PACKAGING OBAMA ACCOMPLISHMENTS

In the process of searching the internet for political administration made by the Obama administration, I unexpectedly stumbled into what might be a problem with the Obama administration’s approach to government. This administration has accomplished many things; not just minor things but big and important things. I casually compared what Obama accomplished to FDR and his widely known New Deal and realized there was a huge difference. Although Roosevelt has been my hero up until now, I conclude that in the end, once the smog of current opinion clears away, historians will  rate Obama as a better president that FDR.

Most people, who are interested in politics as I am, realize the New Deal is target by conservatives for intense “hate”. The new Deal was a group of government programs and policies established under the leadership of Franklyn Delano Roosevelt. The president and Congress designed the “Deal” to improve the conditions for persons suffering in the great depression. Conservatives have always considered it a fundamentally and needlessly expensive expansion of federal control over the American economy—it opened the gates of socialism. Liberals consider “the new deal” as the legislation that saved this nation from conservative over reach. Everyone knows Social Security was an ingenious program and extremely successful at ending old age poverty. The people who benefit “ultimately” paid for their own retirement. Conservatives considered the new deal’s Works Progress Administration (WPA), a major part of the New Deal, to be a give away or a welfare program and as such a target for attack. In addition, conservatives targeted the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) as an example of government commandeering private enterprise; the way it worked was by the government buying power companies, extending service to rural areas that would not have service without government subsidies, and then selling the companies back to private owners. It all worked beautifully. Of course, the Second World War happened and etched FDR into history as a powerful wartime leader. The result was that FDR was a widely loved leader. This begs the question, what is the difference between FDR and Obama?

Certainly, when the degree of the disaster and management of the nations economic was comparable, the Obama managed recovery from the Bush administration economic disaster was comparable to the FDR recovery from the Hoover disaster especially in light of the intense Republican congressional opposition. Affordable Care Act, affectionately known as Obamacare, is a major advancement perhaps even greater than Social Security. The ACA affects more people and is certainly much more complicated. When I Google the Obama domestic accomplishments I see many more than I see for Roosevelt. In respect to the war, the nature of the difference is different. Although much smaller in scale, the Middle East, Russia, Korea, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria is at least a log measure more complicated for Obama to handle than the Second World War was for Roosevelt to handle.

It seems the focus of hate has switched from the myriad of individual government programs to the President. Perhaps there is an explanation in that statement, or at least a partial explanation. FDR had one big easily identifiable program, the New Deal while it was divided in to several parts, in the public eye; it was always still “the New Deal”. Obama and the media did not package his program into a nice neat bundle as FDR did. Perhaps, there was as much hate but it was diffused over many programs such as the ACA. The same diffusion was happening in the economy. There was no identifiable Republican program to destroy the Democratic agenda; nevertheless, they had a program and it was to refuse to help with the recovery. The Republican Congressional retardation of the number of jobs and recovery of workers wages, in contrast to the will known income disparity they created resulted in public hate for the party of Obama, the chief executive,  and not hate for the responsible party. Big banks and the stock market recovered and taxes stayed low while national debt increased. Miraculously, in spite of the opposition, Obama was able to create millions of jobs; though working, the people were unhappy.  

The diffusion of accomplishments concerning progress in the multiple wars around the world rather than clear-cut victory in two big wars against Japan and Germany certainly is playing a part in current thinking. Killing bin Laden was a victory but it didn’t end a war. Stopping Iran from it nuclear program was a victory but it didn’t end a war. Destroying Syria Assad’s stockpile of poisonous gas and preventing the production of more was a victory but it didn’t stop a war. Institution of economic sanctions against Russia and stopping aggression in the Ukraine was a major Obama victory especially over the objections of France, Britain, and Germany. Preventing Exon from drilling in the Arctic was an Obama environmental victory that the American people hardly noticed.  

In my mind, Obama is a better president that Roosevelt; however, I do not expect the people to give him credit until after historians have had time to package his accomplishment neatly wrapped up in the pages of books they have yet to write. Que sera, sera.  

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