Evaluating the Impact of the Obama Presidency

This session had its roots in the Thirteenth Presidential Conference: The Obama Presidency – Hope and Change at Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York, April 19-21, 2023. The panelists were all participants in the conference and have expanded initial work based on dialogue at the sessions. President Barack Obama inherited an economic crisis, the Great Recession, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the No Child Left Behind initiative from his predecessor. As president, Barack Obama both continued programs initiated by past presidents and set new directions. In education, No Child Left Behind morphed into Race to the Top and Every Student Succeeds Act that continued standardized testing of students used to evaluate teachers, schools, school districts, and states. Obama continued the national focus of the war on terrorism following the September 11, 2001 attacks, and while he reduced American involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, he was unable to extract the United States from conflict in those countries. He helped negotiate the Paris Climate Accord but was unable to get the United States Senate to approve it, making it possible for his successor to withdraw the United States from the agreement. Decisions made by the Obama administration in response to the Great Recession to bail out banks and corporations too large to fail helped to stabilize the economy but contributed to the emergence of the Tea Party and MAGA movements among disillusioned white working-class voters. A major symbolic aspect of the Obama presidency was its impact on race in the United States. It made a powerful statement recognizing the United States as a diverse nation, but it also fueled the resentment of people unhappy with demographic shifts taking place.