Obama's wonderful legacy

It has become popular to express disappointment in Barack Obama. Many of us were carried along by the wave of hope in 2008, a time that now seems a long way back. The symbolism of a mixed race president, his great way of connecting and the many commitments have given way to a steady grind of small victories and stalemates.

But I think we are missing the point. Look at the big picture. My assessment of the concrete achievements of his presidency is spectacular, even only he can see things through in his final year on the job.

There are reasons we feel disappointed. Like all campaigns, Obama’s overpromised. Somehow we were led to believe that nothing was impossible with this president. And of course, while little is impossible, many things are mightily difficult.

Part of the reason for difficulties is that we all over-estimate the power of the president and forget the many constraints. The primary constraint is congress, and, lest we forget, that is generally a good constraint imposed by design, to prevent autarchy. Given some presidential candidates for 2016, that is still something to celebrate.

But congress has prevented Obama from making progress on several fronts. Closing Guantanamo has been blocked repeatedly. Gun control and immigration decency are almost off limits. Most important of all, the congress has the keys to the money, so any significant reform to tax and spending is simply out of reach. Congress, both parties, showed their true colours when they finally closed a budget deal at the end of 2013 – almost every major provision of which rewarded a special interest and arguably damaged the nation.

The final reason we lose sight of achievements is that they tend to become overshadowed by day-to-day events. Remember the screw up with the Obamacare website? That was a classic example of the operational obscuring the strategic.

So let us step back a moment and consider what president Obama’s legacy looks like being after 2016. I think it is impressive.

Perhaps the biggest issue facing the world is climate change. The lack of meaningful debate in US society is a disgrace, as is the greed-driven denial of special interests. Reaching international agreements on such topics has defeated previous leaders. Yet Obama has never lost focus on the topic. He came home with a ground breaking deal with China, and has set the example for others to follow leading up to the Paris conference. And his administration has played a clever game domestically, introducing many new constraints on emitters despite inaction in congress. You could argue that the world has finally turned the corner in responding to the climate threat, and that Obama is the prime reason why.

Next, look at world affairs. The deal with Iran, negotiated so painstakingly, is a game-changer, opening up prospects for progress in a large part of the world, while offering innocent Iranian’s the chance to suffer less. The statements from opponents have been breathtaking and only show how courageous Obama and Kerry have been, and how smart. This has been achieved without losing other Arab allies, and I sense some sort of end game in Syria may be possible in the coming months. Obama has stood up to Israel, politically a losing position in the US but somehow one he has finessed. It will be interesting to see where Netanyahu and his moneyed allies go from here.

Elsewhere, Obama tackled the running sore that was Cuba. He steered a generally successful path with China, and has helped to perhaps leave space for India to follow in its wake. We can snipe at the decline of relations with Russia, but I don ‘t think Putin left any winning strategies available. We can also look back at the Obama years and consider the absence of reckless mistakes: Georgia, Venezuela, Pakistan might have led his predecessors down dangerous paths, but he has generally avoided such calamities. For me, the biggest black mark on Obama has been his shameless use of drone warfare – but even there I am not sure his discretion was that high. Finally, Obama has been generally respectful to international bodies like the UN, a rarity among US leaders.

Economically, and considering his lack of real power, Obama has also succeeded. We forget the scale of the financial crisis engulfing his first months, negotiated with aplomb. Perhaps the biggest item remaining on his to-do list are the outstanding trade deals across the Pacific and the Atlantic – I remain optimistic for those. America is growing again and unemployment is down. True, inequality remains a running sore, but I can’t see anything more he could have done to tackle that. He has supported minimum wages as far as his power allowed, has also promoted free community colleges and universal pre-schooling to at least give opportunities to more people, and has argued in vain for infrastructure spending. And, lest we forget, millions of people previously denied health coverage now at least have that additional security.

Socially, Obama has been a beacon to us all. He has handled the racial issue with class and subtlety, and I believe the next leaps of progress will swiftly follow. He can take a small degree of credit for the remarkable progress in societal acceptance of sexual preferences, and also gender equality, where so much more remains to be done (Hillary?). He did what he could to help deserving immigrants – and actually that was quite a lot, through his executive orders. Without his leadership, America would be a still more divided place.

Finally, Obama has brought class, grace and humanity to his office. His sung response to the Charleston killings almost had me in tears. He made the difference on Ebola – perhaps a bit too slowly. His wife has been an elegant champion and graceful presence. I love his speeches, and rarely hear anything in them that lowers the tone of public discourse.

So with one or two finishing touches to come, there is much to celebrate about the Obama presidency. The world may not seem safer or stronger than it did seven years ago, but I am pretty sure it would have felt worse without his sure helmsmanship.

One thing that is amazing is the lack of recognition he receives at home. While the world rushed him to a premature (but now deserved) Nobel peace prize, in the US his supporters stay quiet while his detractors are relentless. In the mid-term elections, most democratic candidates did their best to distance themselves from their president, despite his track record. There are many reasons to want to be president, but seeking approval is not one likely to be rewarded, at least not until it is all over.

I also have great hopes for Obama after office. The heartwarming interviews of Jimmy Carter as he approaches the end of his life remind us that much can be achieved with energy, heart and the power of past office. Blessed with good health, Obama will achieve more miracles.

It is hard to overstate just how broken US democratic federal government mechanisms are, and how desperate is what passes as public discourse. Given this, it is truly remarkable that such a man as Obama managed to make it to the highest office, and it is even more remarkable how that office has not sullied him and how he has managed to use it to create an enduring legacy. I am in awe. With a following wind over the next fifteen months, I believe he will stand comparison with the greatest of his forebears.