From: Robert Jordan
Columbus
Eight years ago Barack Obama took office as our 44th president. He faced obstacles no other President since Franklin D. Roosevelt has had to contend with: two wars, a country (indeed the world) on the brink of a depression, 10 percent unemployment, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks still alive and free, and a host of other issues that in themselves would be daunting for any incoming president.
Barack Obama now takes his leave of office with the unemployment rate at 4.6 percent (the longest streak of consecutive job growth in history), 22 million more Americans with health insurance, marriage equality for our gay citizens, renewed ties with Cuba, agreements with Iran that stymie their nuclear ambitions and a vast reduction of troops deployed in the Middle East. American auto companies enjoy record profits, the housing market has largely recovered, gasoline prices hover at $2 a gallon and the stock market keeps climbing. And let us not forget Osama bin Laden is dead, as well as a host of other terrorist leaders. We must also keep in mind there has not been one single attack against the United States from abroad while Obama has been in office.
Certainly not all is perfect with our country and one could argue President Obama has had little to do with the improvements in our economy, especially gas prices and the rise of the stock market, but what is not debatable is that President-elect Trump inherits an economy vastly better than the one Obama did. I would argue he inherits a country vastly better, as well.
These accomplishments came about with no assistance from the Republican Party. Their tactics have included calling into question his birth origin, calling him a liar (during a State of the Union address) and finally failing in their constitutional duty to hold hearings to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court. All the while he has endured this with unfailing class and dignity.
President Barack Hussein Obama: a great American and a fine president.
