Is Barack Obama a good leader?

[1]

What? Obama is a tyrant who at the same time accomplishes nothing!

He's one man in a nation where one man is supposed to not do everything.

You know where most of the blame should go? Congress, they bicker like 12 year olds and Obama is getting all the flack for their crap.

ANYTHING Obama does is going to earn him negative press. He could cure cancer and republicans would find a way to make that a negative.

President Obama puts thousands of doctors and nurses out of work.

I can see the headline now.

The reason the Democrats had so much trouble getting anything done even with 60 senators is that most of the gains in 2008 were actually conservative Democrats in marginal states.

I think he was trying to avoid being called a tyrant or such other nonsense by letting things go through normally, guess no one informed him that he was going to be slandered anyway, might as well do some good with your tyrannical power.

Obama is a president in the same sense as Clinton or Carter, rather than leading, he… Presides. Speaking of the Clinton administration, I always felt that its best effect was that he acted as a human cork on the whiskey jug of congress, preventing its moronity from leaking out and further harming the country.

This worked well during the Clinton years because there were no existing wars or financial disruptions from prior administrations that needed proactive work to kill, so Clinton's non-policies allowed the naturally healthy state of America to grow and prosper unimpeded (though he did spearhead some stupid stuff, like NAFTA & GAT.)

Obama, on the other hand, is saddled with a huge phony war and a broken financial policy, both of which would require some sort of action to sort out. although...

I hate to break it to ya, but there's no such thing as a good president. Unless you're defining "good" as "sticking to their electoral campaign promises", even then, I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who fits that definition.

He's okay, I guess.

Well, that's not entirely true. But the good ones are only noticeable in hindsight, not the present.

I'm not sure I can name a president who I'd call "good" to be honest with you.

Maybe Abe Lincoln. Maybe.

There have been a few good Presidents: Teedy Roosevelt was not bad. Of course, hindsight is 20/20 'n'all that.

edited 24th Apr '11 10:36:13 AM by SavageHeathen

Its pretty much impossible to tell if a president was a good one till years after their presidency ends.

Teddy Roosevelt essentially stole a country's worth of land from Colombia, people tend to forget that.*

That piece of land is now known as Panama, if you're curious.

edited 24th Apr '11 10:48:34 AM by SpainSun

Except for W, I think everyone can agree that at the time he seemed to be one of the worst and will continue to be one of the worst presidents America ever had.

No, I can tell you with definiteness that Andrew Johnson (not Jackson) was the worst president we ever had. Both as a person and as a politician.

at least in hindsight its easier to tell that W wasnt malicious. Just had shitty advisors and bad intel half the time and was trying to make the best of it anyhow.

I don't think we've ever had a president who's been outright malicious in intent (except, again, Andrew Johnson).

Go easier on Obama. He has the loneliest job in the world. Here's an analogy for you: It's easier to jump in a hole than to get out of it. And another thing, the reason he is so indecisive is that everyone else always tells him what he's doing is wrong. I imagine he begins to wonder if they are right.

^ That's his problem. He can't lead. He won't choose for himself.

Bush 43 at least stood for what he thought was right.

That's damning praise.

And I would not even assume it is true. I always felt GWB would stand for whatever he thought was expedient.

edited 24th Apr '11 12:01:54 PM by blueharp

Add Wilson and Hoover to the list of bad/unsuccessful presidents, IMO. And Teddy, fun though he was, did support eugenics, as well as being pretty imperialistic.

I feel sorry for Obama. He's tried very hard (or at least appeared to) to make everyone happy, and gotten very little in return. The Republicans have been insane, and the Democrats won't stop bickering. The supermajority probably should have been used violently, but hindsight's twenty-twenty.

edited 24th Apr '11 12:44:41 PM by Ultrayellow

A good leader, no.

A good president, yes.

The two are not nearly the same thing. W. Bush was a good leader but a horrible president. Wilson was a good leader but a horrible president. Clinton was a bad leader but a good president. Truman was a bad leader but a good president.

Yeah, W bush was great at leading America...into the ground.

He gets a free pass for build the freaking panama canal.

Jackson either wasn't so hot, the man did gun down members of his own staff and there was that whole Trail Of Tears thing as well, where he forcefully remove the the noble na'vi for their sacred home tree

With Obama... lets not beat around the Bush. After eight years of 'Dubya' most people would be willing to elect a discarded piece of lemon if it would get the republicans out of office.

edited 24th Apr '11 3:52:51 PM by joeyjojo

Oh yeah, Jackson was a piece of work.

Great leader, should've been impeached for the Trail of Tears. The high point of Jackson's whole presidency was the election itself.