HEADLEE: After a break, it seems to be - about all we hear about "Django Unchained" and director Quentin Tarantino is controversy. Abraham Lincoln Table of Contents Home Politics, Law & Government World Leaders Presidents & Heads of States Abraham Lincoln president of United States External Websites But history is likely to judge him by the outcome of his high-stakes bet on Iran. Signed the Childrens Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act in 2009, expanding the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to cover an additional four million children, paid for by a tax increase on tobacco products. If you recognize how contentious and traumatic those were five and six years ago, and to have them essentially both on the exit path for the U.S., I think those are significant achievements. MEAD: Well, I'm not sure I'm a spokesman for anybody, but I do think when I was listening to the earlier part of the program, some of the shortcomings in terms of you might say deliverables for African-Americans in the first term struck me, you know, really resonated with me. But first, an honest evaluation of President Obama's first term. Obama attended Occidental College in Los Angeles, California, before transferring to New York 's Columbia University. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. The law also mandates free preventive care, allows young people to stay on their parents policies up to age twenty-six, and imposes a ban on annual and lifetime caps on benefits. President Obama's administration oversaw the $1.2 billion settlement awarded to Black farmers who have been denied loans and assistance by the Agricultural Dept. The speech he gave in 2007 at the historical black college Howard University, the president laid out bold proposals for criminal justice reform. By 2016, 98 percent of Americans had access to fast 4G/LTE broadband. The withdrawal from Iraq created the vacuum that ISIS has filled. But over the end stretch of the Bush administration, that production plummeted. Negotiated a Deal to Block A Nuclear Iran Led six nations in reaching an agreement with Iran that requires the country to end its nuclear weapons program and submit to a rigorous International. The American people tend to have amnesia about events, and this is particularly the case when Barack Obama won Iowa. The stimulus bill was packed with record spending on renewable energy, a modern electrical grid, computerization of health-care records, high-speed rail, and new bridges and roads. James, let me bring that to you. Signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010 to re-regulate the financial sector after its practices caused the Great Recession. That's Rob in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Voters could be forgiven if they concluded that Obama must not be getting much done. What will be President Obama's first term be known for? In June 2016, regulators voted to shut down the nations largest accreditor of for-profit colleges, cutting off federal aid to hundreds of for-profits. Biden signs Fiscal Responsibility Act, officially ending the debt limit crisis. After years of litigation, a federal court upheld the FCCs rule, meaning providers cant favor certain websites or block others. Through the Department of Education, issued gainful employment regulations in 2011, cutting off commercially focused schools from federal student aid funding if more than 25 percent of former students arent paying off their loans or if former students spend more than 12 percent of their average total earnings servicing student loans. The accomplishments include a $3 billion tax cut bill aimed mostly at families with children that's partly offset by higher sales and other taxes to support transportation and housing. They replaced David Souter and John Paul Stevens, respectively. There are still 166 detainees there. What he promised was a federal-level racial profiling act. Trump took the microphone at the Machine Shed, a conservative hotspot in the Des Moines suburb of Urbandale, to speak to members of the Westside Conservative Club. During those panicked early months, Obama was also pressing ahead with the unpopular bailout of the banking industry that began under President Bush. PAUL: I'm really astounded that the president expended so much political capital on health care in the midst of the worst economic recession we've seen in 80 years. Although millions of Americans have gained coverage, too many of those are among the chronically ill, and too few are young and healthy. In the meantime, let me thank our guests. Favorable opinion toward the United States rose during Obamas first term in ten of fifteen countries surveyed by the Pew Global Attitudes Project, with an average increase of 26 percent, and have stayed highever since. Not just anything that surprised you, something that came out of the White House. HARRIS: Well, what disappointed me, actually, is the lack of focus or attention on the legacies of racial inequality in this country. It gave Democrats control of both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's mansion," Obama said. Ended the 1990s-era restriction and formalized a new policy allowing gays and lesbians to serveopenly in the military for the first time. Also joining us now in Studio 3A is Walter Russell Mead. And some economists prefer to view the national debt as a percentage of the U.S. gross domestic product, or GDP, because it indicates the ability of the country to handle its debt. And in this definitive, one-of-kind Special Edition, TIMEs experts assess the impact his Presidency had on the U.S. economy, foreign policy, health care and so much more Along with spectacular and often moving images, TIMEs unmatched writers and reporters give this Presidency a clear-eyed context through issues of race, inclusion and military approach. During an . As a mere nominee, not yet elected, he drew an estimated crowd of 200,000 peoplein Germany. Available at retailers and at Amazon.com. Thank you very much. Photo by Joe Fisher/UPI, 2 teens killed, 4 wounded in shooting at Missouri house party. HEADLEE: That's Frederick Harris. Obama was a mirror in which millions of people saw their cherished ideals reflected: tolerance, cooperation, equality, justice. Donald Trump and the newRepublican-dominatedCongress have pledged to undo much of what the president has achieved, including repealing the Affordable Care Act and reversing important executive actions on immigration and climate change. The future of Obamacare is uncertain, and President-elect Donald Trump has expressed disdain for the act. Appointed a record number of female (138) and minority (120) judges to the federal bench, as well as eleven openly gay orlesbian judges. That's James Fallows, national correspondent for The Atlantic. 22008 election 3Transition period, inauguration, and first 100 days Toggle Transition period, inauguration, and first 100 days subsection There are also different ways to analyze the data. The question is whether the folks in charge learned from experience and adjust. Barack Obama's Education At age 10, Obama returned to Hawaii to live with his maternal grandparents. And she was unapologetically herselfspeaking and singing her truth through joy . By December 2014, the car companies had repaid $70.4 billion of the funds, and the Center for Automotive Research estimated that 2.5 million jobs were saved. Sadly, when it comes to the Obama presidency and black America, symbols and substance have too often been assumed to be one and the same. He did not become president by the accident of his predecessors death in office. Trump, for example, was faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting bipartisan support for a massive federal response. June 4 (UPI) -- Police are seeking information on a shooting that happened overnight in Columbia, Mo., that resulted in the deaths of two teenagers and injuries to at least four more. Excerpted from TIMEs Barack Obama: Eight Years, a definitive, one-of-kind 96-page, fully illustrated commemorative edition. The biggest foray into industrial policy since FDR, biggest expansion of antipoverty initiatives since Lyndon Johnson, biggest middle-class tax cut since Ronald Reagan, biggest infusion of research money ever. And that was just one of several massive Obama undertakings. Magazines, Digital "That all wouldn't have happened," Trump said. Obama was the first. Frederick Harris is author of "The Price of the Ticket," and he offers this critique in the New York Times. As Washington gears up for Inauguration Day, people across the country and the world are reflecting on what was gained and lost during Obama's first term. I mean, when HEADLEE: You mean that it didn't get closed? So what I'm saying is, is that that kind of discourse has always been a part of the political landscape for decades. Copyright 2013 NPR. When it comes to foreign policy, only time will reveal whether the baton Obama passes is stuffed with TNT. But that didnt matter much to the public. Similarly, Hoagland said: All presidents inherit spending from previous administrations and in turn they create spending for the future president.. I think they will, and I actually had a fascinating time, about a month ago I was interviewing - or I was being interviewed by Bill Moyers, who of course had been a young aide to Lyndon Johnson when Medicare was being passed. He'd been a - you know, had he been - had he had a term as governor of Illinois before becoming president, some of these - so there was a lot of on-the-job learning, as there is with any president, because there's no real preparation for it. And in regard to the question of whether President Obama as the first nonwhite president has done enough on the racial justice front, one of the points I made is that almost every president ends up disappointing and, in a way, betraying the people who are his most fervent original base because once he gets in office - that when he's running for office, he can promise anything; once he becomes president, it's a matter of all the finely sliced compromises any president has to make. Signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act in 2009. Nominated and obtained confirmation for Sonia Sotomayor (the first Hispanic person and third woman to serve on the Court) in 2009 and Elena Kagan (the fourth woman) in 2010. The ACLU noted that the legislation marked the first time since 1978 that Congress has taken steps to restrict, rather than expand, its government surveillance authority.. And the president, as a candidate for most of the period in 2008, didn't talk about race, but there were moments, moments particularly in 2007 when he was down with black voters, competing with black voters with Hillary Clinton, that he did make some bold proposals, particularly around criminal justice reform. This edition delivers sharp, fresh stories and an extra bonus: TIMEs foray into augmented reality, in which the cover and several inside pages spring to life via curated audio and video pieces accessed easily through the free TIME Special Edition app. Obama doubled the number of female justices in Supreme Court history, from two to four, and appointed the first justice of Hispanic heritage, Sonia Sotomayor. Sticking with China, Trump continued to highlight his maneuvering on global trade, citing the trade agreement he reached with China in 2019. Obama wins election Barack Obama is elected president by defeating Senator John McCain with nearly 53 percent of the popular vote and 365 electoral votes (out of 538). This was the case with the Henry Louis Gates affair. HEADLEE: Well, thank you very much for calling. It turned out there - you know, there's no such thing as a shovel-ready project. Taking office in the midst of an economic meltdown, Obama seized on the massive federal response to make record investments in education initiatives, environmental research, industrial modernization and, most famously, health-care reform. And that track record contains much more than his enemiesor even many of his friendshave been ready to acknowledge. "There's one issue that will define the contours of this century more dramatically than any other," said US President Barack Obama at the UN Climate Change Summit in 2014. So I think that was - the car industry, I think the administration deserved to take as one of its successes. From the National Institutes of Health to the National Science Foundation, this recovery act represents the biggest increase in basic research funding in the long history of Americas noble endeavor to better understand our world, Obama told an audience in Denver less than a month after taking the oath. And just as President Kennedy sparked an explosion of innovation when he set Americas sights on the moon, I hope this investment will ignite our imagination once more, spurring new discoveries and breakthroughs in science, in medicine, in energy, to make our economy stronger and our nation more secure and our planet safer for our children.. As part of the 2010 health care reform bill, signed a measure ending the decades-old practice of subsidizing banks to provide college loans. Opinion | Barack Obama's Biggest Mistake - The New York Times Barack Obama's Biggest Mistake It rhymes with 'schneo-liberalism.' It was an economic disaster and a political dead end. Signed the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act in 2010, championed by Michelle Obama, mandating a $4.5 billion spending boost and higher nutritional standards for school lunches. The debt added under Obamas two terms, however, amounted to about $9.5 trillion. In self-parody, he ticked off his accomplishments, little more than a year . And then my assessment would be - one of the reasons I wanted to do my big Atlantic piece before the elections last year is that once a president has either won a second term or been defeated in that quest, as the first George Bush was and Jimmy Carter was, who I once worked for long ago, everything about that president's first term is viewed retrospectively in a different light. There was a team of rivals. The American people may have voted for divided government, but they didnt vote for a dysfunctional government, Obama said after the GOP captured the House of Representatives in 2010. In 2011, ordered the Special Forces raid of the secret compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in which the terrorist leader was killed and a trove of al-Qaeda documents was retained. The point is that fiscal policy reflects joint action by Congress and the president, said David Primo, a University of Rochester professor of political science and business administration. And now since he's been re-elected, that's going to be enacted. This is our time to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth that, out of many, we are one. At points in his presidency, Obama couldnt hide his disappointment that his every dream had not come true. And he never lost hope, even when others wavered. The president said the local police there acted stupidly. We tend, especially the more they recede into the past, to say this person was all successful, you know, the sainted Ronald Reagan or the effective Bill Clinton, this person was all a failure, the first George Bush, Jimmy Carter, even though the failures accomplished lots of important things, and the successes had lots of setbacks along the way. Certainly, the banks were - what was interesting I think about the - while the bank bailout was sort of a reluctant all sides holding their noses - Republicans and Democrats alike - the auto bailout was a much more sharply partisan division where the Obama administration making a choice - this is something we're going to try to do when there were strong voices at the time as we recall of then ex-Governor Romney saying this was a waste, better to have the bankruptcy system just take it through. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. 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Fear of lending froze capital markets; fear of investment idled assembly lines and sent stock exchanges tumbling. 1 Rescued the country from the Great Recession, cutting the unemployment rate from 10% to 4.7% over six years, 2 Signed the Affordable Care Act which provided health insurance to over 20 million uninsured Americans, 4 Ordered for the capture and killing of Osama Bin Laden, 5 Passed the $787 billion America Recovery and Reinvestment Act to spur economic growth during the Great Recession, 6 Supported the LGBT community's fight for marriage equality, 7 Commuted the sentences of nearly 1200 drug offenders to reverse unjust and outdated prison sentences", 9 Helped put the U.S. ontrack for energy independence by 2020, 10 Began the drawdown of troops in Afghanistan, 11 Signed the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals allowing as many as 5 million people living in the U.S. illegally to avoid deportation and receive work permits, 12 Signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to re-regulate the financial sector, 13 Dropped the veteran homeless rate by 50 percent, 15 Began the process of normalizing relations with Cuba, 16 Increased Department of Veteran Affairs funding, 17 Signed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act, 18 Boosted fuel efficiency standards for cars, 19 Improved school nutrition with the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, 20 Repealed the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, 21 Signed the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, making it a federal crime to assault anyone based on sexual or gender identification, 22 Helped negotiate the landmark Iran Nuclear Deal, 23 He signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to combat pay discrimination against women, 24 Nominated Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, making her the first Hispanic ever to serve as a justice, 25 Supported veterans through a $78 billion tuition assistance GI bill, 26 Won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples", 27 Launched My Brother's Keeper, a White House initiative designed to help young minorities achieve their full potential, 28 Expanded embryonic stem cell research leading to groundbreaking work in areas including spinal injury treatment and cancer, This article originally appeared on 09.12.18, 28 Of Barack Obamas Greatest Achievements As President Of The United States, Empathy: A Hard Look at a Touchy-Feely Subject, The 2014 GOOD Gift Guide to Beautiful Books, Gender In Sports: Leveling The Playing Field, Barack Obama at Las Vegas Presidential Forum, 15 Of the funniest Obama and Biden memes , Trump is refusing to unveil Obama's presidential portrait at the White House - GOOD , Obama opened up about the personal qualities that make Joe Biden such an exceptional leader - GOOD . Any surprises for you, Rob? samato07. Eight years after Obama took office with the economy crashing around his ears, people are still arguing about his accomplishments. Initiated the biannual Nuclear Security Summit to address the global threat posed by nuclear terrorism and advance a common approach to strengthening nuclear security. The treaty also reestablished a monitory and transparency program that had lapsed in 2009. There was virtually no discussions around criminal justice reform, although the president did sign into a law the Fair Sentencing Act, where it narrowed but did not eliminate the disparities between crack and cocaine sentencing. FALLOWS: Well, first let me make a meta-point about how objective we can be about presidents' first terms. As political leaders work to reach a deal to raise the debt ceiling, some online have pointed fingers as to who is to blame for the national debt. The president should get some credit in regards to that. Obama did it with dignity and conscience. Barack Obama was the president of the United States between January 20, 2009 and January 20, 2017. And thanks to Dodd-Frank instead of Glass-Steagall, the banks are still too big to fail. He'd been a senator. Released new fuel efficiency standards in 2011 that will increase fuel economy to the equivalent of 54.5 miles per gallon for cars and light-duty trucks by model year 2025. Before Thursday, Trump was one of the very few Republican presidential nominees who had not attended a club gathering since it was formed in 2008 after the election of President Barack Obama. Trump opened by touting his poll numbers, which he said show him up by 40 points over "somebody" -- alluding to Florida Gov. Successfully lobbied the United States Sentencing Commission to apply those measures retroactively, which contributed to the largest decrease in the federal prison population in over thirty years. Former President Barack Obama expressed solidarity Thursday with striking film and TV writers, saying he was "very supportive of the writers and the strike, and I'm hopeful that they get a fair share of the fruits of their labor.". He's also the author of "The Price of the Ticket: Barack Obama and the Rise and Decline of Black Politics." In a sense, there was nowhere to go but down. But the increase under former President George H. W. Bush about $1.4 trillion represented a larger percentage increase than under Trump, Hoagland noted. He's a professor of foreign affairs and humanities at Bard College and the editor-at-large of American Interest magazine. PAT: It took me a long time afterwards to look back and ask myself: did somehow this horrible bank - international banking crisis save the American car industry? Test. In March 2016, direct mail flights to Cuba resumed for the first time in fifty years. The U.S. economy is nearly $1trillion bigger today than it was before the crisis, and most other developed countries have fared worse. Became the first president since Dwight Eisenhower to serve two terms with no serious personal or political scandal. There are some caveats: Those figures are not adjusted for inflation. And I would say number three, doing something that did not seem a gimme four years ago, which is winding up the wars both in Iraq and Afghanistan. Barack Obama: Life Before the Presidency By Consulting Editor: Michael Nelson Photo: University of Chicago Barack Hussein Obama II was born on August 4, 1961, in Hawaii. Biden promised voters in 2020 he knew how to get things done in Washington and could bring stability. Here are 28 of President Obama's biggest accomplishments as President of the United States. So in many ways there was not that much as a surprise, but more disappointment. He had not been a governor or a general or a veteran legislator. Call us at 800-989-8255. Emphasis was also given . May 25, 2023, 06:50 PM EDT. But I don't think it was the team of rivals thing that people talked about at the beginning with a lot of struggles between strong will people. HEADLEE: Let me go back to you, Frederick Harris, because I have to say, if there was one thing that surprised me, and maybe I've naive, after all these years of being a journalist, but I was surprised by the opposition, not that people would oppose his policies but that many of his policies I would consider to be centrist. "We have no idea where they're from. They are the stuff of history and the currency of a free society, and Obamas impact will be discussed and reexamined for years. As a budget expert, what pains me is that partisan bickering about who is to blame for the debt obscures an important truth: both parties have abdicated their budgetary responsibilities, Primo said, noting that about two-thirds of the debt has been incurred since 2001. Obama delivered on his promise to get American troops out of lraq, and he greatly limited U.S. involvement in Afghanistan. Looking at historical federal debt data by fiscal year, the total gross U.S. debt was about $19.5 trillion at the end of fiscal year 2016, which ended several months before Trump took office, said G. William Hoagland, senior vice president at the Bipartisan Policy Center. its production. And he was saying that Johnson told him at that time Medicare was ferociously controversial in 1964 or '65 when the struggle to pass it was going through, and Johnson was saying, you know, 20 years from now, people will assume this was part of the U.S. Constitution, they took it for granted. The U.S. is inching closer to the June 1 deadline to raise the debt ceiling or risk defaulting on the nations $31 trillion in debt and political leaders have not yet reached a deal to avert such a crisis. Utah school district that removed Bible from libraries now reviewing Book of Mormon. Fears of a so-called death spiral, in which rising premiums drive off all but the sickest customers, have some Democrats once again calling for a government takeover, something opponents label socialized medicine.. What surprises for you, Dennis? As the first African-American elected President of the United States, Barack Obama became a pivotal figure in American history even before his inauguration. URBANDALE, Iowa, June 1 (UPI) -- Former President Donald Trump was brimming with confidence about his race for the Republican presidential nomination during a meeting with influential conservatives in Iowa on Thursday. I think that that's absolutely important. Signed an executive order in 2014 prohibiting federal contractors and subcontractors from discriminating against their workers on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. internet access for lower-income rural families. Trump said he would accomplish his goals in six months. MEAD: You know, every president - I don't know how to be president of the United States. Sept.. for decades. Democrats in Minnesota managed to check off all of the 30 biggest items on their ambitious agenda before the session adjourned Monday night. (There is evidence, however, that Assad has recently continued to use chlorine gas against rebels and civilians in Aleppo.). And start to finish, he was an honorable man. What did you see in President Obama's first term that surprised you? We've invited two more guests who have paid close attention to Obama's first term. Here are the 9 outstanding accomplishments of President Barack Obama. June 3 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden signed the Fiscal Responsibility Act on Saturday, officially ending the ongoing debt limit crisis placing the United States at risk of a first-ever default. In fact, by some measures Obama leaves the U.S. in a stronger position in Asia and the Pacific than it was the day he took office. In 48 brief months, he rose from the obscurity of a state legislature to become the first Democrat in more than three decades to win more than half of the popular vote. I think the Guantanamo case is a different one in that there President Obama can say that he intended to do that, and the Congress blocked him. JAMES FALLOWS: Thank you very much, Celeste. Many of Trump's remarks were acknowledged with a "yes," "amen" or "we love you" from the audience. Certainly I think it was a surprise to everyone that Barack Obama's health care passed; it was quite a surprise to me, anyway. Obama leaves office more human than he entered it, a mere mortal with a track record and the gray hair to show for it. The U.S. is inching closer to a deadline to raise the debt ceiling or risk defaulting on the nations $31 trillion in debt and political leaders have not yet reached a deal to avert such a crisis. And also if you look at the way that basically after the stimulus money started to run out and states and local governments were laying off huge numbers of employees, you look at what's happening in the postal service, that a lot of the basis of the black middle class, economically speaking, is in these government jobs and post office jobs, and that employment has really been decimated. Signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2009, giving women who are paid less than men for the same work the right to sue their employers after they find out about the discrimination, even if it happened years ago. Signed an executive order to ban the box in federal hiring and contracting. So here's a look at 10 of Obama's greatest accomplishments: 1. (AP Photo/J. Kim Reynolds, who two days prior introduced Florida Gov. Tisius execution set for Tuesday in Missouri, jurors plea for commuted sentence. And all during his first campaign, Obama said that he was going to close Gitmo. MEAD: Well, I think, you know, I think he's - in the first two years of the first term when he had a majority in both houses of Congress, you know, it was easier. Recreational marijuana will start becoming legal for adults on Aug. 1. America is generating more energy from renewable sources and less from coal. Under previous law, as interpreted by the Supreme Court in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., the statute of limitations on such suits ran out 180 days after the alleged discrimination occurred, even if the victims never knew about it. He filled a football stadium for his acceptance speech, a city park for his victory speech and, of course, much of the National Mall for his first inauguration. Yes, it was heightened under Barack Obama, but my point is, is that that should not be used as an excuse to address these issues. He joins us from his home in Washington, D.C. James, thank you. . In 2011, ordered special forces raid of secret compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in which the terrorist leader was killed . Though there has been a clear positive influence, Obamas advisers were not going to brag about the bill while millions of Americans were out of workand besides, there wasnt much time for bragging, because the president was rushing ahead into other crises. Former U.S. President Barack Obama said, "We need full-blown gov't censorship to eradicate independent media." In May 2023, posts began to circulate on social media . FALLOWS: And I agree with Walter, too, that that nobody start out knowing how to do this job. Reynolds has been a staunch ally of Trump's since she became governor in 2017. Pat McAfee became a full-time cohost on ESPN's iconic in 2022, but it was a few year earlier when he realized just hope popular the Saturday morning staple is with sports fans. HEADLEE: That's interesting. Because the worst-case scenario is a regional conflagration in which the Shia mullahs of Iran and the Sunni sheiks of Saudi Arabia pile a nuclear-arms race atop their centuries-old religious rivalry. Professor Gates, who's at Harvard University, was arrested. Gays serve openly in the military because Obama ended dont ask, dont tell. Women can choose to qualify for combat roles. Yeah, we were going to get out of Afghanistan and Iraq, all that's taking place, but Gitmo is still down there, and to me that's a thorn in Obama's side. Allowed the expensive ($1 billion per launch), badly designed, and dangerous shuttle program to make its final launch on July 8, 2011. Indeed, items from the original listsuch as increasing national service opportunities, creating the Race to the Top education reform program, and expanding stem cell researchfell off in order to make room for new ones. Below we've listed some of the events and accomplishments during Barack Obama's presidency: Republican Donald Trump spoke ominously of a rigged system. HEADLEE: This is TALK OF THE NATION. HEADLEE: And before I let Frederick Harris go, I wanted to ask both Frederick Harris and Walter Russell Mead the same question. PAUL, Minn. -- Former President Barack Obama is putting the Minnesota Legislature's 2023 session in the national spotlight, saying it's a reminder that "elections have consequences." Obama posted . We'll have more in a minute. What do you think? Provided key leadership to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which produced the He promised loan forgiveness to college students and law students who decided to become public defenders. Or just join the conversation at our website, go to npr.org, and click on TALK OF THE NATION. That's Pat saying that in fact the bailout for the banks made it possible to get a bailout for the auto industry. MEAD: Well, I think it's - you know, I mean as Jim said earlier, the fact that, you know, we didn't go into sort of full-blown repeat of 1933 is, you know - considering just how deep the crisis was when the president took office, is something to reflect on. The son of a white American mother and a black Kenyan father, Obama grew up in Hawaii. Please enter valid email address to continue. He was the first president born there and the first to be born after the country had 50 states. But again, I just want to go back to when the last Democrat was in the White House, who was called a liar, a cheat and was HARRIS: Bill Clinton. And we want to hear from you. In a recent piece, he reflected on the president's first term and looked ahead to his second. If you need a reminder that elections have consequences, check out what's happening in Minnesota.https://t.co/JCMdLRantC, "Earlier this year, Democrats took control of the State Senate by one seat after winning a race by just 321 votes. Though Obama spent the rest of his presidency tightening banking regulations, he never managed to shake off these critics. 6 terms. Published May 29, 2023. FALLOWS: Celeste, I agree. Barack Obama. Signed the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009 to spur economic growth amid the most severe downturn since the Great Depression. Statements like Jeffries imply presidents have sole control over fiscal policy, he noted. Signed the 2015 USA Freedom Act, which bans the governmental collection of bulk data, creates a special panel to provide technical and legal advice to the court administering the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), and provides greater transparency for FISA court opinions. The world economy was plunging like a runaway bobsled as Obama took the oath of office in January 2009 before one of the largest gatherings in the history of the nations capital. Barack Obama entered the White House as something new in American history. Here are the 10 major accomplishments of President Barack Obama. "I don't think that's . You have 30 seconds. As President Joe Biden seeks a second term, he's again trying to frame the race as a referendum on competence and governance. Many left-leaning liberals were very upset at how centrist his proposals were, and yet sometimes it felt as though there was opposition simply to whatever he proposed. Neal Conan is away. And, Walter, thank you very much. Trump took the microphone at the Machine Shed, a conservative hotspot in the Des Moines suburb of Urbandale, to speak to members of the Westside Conservative Club. And James Fallows, that's kind of the way most people look at the first term, maybe of any president - one positive, one negative. Accuracy and availability may vary. He said he would encourage states to do away with the death penalty. HEADLEE: Well, we'll take a short break and then have more with my guests James Fallows at The Atlantic and Frederick Harris, author of "The Price of the Ticket." Neal Conan is away. He joined us from our New York bureau. This is the second . Learn. Obama was elected purely for himselfhis message, his persona and what he symbolized. It seemed . Finalized a Clean Power Plan in 2015 through new EPA regulations, setting the first-ever carbon pollution standards for existing power plants. The first term is usually a discovery of the particular failure each incumbent is going to have because they're all going to be weak at something. Signed the 2011 FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, which increased the Food and Drug Administrations budget by $1.4 billion and expanded its regulatory responsibilities to include increasing the number of food inspections, issuing direct food recalls, and reviewing the safety practices of countries exporting food products to the U.S. I look back at the first term and I see somebody who really wasn't all that great with negotiating with the other side. ", Suspect arrested after alleged 'ambush' killing of West Virginia officer. Barack Obama entered the White House as something new in American history. You know, remember, the president had never run anything other than a campaign. His story is the American story values from the heartland, a middle-class upbringing in a strong family, hard work and. It was as if Obama had fallen under his own spell and began measuring himself not by real wins in the political trenches but by the ephemeral goals of his soaring speeches. If you want to call in, you can dial 800-989-8255. Cory Maynard in an "ambush" style killing on Friday afternoon. That said, its represented more than 100% of GDP since 2013; that burden in relation to the size of the economy was previously unseen since World War II. Magazines, the stimulus package known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, appointed the first justice of Hispanic heritage, Florence Pugh Might Just Save the Movie Star, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Honor and Effort: What President Obama Achieved in Eight Years. Advertisement. That may end up, arguably, as his greatest achievement. - GOOD Home test Good News. MEAD: On the other hand, nobody gets the sense of him as sort of being like Ronald Reagan, standing very far, aloof and, you know, you guys just go out and do it, and, you know, here's the very general guidelines. And then since there was so much pushback, there was a beer summit held but no consequential policy focus. And I think the use of Joe Biden in the discussions on the fiscal cliff is an example about that. He took office with a country in peril and led it through the Great Recession, two wars, civil unrest, a rash of mass shootings, and changing cultural demographics. May 26, 2023 / 10:52 AM Senator Barack Obama stood before Washington's elite at the spring dinner of the storied Gridiron Club. The law tightens capital requirements on large banks and other financial institutions, allows the government to take them into receivership if they pose a threat to the economy, and limits their ability to trade with customers money for their own profit. I'm Celeste Headlee in Washington. The most exalted position in American life has a way of humbling its occupants. So it was that the unprecedented bill drew harsh criticism from both ends of the political spectrum: conservatives called it a wasteful porkulus while liberals complained that it was too small to be effective. ROB: I was surprised at the significant strides the president has made in improving race relations between Native Americans and the federal government. Average housing prices dropped by 30%. HEADLEE: And does that kind of temper your disappointment to any extent? Though this transition can be rocky, experts continue to believe that computerized records will work data-driven miracles, greatly reducing medical errors, cutting useless or redundant treatments, and steering health-care providers to the best approaches. America as a whole has kept getting richer, but most Americans have gotten poorer over the last generation or so. His high-stakes reorientation of American foreign policy worries many experts, and the results might not be fully understood for years. How We Can Learn to Live with COVID-19 After Vaccinations, 2023 TIME USA, LLC. Signed the Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009, applying existing hate crime laws to crimes based on a victims sexual orientation, gender, or disability, in addition to race, religion, or national origin. After eight years as president, these are 28 of Barack Obama's greatest accomplishments in office. Signed the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009, which prohibits credit card companies from raising rates without advance notification, mandates a grace period on interest rate increases, and strictly limits overdraft andother fees. But I think what really is going on here in my view, it's been for a long time, as Walter Russell Mead has written over the years too, a very difficult time for the middle of American society. Either - maybe it's a success. Welcome to the program. I mean what do you think? I mean as the first black president in an environment, in the political environment that's been not only polarized by partisanship but also polarized by race, and this happened before Barack Obama came into office, of course, certainly there's going to be that tension there. Here are seven of Obama's greatest environmental accomplishments as president. In 2010, launched the nations first comprehensive strategy to prevent and end homelessness, Opening Doors, which has led to a 47 percent decline in the number of homeless veterans since 2010 and aims to end youth homelessness by 2020. He wants Republicans to force a dangerous default if they dont get their way. Slowed the growth of health care spending through cost-saving measures enacted as part of the ACA, ensuring the solvency of Medicares principal trust fundthrough 2028. Obama leans this way because he is a big believer in pragmatism-maybe too big. Throughout his career, former President Barack Obama has had the chance to meet and work with some of . All rights reserved. Is he getting better at finding the right person for the right job? President Obama will be officially sworn in and begin his second term as the 44th President of the United States on Jan. 20. The White House was I think a pretty controlling White House in the first term MEAD: since that, you know, you didn't hear a lot of Cabinet people going off and having even a big public profile, and there was definitely a sense that serious decisions about serious matters were made by the White House and then executed by the Cabinet departments. Not only in signing an executive order to increase coordination between tribal governments - the president has significantly improved health care for Native Americans with the Affordable Care Act and has provided a lot of funding for tribal communities in Indian country, and the signing into law of the Tribal Law and Order Act made reservations much safer. In constant dollars, the ARRA was more than 50 percent bigger than the entire New Deal, twice as big as the Louisiana Purchase and Marshall Plans combined, Grunwald wrote in his 2012 book, The New New Deal: The Hidden Story of Change in the Obama Era. Paid family and medical leave will make it easier for Minnesotans to take time off to care for loved ones or their own health, but employers will have to pay. And then in the second term when - second half of the first term when he had sort of lost the 60 votes in the Senate and had lost control of the House, it was tougher, and there was - the Republicans felt at that point they had momentum, so they were harder to deal with. He claimed that as many as 15 million migrants will illegally enter the United States by the end of the year. The first African American to be elected POTUS In November 2008, Democratic Senator Barack Obama defeated Republican candidate Senator John McCain to claim the highest elected job of the nation. Barack Obama served as the 44th President of the United States. Despite his inexperience, Barack Obama gave a full measure of scandal-free service, a rarity among modern presidents. I think the - if we have the reality, number one, that politics has become much more polarized over the last generation than before - and I think people on both sides agree with that - number two, that there was going to be resistance and challenge for the first nonwhite president - after Barack Obama's election four years ago, he had - there was a kind of surge in approval for him. Moreover, experts say . Before Thursday, Trump was one of the very few Republican presidential nominees who had not attended a club gathering since it was formed in 2008 after the election of President Barack Obama . Let's take one more call here. Former president Barack Obama's new Netflix series Working: What We Do All Day brings Terkel's legacy freshly to mind. You would be paying $1.87 right now.". That rose to about $26.9 trillion at the end of fiscal year 2020, or a $7.4 trillion increase, just before Trump left office. Leaving the state to attend college, he earned degrees from Columbia University and Harvard Law School. So I think that problem for America is reflected in some of the frustration we feel about our politicians of the moment. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. At the same time, the law is an unprecedented effort to break the fever of runaway medical costs. That deal, and his renegotiated USMCA agreement, were also cited to demonstrate his ability to help farmers in the Midwest. Looking at it that way, the gross debt as a percentage of GDP reached an all-time high of nearly 128% at the end of Trumps tenure, according to the historical federal data. It wasn't all caused by specific policy decisions in the first term. What do you think? Government employers cant ask about criminal records at the beginning of the application process, giving applicants with a criminal history a fairer shot. "If it takes eight years to turn this around, you don't want him as your president," Trump said. The debt incurred during the Trump era was very high. [Ryan Cooper and Siyu Hu contributed to the 2012 version of this article.]. Yet the president was often downbeatseemingly discouraged-about the impact he was having. By most measures, it worked: instead of a cascade of bank failures, Americans ended up with a stronger financial system, and the public got its money back. Obama broke many cultural and social boundaries during his eight years as president, but this might top the list. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the recovery act boosted growth in the U.S. by 1% to 4% in 2010, with smaller impacts in subsequent years. Amid those negotiations, politicians and commentators online have pointed fingers at who they say is to blame for the nations exorbitant debt. Obtained approval from the FCC to shift $8 billion in subsidies away from landlines and toward broadband Barack Obama was born on August 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he was raised by his mother and her parents. Sasha was just 7 years old when her family moved into the White House in 2009. It was the biggest education reform bill since the Great Society, he continued. June 3 (UPI) -- Parents of six young children have filed a lawsuit against a Texas school district over claims that a sixth-grade boy sexually abused young girls in a kindergarten classroom. Frederick Harris, director of the Institute for Research in African-American Studies, Columbia UniversityJames Fallows, national correspondent, The AtlanticWalter Russell Mead, professor of foreign affairs and humanities, Bard College. So perhaps he'll be seen as having been the first president of that new era. Do you see, as somebody who kind of stands back, do you see any intersection that's not politicized? Profits slipped a bit in 2015, but in Obama's final year profits were . Barack H. Obama, the 44th President of the United States, had been in power for less than eight months when he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009. HEADLEE: Which bodes well I guess for the second term. In June 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down key portions of the law as unconstitutional, allowing married same-sex couples to finally receive federal protections like Social Security and veteran benefits. Copyright 2023 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Scott Applewhite, File), Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. HEADLEE: You said before the - before the election that you were disappointed in Barack Obama's first term. History a fairer shot a governor what did barack obama accomplishments as a leader a veteran legislator by the accident of his predecessors death office. 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Medical costs pushback, there 's no such thing as a surprise, but more....

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