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Obama Is Unlikely To Become One Of The Great Presidents
Tampa Bay Times ^ | January 21, 2013 | Robert J. Samuelson

Posted on 01/21/2013 5:48:44 AM PST by Iron Munro

Edited on 01/21/2013 7:51:52 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]

The "legacy thing" may be harder than Barack Obama imagines. Beginning his second term, Obama has a focused, though unstated, agenda: to achieve presidential greatness in the eyes of historians and Americans. In this, he will almost certainly fail. He is already a historic president as the first African-American to be elected, but there is a chasm between being historic and being great.

Presidents are ultimately judged not by their total record, or by their ability to enact their agendas, or by their popularity. They are judged by whether they get a few very big decisions right or wrong. Lyndon Johnson is mostly remembered for failure in Vietnam; it overshadows the passage of two landmark civil rights bills and approval of Medicare and Medicaid. Richard Nixon is not celebrated for creating the Environmental Protection Agency, expanding food stamps or opening talks with China; Watergate dwarfs all.

These appraisals are made while a president is in office and, more definitively, after he's left. Does a president's performance stand the test of time based on what happens later? Did his policies advance or retard the nation's well-being? Were they wise or simply expedient? Depending on the answers, much else can be forgiven or forgotten, as Robert Merry shows in his engaging book Where They Stand: The American Presidents in the Eyes of Voters and Historians.

Consider Harry Truman. For his last year in office, he was deeply unpopular. His approval rating hit a low of 22 percent. The Korean War frustrated Americans; the White House was accused of cronyism. Yet, historians rank him in the top 10 presidents. Merry relates Truman's reaction to the Soviets' 1948 overland blockade of Berlin "to starve out the city and bring it under the Soviet yoke." His top advisers concluded that U.S. withdrawal was inevitable.

Excerpt, read more at tampabay.com


TOPICS: Editorial; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: bho44; pbama; presidents
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The Obama Presidency will be defined by the smallness of the man.
1 posted on 01/21/2013 5:48:52 AM PST by Iron Munro
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To: Iron Munro
The Obama Presidency will be defined by the smallness of the man.

And the largesse of government.

2 posted on 01/21/2013 5:52:15 AM PST by unixfox (Abolish Slavery, Repeal The 16th Amendment!)
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To: Iron Munro

One of the all time worse.


3 posted on 01/21/2013 5:52:28 AM PST by Biggirl ("Jesus talked to us as individuals"-Jim Vicevich/Thanks JimV!)
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To: Biggirl

wurst ?


4 posted on 01/21/2013 5:54:09 AM PST by Eric in the Ozarks (In the game of life, there are no betting limits)
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To: Iron Munro
Obama could care less what grade he gets. It's all about "I Won".

And why did he win? Pure demographics...Blacks, hispanics, Dem sheep....

He has ctually beat the intention of the Electoral College. It was all a numbers game.

I consider him "The Pretend President"....Because he has made my country "unreal"!

5 posted on 01/21/2013 5:54:15 AM PST by Sacajaweau
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To: Sacajaweau

......And VOTER FRAUD, pure and simple.

The rest are secondary.


6 posted on 01/21/2013 5:56:09 AM PST by Biggirl ("Jesus talked to us as individuals"-Jim Vicevich/Thanks JimV!)
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To: Eric in the Ozarks

wurstest


7 posted on 01/21/2013 5:57:32 AM PST by Sacajaweau
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To: Iron Munro

To 47% of the people, he already is one of the greatest presidents. The media will continue to work on the rest.


8 posted on 01/21/2013 5:58:26 AM PST by mmichaels1970
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To: Iron Munro
Through no fault of his own, Obama will not be joining them.

Obama will be held accountable for his choices. We will determine whether or not he is at fault.

9 posted on 01/21/2013 5:58:32 AM PST by skeeter
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To: Iron Munro

America is facing a mortal peril during the Obama presidency. That peril is the Obama administration.


10 posted on 01/21/2013 5:58:46 AM PST by ZirconEncrustedTweezers ("I'm not anti-anything, I just wanna be free." - Mike Muir)
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To: Iron Munro

“Obama will be denied a similar opportunity because, for all the nation’s serious problems, none yet rises to the level of mortal peril. “

Obama himself represents mortal peril to the Republic.


11 posted on 01/21/2013 5:59:08 AM PST by Afterguard (Liberals will let you do anything you want, as long as it's mandatory.)
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To: Biggirl

I have no doubt there was voter fraud. There should be no early voting OR absentee voting unless absolutely necessary.


12 posted on 01/21/2013 5:59:24 AM PST by Sacajaweau
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To: Iron Munro

0bamao is already the worst president in my lifetime of more than 60 years. The Kommie Kenyan Kaliph.


13 posted on 01/21/2013 6:00:27 AM PST by Westbrook (Children do not divide your love, they multiply it.)
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To: Iron Munro
Well, they stole the election right from under our own eyes, so now we have four years of this to look forward to.

Michelle Obama: "All this for a damn flag!"
Michelle Obama: all this for a damn flag read lips
↑ Click the image above to see the full video on YouTube. ↑

Obamas hate america

14 posted on 01/21/2013 6:01:33 AM PST by Bon mots (Abu Ghraib: 47 Times on the front page of the NY Times | Benghazi: 2 Times)
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To: mmichaels1970

.....Or so they claim.

This poster will continue to resist.


15 posted on 01/21/2013 6:02:15 AM PST by Biggirl ("Jesus talked to us as individuals"-Jim Vicevich/Thanks JimV!)
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To: Iron Munro

Obama is great... a great failure at everything he touches except getting elected.


16 posted on 01/21/2013 6:02:49 AM PST by TexasFreeper2009 (Obama lied .. the economy died.)
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To: Sacajaweau
There should be no early voting OR absentee voting unless absolutely necessary.

Like entitlements, we've gone over the cliff on that one. Anyone attempting to make those changes will be accused of voter suppression and racism.
17 posted on 01/21/2013 6:03:15 AM PST by mmichaels1970
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To: Bon mots

It was a stolen election, that is why I am learning to ignore the nonsense for the next four years.


18 posted on 01/21/2013 6:03:22 AM PST by Biggirl ("Jesus talked to us as individuals"-Jim Vicevich/Thanks JimV!)
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To: Sacajaweau

What does early voting matter if you’re going to allow busloads of Somali’s to vote, banners supporting Obama over the polling booth, and 141% voter turnout?


19 posted on 01/21/2013 6:03:37 AM PST by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: Iron Munro

Obama will be denied a similar opportunity because, for all the nation’s serious problems, none yet rises to the level of mortal peril.
............................................................

Where is the fool— FOOL-—damned Fool that wrote this nonsense.

Muslims are rising everywhere, Iran is building a nuke Korea has nukes, Obama is closing down OUR nukes.Christians are under attack in the Middle East and China is threatening Japan and Taiwan and building aircraft carriers.

We have a weak ,Muslim loving, ignorant,cowrad in the White house and this fool thinks we aren’t in peril.

Obama will never rise to the occasion as other Presidents have, he is too busy disarming us and filling our military with queers.


20 posted on 01/21/2013 6:03:53 AM PST by Venturer
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