by Nicole Belair, Staff Writer
Even if you haven’t agreed with some of President Obama’s plans and policies throughout the past eight years, I think we can all agree that he’s a pretty cool guy.
We’ll miss his dad jokes, mic drops, and his appearances on Jimmy Fallon to read thank you letters.
And of course, nothing beats the pictures of him and Michelle handing out candy on Halloween, as well as the endless Joe Biden memes.
But, looking back, what have been some of the best and worst moments of the Obama Administration? Let’s start off with a few of the best.
When it comes to foreign policy, President Obama has been relatively competent.
Although it took awhile for U.S. forces to start withdrawing from Iraq and Afghanistan, we’re finally getting out of there.
Our foreign relations are in a better state than they were when he first got into office, particularly our relationship with Europe.
Not to mention, Osama bin Laden is dead. Obama authorized the raid that ultimately killed Osama. It was a bold move, and demonstrated his ability to be a strong leader.
Obama also decided to support marriage equality. Of course, this probably should have happened sooner than it did, but we have to remember that it was a huge step for the President to make.
It involved political risk, as many politicians were and are still against marriage equality.
However, he was still supportive of equality, despite only a slight majority being in favor of it.
Throughout his presidency, Obama has been very pro-education and pro-science when it comes to climate change and alternative energy.
Climate change is incredibly detrimental to our planet and it’s hard to believe that in this day and age, people like Donald Trump can still call it a myth.
However, through Obama’s “Climate Action Plan,” he made plans to reduce carbon pollution, cut energy waste in homes and businesses, accelerate clean energy leadership, and reduce other greenhouse gases.
It’s going to take time and money for all of this to come to fruition entirely, but these plans are certainly a step in the right direction.
Now, Obamacare probably has more opponents than it does supporters. However, it’s at least a start to address health care reform, a major issue in our country.
Despite his success, his own 2008 campaign was full of false promises, as he ensured the public that by the end of his first year everyone would have access to health care.
Obama is a smart man, and had to have known that it would be near impossible. Obamacare still hasn’t been incredibly successful, but setting out to reform health care is more than a Republican would have done. At least he tried, right?
But although there were many good moments throughout Obama’s presidency, the administration has not been without fault.
The Executive Branch has been free of any huge, debilitating scandals. There were no family affairs, no Monica, no Watergate.
But, there was Benghazi and Edward Snowden. There were the various security leaks that many have considered to be a scandal.
Benghazi was a disaster and tragedy; the administration failed to protect the Benghazi mission, and the White House refused to reveal what the President was doing on the night of the attack. So, it was actually a couple of scandals in one.
There was also the “Fast and Furious scandal,” when the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives lost track of hundreds of firearms that made their way over the border into the hands of Mexican drug dealers.
This is just to name a few, but these scandals are often overshadowed by a great speech or cute pictures of the Obama family.
In addition, Obama has basically been a failure in Congress amongst both parties.
Republicans made it their primary goal to obstruct his policies as much as possible. Obama was never able to find middle ground or really even unify his own party.
It’s not entirely his fault that Republicans were constantly trying to spite him. But, that inability to compromise certainly prevented him from making some of the changes that he originally promised voters.
Third, our national debt doubled from ten to twenty-trillion dollars.
Obama is not solely to blame, as Congress can also tax and spend however they like. Still, spending ten-trillion more dollars in about eight years is just absolute insanity.
Nevertheless, I’ll miss President Obama once he finishes his term. I’m going to miss his encouraging speeches during times of trouble, and his willingness to embarrass himself on late night television.
I’ll miss his constant appreciation for his family and his bromance with Vice President Biden.
No matter what your political views are, we have been lucky to have such a classy, gracious family living in the White House for the past eight years.