There are numerous articles and plenty more to come, not to mention books, about what the legacy of Obama's presidency will be:

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/ ... nts-213487

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/20 ... egacy.html

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/44 ... presidency

http://www.theroot.com/articles/politic ... as-legacy/

How do you guys think both he and his presidency will be remembered?

He will be remembered as a good President. No major mistakes and the country did well enough during and directly after his Presidency.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I think they will look on him fondly, but also as an opportunity squandered. He was the ultimate compromise president, and while there was a chance to issue a New Deal for the 21st Century he tried to do just enough to avoid disaster.

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Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?

The thing is we didn't really need a "New Deal for the 21st Century". Things aren't perfect by any means but we've mostly recovered from the housing crisis and we are in a stronger position economically than much of the world especially if oil prices stay low.

It sounds great to dream about changing everything but you don't do that because too many people bought houses they couldn't afford.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I am extremely disappointed by Executive overreach during his tenure, which we saw in nearly every major department. However, it was merely a symptom of partisan fighting between Congress and the President. Clearly, the President was too aloof to work with Congress, and the Republicans had their oppose anything Obama wants agenda. That was evident by not passing the TPP trade agreement, which is a core Republican belief.

But you are correct Rick. He made no major mistakes. That will play to his benefit as long as the Middle East/ISIS stuff does not spiral so far out of control as to precipitate major global military conflict. Domestically, things recovered slowly and steadily.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

I think he will be remembered as somewhat of a disappointment. I think a lot of people have been reluctant to criticize him because they didn't want to be tagged with being racist.

He came in vowing to change Washington and he essentially doubled down on failed capitalist policies.

I will always believe that the bailout was a mistake. Should have allowed the financial industry to correct itself.

He also virtually ignored the plight of the dispossed for the entirety of his presidency. Poverty worsened under him and helping poor people never appeared to be a priority.

Health Care Reform will be his signature achievement for better or worse. That will be his legacy.

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The bailout was a mistake, but that was done on Bush's watch. They should have let the too big to fail fail to teach them a lesson about gambling and losing. Now we have a bigger problem. That is not Obama's fault.

He was never going to meet the high expectations of his first Presidential campaign. I wish he could have healed the partisan divisions in this country, but the Republicans had no interest in that.

But how can we complain with sub-5% unemployment, finally rising real wages, and a now stable housing environment and financial system? At the end of 2008, a lot of that was in question. Europe still has many countries with double digit unemployment.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

It's hard to say how things are going to shake out but he's probably going to have the Fall of Europe on his record and possibly WWIII.

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Freedom is our Strength.

nice guy. better than the guys before and after. not sure what else.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

And that's why I mention it depends how his non-interventionist strategy works out in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. It could go the way of Neville Chamberlain. But I was certainly in favor of pulling back from foreign engagements in the wake of the Iraq disaster.

The failure of the Euro Zone is not his fault. You can't have political union without a fiscal union.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

I would say this is well said and pretty accurate.

As with anything there will be some who blindly praise him as a great president and there will be some who blindly criticize him for anything and everything.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Oh, thats it?

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The low unemployment rate is mostly a product of unemployed people who have left the workforce. There hasn't been job creation since he has been President. The top 1% has benefitted greatly since he has been President and no one else.

Politically speaking he has been a disaster. He really hasn't worked with either side and tried to get anything done. Not just Republicans but Democrats also.

He has been a no show on the issue of African American poverty. Has never really raised the issue in 8 years. He definitely has never attempted to address it.

Democrats have lost a great number of seats since he has been President and the reason for the "reset" has a lot to do with him.

He should have stayed out of Libya and should not have made empty threats with regards to Syria.

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10 million more people have a job today than the day he took office. I don't know what it means but jobs must have been created. maybe he didn't have anything to do with it.

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PAYEMS

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

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The collapse of the EU isn't unrelated to the diasters in the Middle East. Granted, it started with Bush II, but Obama continued the policy of replacing strongmen with Islamic theocracy with Europe then being flooded with economic refugees.

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Freedom is our Strength.

I'm somewhere in between BRick and LTG but probably closer to LTG. One of the best campaigners ever but a terrible politician.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

That's a oversimplification at best at what went on during the housing crisis, and we have basically done nothing to solve the too big to fail banking system. Trump was elected because people in the United States feel like globalization and the direction the economy is going are leaving them behind. We've limped along at near zero percent interest rates for the past eight years, but there are still many concerning economic statistics about the level of savings that most Americans have. There are major disruptions coming through automation, and the student debt crisis was basically kicked down the road.

There was an opportunity to make massive infrastructure upgrades, create some sort of national job training/public service type initiative and it's all fallen to the wayside.

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Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?

Agreed, there was very little change and he had control of the house and senate when he took office for two years. His healthcare reform was initially a good thing, by the time it passed and was loaded with pork it was pretty useless.

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On African American poverty- really disappointing. Obama admitted that he smoked pot, yet he did nothing to try to end mass incarceration for non-violent drug offenders other than commute some sentences. Even that would have been a great first step. Ending the War on Drugs should have been a priority.

Also, he should have done something about Black Lives Matters. Launched an investigation or called for new police standards.

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Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?

He didn't lead. He left it up to the Democrats and lobbyist. Same with the stimulus package. He tried to start negotiations with Republicans by meeting them somewhere in the middle and they rightfully asked for more. He's one of the worst negotiators ever. Biden was able to get deals done because he built relationships. President Obama didn't have the patience for that kind of work.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Some of these things were going to be hard to do simply because he was black. Not saying that he couldn't have tried though.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

He'll replace Ulysses S. Grant on the fiddy.

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

It wasn't a symptom of his time. It was a continuation in the belief of the primacy of the executive he inherited from his predecessor.

I had really hoped for a more idealistic presidency from him. I expected someone steeped in constitutional law to understand the danger of the overreach of the executive for the past decade and have the personal self control to end it. He did not. I have no hope that there will ever be anyone in the future such discipline. Should someone get into office in the future, it will be so embedded into the "powers" of the presidency from the past two decades that no one will even think to question whether it is proper.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Yes.

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you are asking a guy to push through massive poverty programs in a country that just elected Donald Trump.

He's not stupid.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

I agree. Look at the whole Obama is giving away free cellphones smear. Yet, at the same time I felt like he owed something to the people who came out and voted for him. It would have meant something to provide some evidence to these people that their votes and opinions matter, and that the president was gong to make an effort to help them.

Obama was going to be attacked and race baited regardless.

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Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?

A man who voted "present" 134 times while in the IL legislature shouldn't have been saddled with the expectations of actually having to be a leader.

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Just like Bush is remembered as the guy who was so bad he made it possible for a black guy to win, Obama will be remembered as the guy who was so bad he made Trump possible.

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No doubt. It has been a running trend throughout our history that each President seems to take the cumulative power of the last and add more. It has been exacerbated by the lack of Congressional cooperation.

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Hawaii (fuck) You