Barack Obama: Reflections on a Presidency.

Arguably, the cruellest aspect of politics is that once a leader has left office, neither the media nor the public he or she has served want to know or care. Since the recent Inauguration, it has been Trump, Trump, Trump – no surprise there – and the Obamas might as well not have existed.

The question is being asked, did the Obama administration leave a legacy? Will President Obama be remembered and, if so, for what?  He inherited an economic Armageddon but handed over America with a much stronger balance sheet and the car industry restored to life and health. However, failure to tackle the multi-trillion dollar debt must leave an area of concern. “Kicking the can down the road” was practiced by both the executive and legislative branches of government. 

Mr Obama’s flagship legislation, the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, is in danger of being shredded by Trump and his friends but even the doubting Republicans must acknowledge that 20 million more Americans now enjoy healthcare insurance and peace of mind about paying for their health needs.

American foreign policy since 2009 is open to criticism but President Obama was not one to commit American lives by sending ground troops to hot spots without an exit strategy. Mothers of those who served in the armed forces during his Presidency owe him a debt for keeping their sons and daughters as safe as possible. However, the use of drones must be open to question, especially when “collateral damage” has occurred.

Days before the Obama presidency ended, the President was interviewed on 60 Minutes when he said: “I’m proud of the fact that, with two weeks to go, we’re probably the first administration in modern history that hasn’t had a major scandal in the White House.”

Was the administration indeed scandal free? Of course, “scandal” is in the eye of beholder. President Obama certainly had his share of controversies. What of the hesitant handling of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill? Was the handling of the Benghazi attack scandalous? The Benghazi Congressional probes showed serious errors in security arrangements prior to the attack. It was the White House spin after the attack which uncovered the private e-mail server used by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Long waiting times at Veterans Affairs hospitals, disclosed in 2014, led to the resignation of the Secretary of Veteran Affairs. I am not aware of any other Obama cabinet official to resign under pressure. In 2012, CIA Director David Petraeus resigned but he was not of cabinet rank and it was for personal reasons, an extramarital affair.

I have compared these comparatively minor issues with recent previous administration scandals. Starting with the George W. Bush administration, Lewis “Scooter” Libby, chief of staff to Vice President Cheney, was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice relating to the outing of Valerie Plame, a CIA operative. Libby’s action, probably Cheney inspired, was revenge for Plame’s husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, disclosing a serious flaw in the Bush administration’s nuclear policy. Lives of many CIA informers were put in jeopardy as a result of Libby’s action. Bush commuted Libby’s sentence but did not pardon him. Bush and Cheney were also at the heart of the policy to water-board Iraqi suspects. This was tantamount to torture.

President Bill Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives but acquitted in the Senate. Clinton faced long-running probes concerning a property investment known as ‘Whitewater,’ leading to a perjury case involving Monica Lewinsky. Independent prosecutors appointed during Clinton’s tenure probed Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy who was acquitted and won the conviction of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros

The presidency of George H. W. Bush was relatively scandal-free, though Catalina Villalpando, a U.S. Treasurer, pleaded guilty in 1994 to evading federal income taxes, obstructing an independent counsel’s corruption investigation and conspiring to conceal financial links with her former company while in office. An independent counsel was also appointed to look into allegations that Bush administration officials looked at Clinton’s passport records, but no criminal violations were found.

There were numerous criminal probes of personnel during the Reagan presidency. The Iran-Contra affair led to indictments of Defence Secretary Caspar Weinberger, National Security Adviser Robert C. McFarlane, National Security Adviser John Poindexter and numerous other officials. Many were pardoned by Bush or had their convictions overturned. That Reagan himself avoided impeachment is often a cause of amazement. A scandal over defence contracts forced Attorney General Edwin Meese to resign. There was also a successful fraud investigation over HUD contracts.

President Jimmy Carter’s Budget Director, Bert Lance, resigned amid allegations of misuse of funds in a bank sale that predated his government service but he was later acquitted. Under Gerald Ford, Agriculture Secretary Earl Butz resigned over racist remarks. Will Mr Trump and his senior executives be subject to the same strictures?

Finally, the Nixon Presidency ended in resignation over the Watergate affair, as well as the conviction of numerous White House aides in arguably the biggest political scandal of the 20^th century which paralyzed the American government for two years.

So when it comes to scandal, President Obama stands well in comparison to his predecessors. And there is much of his Presidency which deserves applause. He showed that a black Chief Executive could govern for all people, black or white, young and old, Christian, Jew or Muslim. Racist attackers were confronted. When handcuffed by Congress, especially on gun control, he was measured and reasoned in response, although you could see anger and frustration in his eyes, especially when he had to cope with mass murders of schoolchildren. I hope Mr Trump will live to rue his mean-spirited and self-serving attacks on the achievements of his predecessor.

More than anything else, after a long absence since the 1950s, President and Mrs Obama brought back a strong sense of dignity and grace to the White House, as well as perseverance, common sense, decency and humour based on self-deprecation. I am saddened that this good man has left public life, at least for the time being. He certainly fulfilled my idea of “presidential.”