DON SURBER: Historians Sense Obama Failed.
Only 12th best?
Gee, you would think in light of the last eight years of hosannas from the press, Barack Obama would rank with Washington and Lincoln among America’s academics. But nope, he was only 12th. . . .
The rankings by category show a distinctly affirmative action grading curve.
For example, he ranks third in “Pursued Equal Justice For All,” ahead of Grant (reconstruction and the Civil Rights Act of 1875), Coolidge (gave Indians citizenship), Eisenhower (sent the 101st to enforce school desegregation and the Civil Rights Act of 1957), and Truman (desegregated the military). Frankly, I can find nothing in Obama’s portfolio that speaks to equal justice for all. The court legalized gay marriage without him. A gentleman’s C puts him at 22.
Eighth in economic management? He added $9 trillion to the national debt and we never recovered from the recession he inherited. Bottom 10 in that category.
Twenty-fourth in international relations? He bombed countries without provocation, armed the Islamic State, and let Iran develop nuclear weapons. Bottom 10 in that category.
His domestic policy consisted of Obamacare, which elected a Republican House in 2010, a Republican Senate in 2014, and a Republican president in 2016.
Obama leaves the White House having achieved nothing positive on the economic front, nothing positive on the international front, and nothing positive on the domestic front.
He’s the best black president, though, and given the way he poisoned the racial well, he’s likely to hold that status for quite a while.