Was Obama a good President? Rate the Obama presidency

[Calthrina950]

It amazes me how some of the far-left posters on this forum consider Obama to be as bad as Trump. These posters probably want a President who is a full-blown socialist, or at least a "democratic socialist" like Bernie Sanders.

They don't have any allies because they hate everything that doesn't exactly conform to them.

They're totally detached from society. In the real world, you often have to interact with people who only agree with you 70 or 80% of the time.

This is part of the reason why I identify as an independent, because I despise ideological extremists/purists on both sides of the ideological spectrum. Former President Obama made mistakes, and he could have gone farther in some respects, but overall, he did more good than harm.

[ηєω ƒяσηтιєя]

Domestic Policy: B+

Economy: A
Trade: B
Crime: A-
Immigration: B
Race Relations: A
Environment: B
Healthcare: B
LGBT rights: A

Foreign Policy: B+

Afghanistan: C
Cuba: B
China: B
Iran: B
Syria: C
Libya: B-
Iraq: C
North Korea: B
Russia: B

Overall: B+ (because much of the rest of the world is left out of the grading).

[darklordoftech]

Best President since Ford.

[Deportarian]

F

[PSOL]

Domestic Policy: B, should have pushed for more when he had the political capital. The + is for legislation barring micro beads this year

Economy: B-
Trade: A, should have been more upfront with the deals though
Crime: A+, the joint revenue is speaking for itself
Immigration: A-
Race Relations: A
Environment: B-, his lack of action with Standing Rock and him trying to open the Alaskan parks was a blemish
Healthcare: B
LGBT rights: A
Civil Liberties:C-
Foreign Policy: C
Israel: D-, he got progressively better over the years
Saudis:C+, I loved that he grilled them by cutting of weapon sales in Yemen
Afghanistan: C
Cuba: A
China: B, only because the TPP doesn’t survive now
Iran: A+
Syria: F-, shouldn’t have got involved further than sanctions
Libya: F-, see above
Iraq: C-, would’ve been an A if the Syrian spillover didn’t happen
North Korea: A
Russia: B

Overall: C+ Better then Trump or his predecessors in the last 50ish years

[Statilius the Epicurean]

Getting Republicans elected: A+

[ProudModerate2]

Overall = B+

[JGibson]

Domestic Policy: A-

Economy: B-
Trade: C+
Crime: C+
Immigration: B+
Race Relations: B-
Environment: B
Healthcare: A-
Guns: A+
Reproductive Rights: A+
LGBTQ: A+
Civil Liberties: B-
Press Freedom: A-


Foreign Policy: B+

Afghanistan: C-
Cuba: A
China: B+
Iran: A+
Syria: C-
Libya: C-
Iraq: B-
North Korea: B+
Russia: B+
Venezuela: C
Israel: A-
Saudi Arabia: A-
Yemen: INC

Overall: A-

[136or142]

Getting Republicans elected: A+

You've left nothing higher for Trump in terms of getting Democrats elected.  This was why, for instance, back in the day figure skating judges rarely gave 6.0s to the first skaters.

[Progressive Pessimist]

I'll give him a B.

[C r a b c a k e]

My opinion of him - both his personality and his presidency - has plummeted immensely since the 2016 election, and it was never massively high to begin with. A lot of things I wrote off as either smears or a curious character quirk (like the obsession with legacy, the fawning of celebrities and Hollywood that has so deeply sickened the Democratic Party, the plastic, almost two-faced nature) strike me as deeply sickening in retrospect. I actually believed in Obama, at one point. I thought he cared, but was degraded over time by Washington and the dreadful nihilists of the Republican Party. I have since disillusioned myself: Obama is - and always has been - a lying, unscrupulous and ideology-free grifter who shamelessly used the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement and the righteous anger of the American people that erupted during the Bush administration for his own ends. maybe not the worst individual to occupy the White House (which is testament to the vile rogues gallery that have occupied that office - Nixon, the Bushes, Jackson, both Johnsons, Reagan, Wilson, Trump) but certainly no role model.

[Calthrina950]

My opinion of him - both his personality and his presidency - has plummeted immensely since the 2016 election, and it was never immensely high to begin with. A lot of things I wrote off as either smears or a curious character quirk (like the obsession with legacy, the fawning of celebrities and Hollywood that has so deeply sickened the Democratic Party, the plastic, almost two-faced nature) strike me as deeply sickening in retrospect. I actually believed in Obama, at one point. I thought he cared, but was degraded over time by Washington and the dreadful nihilists of the Republican Party. I have since disillusioned myself: Obama is - and always has been - a lying, unscrupulous and ideology-free grifter who shamelessly used the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement and the righteous anger of the American people that erupted during the Bush administration for his own ends. maybe not the worst individual to occupy the White House (which is testament to the vile rogues gallery that have occupied that office - Nixon, the Bushes, Jackson, both Johnsons, Reagan, Wilson, Trump) but certainly no role model.

While I am not sure if I would use some of the same language to describe Obama, I do agree with you that his obsession over his legacy, and his ties with the Hollywood celebrities, as well as with the media, were shameful and should have been left out.

[Technocracy Timmy]

It amazes me how some of the far-left posters on this forum consider Obama to be as bad as Trump. These posters probably want a President who is a full-blown socialist, or at least a "democratic socialist" like Bernie Sanders.

They don't have any allies because they hate everything that doesn't exactly conform to them.

They're totally detached from society. In the real world, you often have to interact with people who only agree with you 70 or 80% of the time.

The 2030 atlas Socialist Left would give President Bernie Sanders an F for not being left wing enough.

[Mr. Smith]

Again I will try to be as fair as possible

Domestic Policy:

Economy: B-
Infrastructure: F
Trade: D
Crime: C
Immigration: B
Race Relations: A-
Environment: C+
Healthcare: D

Domestic: C-

Afghanistan: C
Cuba: A
China: B-
Iran: A
Syria: D-
Libya: F
Iraq: C+
North Korea: B
Russia: B-

Foreign: B+

Overall: C

Carter was better.

[Ban my account ffs!]

It's sad but Carter and W are the two living former presidents I feel I could best get along with.  Clinton is super intelligent but too self absorbed and Obama would just be fake and glossy.

To wit:  Carter for an intelligent, fruitful conversation.  W for a genuine laugh and a good time.

[136or142]

It's sad but Carter and W are the two living former presidents I feel I could best get along with.  Clinton is super intelligent but too self absorbed and Obama would just be fake and glossy.

To wit:  Carter for an intelligent, fruitful conversation.  W for a genuine laugh and a good time.

The global warming deniers you fall for are fake and glossy.

[here2view]

Domestic Policy: A-

Economy: A-
Trade: C+
Crime: C+
Immigration: A-
Race Relations: F (not completely his fault but it fell apart during his Presidency)
Environment: A-
Healthcare: B+
LGBT Rights: A

Foreign Policy: C+

Afghanistan: B-
Cuba: A-
China: C
Iran: B
Syria: D-
Libya: F
Iraq: C+
North Korea: C
Russia: D-

Overall: B

[Landslide Lyndon]

Race Relations: F (not completely his fault but it fell apart during his Presidency)

Actually it was totally his fault. He had the nerve to be president while black.

[Santander]

Race Relations: F (not completely his fault but it fell apart during his Presidency)

Actually it was totally his fault. He had the nerve to be president while black.

This, but unironically.

[BlueSwan]

Some pure nonsense about the economy in this thread.

The fact is that the US economy recovered MUCH faster than the European economy. The main reason why is that the US actually followed Keynesian principles and passed huge stimulus packages, while Europe started along the same path, but very very quickly reversed to "austerity" principles, which halted growth.

Basically, European and US GDP fell by about the same relative amount initially, but whereas as US regained the lost GDP by 2011, it took Europe all the way until 2016 to regain the same. That's FIVE years of growth lost for Europe in comparison with the US.

So Obama should be given praise for how the economy was handled and in truth we are still effectively in the Obama economy, despite Trumps efforts to derail it.

Another thing that Obama deserves credit for is improving overall foreign relations, especially with US allies. Americans probably don't realize that Obama was immensely popular amongst allied nations, particularly in Europe. He was a rockstar here and not like a Justin Bieber type rockstar, but more like The Beatles. Everybody, outside of a few on the conservative fringe, loved him. That kind of stuff provides a lot of goodwill for the US, which improves international security and benefits US export industries. This goodwill has been thoroughly wasted under Trump. Opinions of the US have probably never been worse in Europe than right now.

Obama was a VERY good president. He probably falls short of true greatness due to his unwillingness to get down and dirty in the Washington power-game, but he was certainly very good.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Some pure nonsense about the economy in this thread.

The fact is that the US economy recovered MUCH faster than the European economy. The main reason why is that the US actually followed Keynesian principles and passed huge stimulus packages, while Europe started along the same path, but very very quickly reversed to "austerity" principles, which halted growth.

Basically, European and US GDP fell by about the same relative amount initially, but whereas as US regained the lost GDP by 2011, it took Europe all the way until 2016 to regain the same. That's FIVE years of growth lost for Europe in comparison with the US.

So Obama should be given praise for how the economy was handled and in truth we are still effectively in the Obama economy, despite Trumps efforts to derail it.

The alt-left doesn't care. As long as he didn't nationalize the means of production, he is worse than Hitler for them. 

[dw93]

Domestic Policy: B

Economy: B
Trade: D+
Crime: C-
Immigration: C+
Race Relations: F (not at all his fault but it fell apart during his Presidency)
Environment: A-
Healthcare: C+
LGBT Rights: B+ (Crazy Uncle Joe was the one that pushed him in the right direction here)

Foreign Policy: C-

Afghanistan: D
Cuba: A+
China: C
Iran: B+
Syria: F
Libya: F
Iraq: C-
North Korea: C-
Russia: D

Overall Policy Grade: B- or C+, take your pick.

Party Leadership: F. People forget just how damaged the GOP was, both structurally and as a brand at the end of the Bush/Cheney debacle. Over the course of Obama's 8 years, starting with the 2010 midterms, we saw the GOP at the Congressional, state, and local level become the strongest it has been since the 1920's and we saw Donald Trump of all people get elected President after all was said and done. All the resources of the DNC in Obama's first term went to getting him re elected, and then in his Second Term it all went to getting Hillary Nominated/elected and we all know how that worked. Obama, when it comes to party leadership, was by far the worst President since at least Gerald Ford, if not Herbert Hoover, and yes I do think Carter and Clinton left the Democratic party in better shape than Obama did, and Clinton in some respects left it better than he found it.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Some pure nonsense about the economy in this thread.

The fact is that the US economy recovered MUCH faster than the European economy. The main reason why is that the US actually followed Keynesian principles and passed huge stimulus packages, while Europe started along the same path, but very very quickly reversed to "austerity" principles, which halted growth.

Basically, European and US GDP fell by about the same relative amount initially, but whereas as US regained the lost GDP by 2011, it took Europe all the way until 2016 to regain the same. That's FIVE years of growth lost for Europe in comparison with the US.

So Obama should be given praise for how the economy was handled and in truth we are still effectively in the Obama economy, despite Trumps efforts to derail it.

The alt-left doesn't care. As long as he didn't nationalize the means of production, he is worse than Hitler for them. 

What is this puerile trolling?

[Landslide Lyndon]

What is this puerile trolling?

You mean this?

Domestic Policy: F

Economy: D+ (Can we please stop acting like it's normal to have a "jobless recovery" spanning most of a decade and admit that the Obama economy sucked?)
Trade: F (Really helped move swing voters by focusing on TPP though!)
Crime: C- (The homicide rate isn't any lower than it was 15 years ago, and increased during his second term.)
Immigration: F (One of those issues that most people stopped caring about because they had a president who made them feel good about themselves. Exposed DREAMers to Trump-era deportation because of executive overreach. Did nothing to resolve legal status of most migrants living in the United States.)
Race Relations: F (For the rank stupidity of the beer summit alone. Remember when he threw his pastor under the bus over an out-of-context quote, but liberals liked it because he also implied that his grandmother was a bit racist? Telling character moment.)
Environment: F (Spare us the prattling about "benchmarks." We're facing down a global catastrophe and he did virtually nothing to prepare us for it.)
Healthcare: F--

• "If you like your plan, you can keep it!"
• "Hillary Clinton's attacking, but what's she not telling you about her health care plan? It forces everyone to buy insurance, even if you can't afford it, and you pay a penalty if you don't."
• "I will sign a universal health care bill into law by the end of my first term as president that will cover every American and cut the cost of a typical family's premium by up to $2,500 a year."
• Great to leave office with the phrase "mid-life mortality crisis" in the headlines, isn't it?

Foreign Policy: F

Cuba: A- (A rare bright spot that Trump hasn't reversed - yet, at least.)
China: F ("The pivot!")
Iran: C+ (The nuclear deal was good, but died when he left office. Increased sanctions, not so much.)
North Korea: D- (Gradual deterioration?)
Russia: B (This one is on a curve. He wasn't trying to start a war with them or falling for obvious manipulation.)
Iraq: F- (Imagine telling yourself 10 years ago that we'd have 5,000 troops in that country today.)
Afghanistan: F (Imagine telling yourself 10 years ago that we'd have over 15,000 troops in that country today.)
Syria: F- (Oh God...)
Libya: F- (Oh God...)
Yemen: F- (Oh God...)

Overall: F

[|˶˙ᵕ˙ )ﾉﾞ]

Obama was the epitome of weak, ham-handed, lead from behind leadership. He's basically the absentee father of the Democratic Party. If I could rate him...I'd give him a D