on its validity.
Foreign Policy
As the Bush tenure was coming to an end, both the American and global public had become weary of American interventionism. This sentiment arose out of the disastrous efforts in Iraq and the neglect towards the Afghan campaign. President Obama ran on the promise that he would mend the West’s relations with the Islamic world, avoid “useless” wars and win the “necessary” ones, “reset” America’s relations with Russia, and defeat terrorism.
Russia
Despite the warm ties between the US and Russia after 9/11, relations soured between the two countries towards the end of the Bush Administration. President Obama working with Secretary Clinton helped retune relations between the two nations in the hope that they could work together to resolve global issues. While Putin continued his autocratic measures in Russia, all was well between the two nations until the US intervention and support for the Ukrainian opposition. This was a great political faux pas. Since that period, the US and Russia have entered a new cold war. Almost in all conflict where their interests collide, the US and Russia find themselves supporting opposing sides. Despite the fail attempt to reset relations with Russia, tensions have become incensed due to the Obama Administration’s support of the opposition in the Ukrainian crisis. Russia will continue to be a thorn to American policymakers around the world in the upcoming decade.
Middle East
Despite dovish promises during his candidacy, President Obama has been more of a hawk in the Middle East than President Bush. There is no doubt that President Bush’s invasion opened Pandora’s Box of terror in the Middle East. While President Bush started the fire in the region, President Obama has doused it with gasoline. Unlike President Bush, the media has not covered President Obama’s adventurism policy in such detail. For whatever reason, the massive amount of protesters that continuously and justifiably heckled President Bush due to his failed policy appears to have disappeared for President Obama. One of the largest failures of President Obama’s tenure is his actions in the Middle East for the most part. Despite promising to rein in the wars, President Obama has inconspicuously expanded on all fronts.
Afghanistan
In Afghanistan, what was considered the “right war”, President Obama attempted to mimic the Iraqi-style surge to no avail. Today the Taliban are stronger than ever and controlling more territory. With Al Qaeda defeated and Osama Bin Laden dead thanks to President Obama, the objectives in Afghanistan is everything but clear. Despite promising to end the war by December of 2014, the US has continued on, making the Afghan campaign the longest war in US history and with no real resolution in the near future aside from withdrawal.
Iraq
Despite what presidential candidates claim now, President Bush had signed the status of agreement (SoFA), which had designated a withdrawal date from Iraq. President Obama attempted to renegotiate the terms of SoFA, but Prime Minister Maliki rejected any attempts of renegotiation. The biggest oversight under President Obama’s watch in Iraq has been ISIS. The neglect of ISIS’ threat has been a failure. Yet, President Obama managed no to hastily react and commit ground troops despite the overwhelming clamor by many to do so. In doing so, he has managed to prevent another quagmire in Iraq. Nevertheless, the future of Iraq appears to be bleak at best.
Syria
Syria will be forever immortalized as President Obama’s foreign policy bête-noire. As the region was caught up in the Arab Spring whirlwind, the Syrian dictatorial regime was another target. Unlike the other despotic regimes that fell, Assad resisted with the backing of Iran and Russia. This resistance led to a long drawn out civil war that is still raging on. In the midst of this civil war, ISIS pounced on the first chance they could to solidify their caliphate.
Syria represents a Great Game within a Great Game. It is the battleground for two proxy wars; a regional war between the Saudis and Iranians as well as the new cold war between the US and Russia. The US’s credibility as well as strategy in Syria is lost and not clear. Obama’s red line ended up being an empty threat and without Russian intervention, the Assad regime might still possess chemical weapons. While President Obama was aligned with neoconservative hawks to initiate an intervention in Syria, the overwhelming response of the public put a pause in his plans. Throughout the fiasco, President Obama has promised not to send in ground troops yet recently 250 ground troops are being sent to help “assist and train” rebels on top of the 50 currently there. Despite basing his initial presidential run against foreign intervention, President Obama has demonstrated he is more of a hawk than his predecessors.
Libya
The conflict in Libya was initially extensively covered but has become forgotten. Another Arab nation that was caught up in the Arab Spring fever received resounding European and American support to help topple the Gaddafi regime. Even though the US and EU were reconciling past differences with Gadaffi’s government, the uprising was the opportunity used by the administration to remove him. While Gaddafi was no pleasant figure, his threat to regional and global peace was non-existent after his rapprochement with the West. Yet utilizing a new strategy, President Obama led from behind and supported European efforts in removing the regime. Even though victory was achieved, it was short-lived. Similar to Iraq and Syria, tribal and local politics created a civil war that is raging on to this day with no resolution in sight. In the midst of this conflict, ISIS has managed to establish territorial holdings as well. Cloaking intervention in the name of humanitarian support, President Obama and Secretary Clinton created a disastrous environment in Libya today than prior to the intervention.
Drones and Guantanamo Bay
While campaigning, President Obama vowed that within his first year of office he would close the notorious detention center that had plagued US image abroad. Entering his final year of his second term, the prison is still open and operating with no closure date. While the numbers of detainees have been reduced, many in the prison have yet to know their fate. Recent reports have outlined that many imprisoned were captured by local militias in almost dubious circumstances and are innocent. As President Obama brings his tenure to an end, many will wonder if this will be another unfulfilled campaign promise.
A weapon occasionally employed by President Bush but fully embraced by President Obama, the drone program has become a lynchpin of Obama’s terrorism strategy even though it was intended to be a supplementary weapon to other tactics. Even though the program has been relatively inconspicuous, it has appeared that President Obama has geared the nation towards more autonomous forms of warfare. Aside from the ethical and moral questions involved in such a paradigm shift, the disproportionate killing of civilians by the drone strikes have created more terrorists than it has eliminated, rendering the program impractical. It is reported that 90% of those killed in these strikes tend to be civilians. Despite winning a Nobel Peace Prize and championing human rights, President Obama has done more to harm human rights than benefit it.
Economics
Based on what is published by government data and displayed by the stock market, one would think that the US is in a boom cycle yet economic sentiment resonates otherwise. The stock market is nearing an all-time high once again, the unemployment numbers are low, the US still appears to be relatively the most secure place to invest, so what is wrong? While the economic woes that still exist cannot solely be blamed on President Obama who inherited a near collapsing economy, his Keynesian approach has further enflamed the potential for failure. When President Bush came into office, he was about to endure the dotcom bubble that was due to occur as a result of the booming economy during Clinton’s administration. Knowing that it would be political catastrophe, President Bush and Alan Greenspan orchestrated the diversion of the bubble to the housing market. Even though 9/11 brought the markets down, the beginning of the housing boom by the government’s artificial intervention into that sector allowed for a new boom to enrich many. As President Bush’s term came to a near, so did the housing boom, which bubbled in his last year of office. As President Obama came into office, he had two choices; either let the bubble pop and discharge all foul economic players from the market, which would have led to a major recession if not depression, or intervene to put a bandage on the bubble to only grow worse and result in an economic crisis later. Allowing politics to come first, President Obama did what all Presidents have done and chose the latter.
In reality, the stock market has been buoyed up by government intervention via quantitative easing, interest rate reduction, etc., not actual market forces. The unemployment numbers do not reflect the actual number of those unemployed. Instead, the government’s statisticians are using numbers to mislead the public. They do not account for those who have stopped looking for work due to their inability to secure a job, but even worse many that have found a less paying job than a previous professional job are also considered employed. Many college graduates have gone from high paying professional jobs to lower paying jobs, yet this shift in the economy is not captured. In addition, a new study has found that more than half the country is on government assistance in one form or another. Despite the great and positive government data reflecting a strong economy, in reality, the fundamentals of the economy appear to be on the brink of another recession.
Conclusion
Although the legacy of any president cannot be captured in an article, the major issues of President’s Obama tenure have been discussed. While a candidate can never live up to all the promises they state during a campaign for a myriad of reasons, the principles they claim to guide them should always remain consistent. In this sense, President Obama has been inconsistent to the guiding principles he claimed to adhere to as a candidate compared to his actions as a president.