The First Hundred
Fair or not, new presidents have been judged on their first 100 days since FDR, who in his first three months as president ushered in some of the most dramatic and transformational policy changes that our country has ever experienced. But, more than any of his specific policies or programs, it was the sense of hope that FDR was able to instill in Americans that was his greatest accomplishment during his first few months in office. No other president since — except perhaps, some would argue, Ronald Reagan — has been able to do that. Until Barack Obama.
During Barack Obama’s first 100 days there’s been vicious infighting within government, the worst economic crisis in 75 years, populist uprising, tax day protests, and other scandals. But Obama — the 47 year-old first-term Senator from Chicago with a funny name, big ears and a baggy suit, who two years ago no one could have ever imagined would be president of the United States — has handled it with the poise and prudence of an elder statesman. Despite all the distractions, all the noise and static, the man has never taken his eye off the things he promised — health care, clean energy, and balancing the economy.
Even as the cats fight on Capitol Hill, Obama has risen above the fray and projected strong leadership and vision for the country. Overall, as I sit here today, there is an unmistakable sense of hope and increasing confidence in the air. For that our president is to be thanked.
It’s still unclear what the historical implications are of Obama’s first 100. A lot has been done — the historic American Recovery & Reinvestment Act was passed; an ambitious budget that includes revolutionary health care reform is essentially in the can; and the Administration has proposed a cogent recovery plan for the financial industry that, while backed by government, applies free market theories and, at some level, requires the industry itself to fix the problem it caused. If he waited a while to take action on the banking crisis, it was because the financial industry was never at the top of his priority list.
But it’s still an open question as to how things will ultimately shake out with Barack Obama. Obama’s approval rating are the best since Reagan’s, but, as Reagan found out later in his presidency, public opinion can turn in a New York minute.
The New York Post ran an article listing 100 mistakes Obama made in the first 100 days. To be sure, Obama has made some mistakes. But if he’s governed imperfectly, he’s also been honest about it. “I screwed up,” he told a reporters after the embarrassing details of health czar nominee Tom Dachle’s tax returns and crony capitalism surfaced. So far, Obama seems to have the “teflon” quality that Ronald Reagan enjoyed.
Obama’s had to deal with a very deep divide in Congress, and he’s been caught in the crossfire a few times. On the one hand, activist Democrats are constantly tugging on the president’s pant leg — “Prosecute the torturers!” they cry. “Tax the bonuses!”
The Dems, moreover, love to compare Obama to FDR and New Deal — the touchstones of modern liberalism — and, indeed, prod Obama at every turn to usher in a new “New Deal.” But the truth is that Obama has his own unique style of governing that is far more moderate than the 32nd president’s — FDR, according to one biographer, “waged unrelenting class war and thrived on the vilification of his enemies” — and Obama’s vision for the country bears, at best, only a passing similarity to FDR’s.
Republicans, meanwhile, are vehemently rejecting everything Obama stands for. At least publicly. Many in the GOP, however, privately express a lot of respect and admiration for the president. In the public debates, they’re gambling that Obama may ulitimately screw up so that they can later say, We told you so. But given Obama’s charmed track record — the heart-stopping ease with which he rose to be the leader of the free world and is, with peerless skill and maturity, leading it forward — that could be a risky bet.
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