“No one should have given Obama credit for the recovery . . .”
I assume this character is talking about a recovery so anemic no one was really able to much notice it? I’ve seen plots of growth rates coming out of recessions over the past 50 to 70 years, and that plot for the Obama years stands out in stark contrast to all the others in terms of its weakness and extensive lag time.
I think you can make a case that Presidents can’t do all that much to boost the economy, but they can sure do a heck of a lot (insane regulation, crony favoritism and electronic money-printing, to mention a few things) to mess one up.
GHW Bush notwithstanding, Obama had what is called “an L-shaped recovery.” The economy went straight to the bottom and stayed there.