While Barack Obama could have done more, it can hardly be said that he didn’t do enough, or that his last years as US President were spent sitting as a ‘lame duck;’ particularly with the Republican takeover of the US Senate in 2014; which many felt would cripple, if not severely limit Barack’s designs, and portend a reversal of Signature bills and actions.
The Affordable Care Act (‘Obamacare‘); the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, a massive keynesian economic stimulus bill including major reforms to the nation’s education system; earmarks for clean energy, and expansions of federal government assistance; the virtually undiscussed Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act posing a challenge to Wall Street’s monolithic-power; executive action to enact regulations to curb greenhouse gas emissions, and to protect nearly 6,000,000 (6 million) undocumented immigrants (including elderly, women, and children) from deportation; ending the ban on gay and lesbian service in the military; raising taxes on those in the wealthiest tax-brackets; and while Barack didn’t directly rule on the Obergefell v. Hodges (576 UsSct 2015) case legitimizing same-sex marriage as an equal one (and not ‘separate but’ vis a vis ‘opposite sex’ marriage) in the eyes of the law under the 14th amendment to The US Constitution; 2 of the female supreme court justices he appointed, attorneys Sonia Sotomayor and Elana Kagen, did.
Barack Obama’s presidency holds symbolic-value as proof that the reign of (old, rich) white-men in all the leadership positions in the US Political System (and conversely, private-sector) is neither absolute nor irrevocable, and America (and by extension, any nation and/or organization) as a whole can be represented by an unlikely face, an improbable name, and a force of character and finesse’ that belies years; nigh centuries of oppression, victimization, and consignment to the ‘doghouse;’ and likewise; a lifetime of experience battling same.
Akira Morikawa 