Obama as a President - Assignment Example

Obama as a President Inserts His/Her Is President Obama an active-negative, a passive-negative, a passive-positive, or an active-positive president? Explain why based on what you learned from his book, Dreams from My Father and other readings from the course. Introduction James David Barber has done various studies in order to judge the presidential character of the active president and the former presidents of United States of America. It has been noticed that his predictions were spot on in some cases and failed badly in various cases. For example, the presidential character of Bush was predicted as Active-Positive but after his reign it was noticed that he was an Active-Negative President. As far as Barack Obama and the portraits of Barber are concerned, I think Obama fits in to the mold of Active-Positive president. The description of Baber’s portraits and the numerous reasons which made me think this way are discussed in the latter half of the paper. The four Portraits of Barber Active/Negative The presidents who take bold decisions in order to improve the conditions of the country like George W. Bush, Richard Nixon and John Adams but unfortunately end up doing a disaster are counted to be as Active-Negative president.1 They have the guts to take a bold move but are unable to get the appropriate results. Passive/Positive According to Barber the presidents who are happy of being rewarded just by obeying the instructions of other commanding people are put in to the column of Passive-Positive. They have got an optimistic nature and are very much capable to deal with the harsh politics in a soft manner. Barber has placed James Madison and Ronald Reagan in this category. Passive/Negative One thing that strike to a person’s mind after observing these presidents is that why would this person ever get involved in politics. The only reason that they are in politics is just because they ought to be. And once they get the seat they do little in office and simply withdraw to avoid ambiguities. According to Barber George Washington is the perfect example of a Passive/ Negative president. Active/Positive Barber have highlighted that these are the presidents which the country is really looking for. They take bold steps to bring innovation and fortunately get success. They have enjoyed their success as a politician even before becoming the president. Obama’s Accomplishments and Failures Accomplishments Health Reform Obama has been able to succeed as far as health issues are concerned. His policies were beneficial not only for the rich people but also for the poor ones. He prevented the discrimination of the health insurance companies against the people with preexisting conditions and allowing the child to stay on their parent’s health insurance until they reach the age of 26. It was noticed that 33 million Medicare beneficiaries and 54 million American enjoyed this policy free of cost in the year 2011. This was a bold step taken by Obama since many companies were strictly against this. Employment Opportunities One thing that affects greatly to predict the success and the failure of a president is the improvement in the economy. And the better economy is directly linked with the employment opportunities the citizens come across. Obama had made sure that each and every individual get equal rights and opportunities in order to be employed. The citizens would get what they deserve. They high employment could be judged by analyzing the employment record from 2006 till 2010. It was noticed that there was around 8.5% decrease in the unemployment rate and the earnings per hour also rose handsomely. Credit Card Bill of Rights It was noticed that the financial institutions have been charging the consumer a greater amount of interest rate due to which the consumers had to pay more than the owed. Keeping this activity in mind, President Obama introduced the Credit Card Bill of Rights law under which no financial institutions were restricted on the interest rate and fees and that no credit would be offered to the college students2. The introduction of this law was highly disrespected by the banking industry since they would not be able to generate more profits. As far as consumers were concerned it was the matter of celebration for them as they were now not asked to pay high interest rates but only had to pay what they actually owed. Educational Reform As far as Education is concerned, Obama has been able to bring a revolution in this industry. Education also plays a vital role in improving the economy of the country. The Educational Reform under Obama made a policy which would give inexpensive career options to the students that do not hold relevant degrees. They have also made it cheaper for the foreign students who wish to study in America. This was quite booming. Moreover, the educational reform has also managed to increase the performance and the results of the students all over the nation not only academically but also co-curricular activities. Immigration Reform Illegal immigration was and is one of the biggest problems in America. But since Obama stepped in to the office, things have started changing. It has not come to an end completely but is controlled to a great extent. The various studies show that in the last four years 1.5 million deportations took place. These are excluding the criminals. Up to 70% criminals are deported till now and around 14% illegal immigrants had been arrested. This was just because the securities at the borders have been so tight that there is no way for the people to enter America illegally. It clearly reflects Obama’s great sense of responsibility. Foreign Policy As soon as Obama took over the office he ordered the chief of CIA to start tracking down Osama Bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda and the root of terrorism. This action was not taken by the former president Bush. As in one of the press conferences he stated that he does not give much time on this dreadful aspect. But as Obama knew how important this was, he immediately acted upon it. And after the death of Osama bin Laden, the long manhunt which was under process for nearly a decade came to an end. Moreover, no civilians were further targeted and killed since his death. It was something very alarming for the US nation but unfortunately Obama was not giving the deserving credit. Even after the dry response he stood up and fought with the situation inspiringly. Obama also managed to mobilize the international coalition to protect Libyan pro-democracy demonstrators. Along with Susan Rice and Hillary Clinton he came up with a policy of executing a no-fly zone over Libya in order to protect anti-Qaddafi rebels. This policy was very successful. It was noticed that only within seven months they were able to overthrow the Qaddafi regime. These are some aspects due to which Obama exactly fits in Barber’s Active-Positive presidential character as he took brave decisions and fortunately had success in them. Failures Do not accept his mistake Recently, Obama not only lied about the Supreme Court’s recent free-speech ruling, but he had also yelled and misbehaved at the justices for daring to defy him. This is something which is not at all expected by the president of such a big nation. Many people have changed their opinions about Obama after this ridiculous incident. Disobeying the Constitution It has been noticed that Obama has overruled the Congress sometimes when they failed to do his bidding3. Eventually, with its power and authorities he turned down the situation under his belt which is not acceptable. For example, the senate failed to pass the desired bill for their democratic reasons, but Obama using his powers issued an executive order and did what he desired. Failed to understand Basic economics Obama showed his lack of knowledge as far as basic economics is concerned as he banned all the financial institutions to take risks. Risk is one of the major aspects of the economy. Discarding it meant that the economy along with private property and capital would totally be under control of the government. This was without a doubt the abolition of liberty. No electric cars yet Barack Obama promised to the Americans that by the end of 2015 he would put on around one million electric cars on the road. People would be able to enjoy the electric cars. This was something that Obama was not able to achieve by far. Instead it was noticed that the big companies like Fisker Automotive have started building cars in Finland rather than improving the economy of the country. Nevertheless, every person comes across failures and successes so as Barack Obama. But looking at his accomplishments in the recent years had been so huge that all his failures are almost hidden. It is also very true that there are some republicans who are strictly against Obama and the decisions he make but since it is democratic nation it’s all understandable. Obama can still be well molded under Barber’s Active/Positive president. External Factors that matter Political Issues Obama Long-term strategy and focus on his goals One thing that contributes immensely in political conditions is the strategy and the determination to achieve the goals. Obama have this quality of knowing that what he have to achieve and where he want to stand at the end of the day. A strategy that he immediately wanted to implement was the fundamental change involving a new bipartisan approach to politics. Even though there were some diversions across, the way he address his message was extra-ordinary. This is something that is not easy for the presidents to address after taking the oath since there is bulk amount of pressure of the media and every pair of eyes is stuck upon one person. According to barber this is a quality of an Active-Positive president. Communication with people Obama has got an exceptional quality of communicating with people in a convincing manner. Even his strongest rivals accept the fact that he has a tremendous ability to inspire millions of people towards himself and his agenda and support him. This is something that helped him a lot to get immense support from the nation. Obama even has the ability to conduct a rally of millions of people and this demonstrated capability makes it easier for him to come in talks with the Congress4. Since the congress is very sensitive and profound about their constituents’ desire, the skill of Obama to rally their constituents and convince them to support his agenda gives him a unique place. It is very understandable that why Obama has gained so much success being the president. Communication with media The advances in media have revolutionized the world to a great extent. They have got every rights and authorities to raise the question against the situations and conditions whether good or bad are coming across a country. Likely, one of the biggest targets of media is the political leaders. Despite having bulk of pressure of the media and the nation, the calm and serious behavior of Obama guides him through easily under most situations5. This quality along with the ability of understanding the issues and conditions helps him to communicate easily with the commanding members of the Congress. He exactly knows that media can either break or make the situation and that it is the only way to communicate with the nation also, he does not panic and answer to their questions with ease and in a convincing manner. According to Barber one of the greatest abilities that make a President an Active/Positive one is his communication skills. In his portraits he has clearly mentioned that the presidents who have the ability to think about the future rather than roaming in past and the president who have the knack to deal with the media and Congress Members with calm and peace goes a long way in his political career. Conclusion It is quite true that not all Active/Positive presidents are successful but there are surely many expectations associated with the President Obama. It is very important for a nation to select an Active/Positive president for their country in order to live in peace and prosperity. Barack Obama has so far acted as Barber’s active/positive president and it would be more appreciable if he remains this way. Lastly it is very necessary to mention that Barber’s portraits do help to predict the presidential character of the president as we clearly get to know that what kind of person one is and what are his abilities. Bibliography Editra, Fried. “The Crucial Psycho-logical Dimension.” The New York Times, 1971. http:// /kmayer/828/Assessing%20Presidential%20Character.pdf. Jim, Malone. "Obama Fundraising Suggests Close Race for Party Nomination." Voice of America, 2007. http://voanews.com/english/archive/2007-07/2007-07-02-voa52.cfm. Mont, Abdon. "As lawyer, Obama was strong, silent type; He was smart, innovative, relentless, and he mostly let other lawyers do the talking." Chicago Sun-Times: p. 4, 2007. http://nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=CSTB&p_theme=cstb&p_action. Scott, Janny. "In Illinois, Obama Proved Pragmatic and Shrewd." The New York Times, 2007. http:// http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/30/us/politics/30obama.html?_r=1. Tammerlin, Drummond. "Barack Obamas law; Harvard Law Reviews first black president plans a life of public service." Los Angeles Times: p. E1, 2005. http://latimes/access/60017156.html?dids=60017156:60017156&FMT. Read More