On a personal level, I would say Obama is easily the greatest US president of my lifetime. He is charismatic, presidential, dignified and thoughtful. He seems to effortlessly combine casualness and humor with dignity and the gravity of the office he holds. His personal life while in office has been exemplary and scandal free. As such, he has been a public figure that has caused many around the world to envy America and say to themselves "I wish my country had a leader like that I could respect as a person". Simply by virtue of being such a presidential person, he regained a huge level of international respect for America, and the office of its president.
Policy-wise so many things have happened in Obama's presidency, many of which he had limited control over due to the nature of a divided US government, that it is not easy to assess him. However, a few policy failings stand out starkly as massive moral failures on his part.
1. His infamous statement "We need to look forward as opposed to looking backward" became symbolic of his refusal to investigate or punish any of the serious crimes done by the wealthy and the powerful during the previous administration - torture, war crimes, economic fraud that collapsed the economy - were all swept under the rug and overlooked. This sent a clear message to those in power that they could commit the most severe crimes and get away with it.
2. Similarly after making great promises of "transparency", his administration went all-out in its prosecution of whistle-blowers, and even made a habit of using the Espionage Act against whistle-blowers who leaked to journalists, prosecuting more such people under that Act than had been prosecuted under it in the previous 80 years combined.
3. Obama became the first president in US history where the US was at war for the full two terms of his office. Not merely did he fail to put a proper lid on the military interventions begun under Bush, but he undertook a huge number of his own interventions, with a major intervention in Libya, drone strikes in 7 different countries, special forces actions in 33 different African nations in the last year alone, etc.
On the level of political strategy, rather than policy, he showed clearly that he was too inexperienced, as he was outmaneuvered by the Republicans at every turn. He let the Republicans control the media narratives during his presidency, and lost the general PR battle, and failed to effectively use the powers of government he did have to achieve the sorts of policy victories he could have were he more experienced.
Policy-wise so many things have happened in Obama's presidency, many of which he had limited control over due to the nature of a divided US government, that it is not easy to assess him. However, a few policy failings stand out starkly as massive moral failures on his part.
1. His infamous statement "We need to look forward as opposed to looking backward" became symbolic of his refusal to investigate or punish any of the serious crimes done by the wealthy and the powerful during the previous administration - torture, war crimes, economic fraud that collapsed the economy - were all swept under the rug and overlooked. This sent a clear message to those in power that they could commit the most severe crimes and get away with it.
2. Similarly after making great promises of "transparency", his administration went all-out in its prosecution of whistle-blowers, and even made a habit of using the Espionage Act against whistle-blowers who leaked to journalists, prosecuting more such people under that Act than had been prosecuted under it in the previous 80 years combined.
3. Obama became the first president in US history where the US was at war for the full two terms of his office. Not merely did he fail to put a proper lid on the military interventions begun under Bush, but he undertook a huge number of his own interventions, with a major intervention in Libya, drone strikes in 7 different countries, special forces actions in 33 different African nations in the last year alone, etc.
On the level of political strategy, rather than policy, he showed clearly that he was too inexperienced, as he was outmaneuvered by the Republicans at every turn. He let the Republicans control the media narratives during his presidency, and lost the general PR battle, and failed to effectively use the powers of government he did have to achieve the sorts of policy victories he could have were he more experienced.
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