Yes We Can: Eight Years of Progress

Barack Obama entered the office as the first African-American president of the United States. Though faced with steep unemployment rates, a dilapidated economy, two ongoing wars and the aftermath of the housing market failure, the Obama administration has shown merit in its eight year occupation of the White House.

The Obama administration ferociously combatted each issue it undertook and, despite an often disagreeable Congress, often came out on top. December of 2016 boasted a fairly low unemployment rate of 4.7%, statistically below the historical median. This proved quite the accomplishment as compared to the daunting 7.6% unemployment rate the Obama administration inherited from Bush’s presidency. In Iraq and Afghanistan, US troops stationed in active war sites fell to about 8,000, as compared to George W. Bush’s high of 132,000 troops. Most marked of the administration’s accomplishments was the introduction of universal healthcare, or Obamacare. Before the enactment of the Affordable Care Act, insurance companies were legally permitted to deny healthcare coverage to individuals with pre-existing conditions like asthma, diabetes, or cancer. Obamacare has not only ensured limitless healthcare coverage, it has also granted all Americans– regardless of age, socioeconomic status, or the nature of their medical condition– access to quality healthcare insurance.

The Obama administration showed an unparalleled undertaking in the area of foreign policy. In China, the Obama administration actively worked for creating a system of constructive cooperation rather than undermine the integrity of the rising superpower. This diplomatic approach– pushing for partnership rather than rivalry– strengthened the ties between China and the United States despite the existing economic competition between the two nations. Furthermore, the Obama administration recently lifted the long-standing trade and travel restrictions on Cuba, obliterating the tense remnants of the Cold War. By normalizing diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba, the Obama administration unwound a political knot of tension that according to some, if left alone, would surely fester. Barack Obama is the first U.S. president to touch Cuban soil since 1928.

At the heart of it all, the Obama administration may not be remembered for its policies. It will, however, be remembered for its leader. For the last eight years, Barack Obama has shown the dignity, charisma, and sincerity that should be emblematic of any United States president. Barack Obama has been our president, but he has also been the man that crooned “Amazing Grace” at the funeral of a man he never knew. He is the man that openly wept as he spoke about gun control in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting. He is the man that worked in tandem with protesters at Standing Rock to ensure the preservation of ancestral land. If only one thing is remembered about Obama’s eight years in office, it will be the passion and sincerity with which Obama served his fellow Americans.