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In the last two weeks before the election, President Obama has increased his support for Hillary Clinton, in his mission to make sure that Donald Trump doesn’t make it to the White House in Washington D.C. Obama’s plight does not come as a surprise, as Trump has not made his distaste for the President exactly a secret. From questioning his citizenship to calling him the “founder of ISIS”, Trump has vowed to put an end to the mess Obama put the country in.

 

Has President Obama’s two terms really been as bad as Trump makes them sound? It certainly hasn’t been perfect, but when you look into the Obama presidency, it is clear that he did more for the United States than Americans think.

 

Being the first African American President in office, Barack Obama had to overcome many racial boundaries the men before him did not have to, and half the battle was proving to the American people that a person of colour could lead a nation. This has been a large step in removing racial divides in the country. For the first time, African American children can picture themselves leading the country - the same country in which their ancestors were once sold off as slaves.

 

When President Obama entered office in January 2009, the United States was at risk of going into another Great Depression. Obama was then responsible for cleaning up after George W. Bush’s major tax cuts; since then, he has pulled the country out of one of the worst recessions in history, by creating over 13 million new jobs, causing the unemployment rate drop from 10% to 5% in the last 8 years. Albeit the wealthiest 2% of America, the tax rate is as low as it has ever been in the last 50 years.

 

After the chaos and tragedy of 9/11, Obama provided justice for the American people, and most importantly the families of the victims, by killing Osama bin Laden in 2011, followed by ending the war for the United States in Iraq, after bringing back the last of the American troops by the end of that year.

 

In August 2016, he re-established U.S- Cuba relations for the first time in over 50 years, letting go of the policies made during the Cold War era, and starting a new friendship with the country no American president had set foot on for nearly a century.

 

Along with this resume, perhaps his biggest achievement of all was in 2010, when he won the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize, for "..his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." He is one of just four presidents to be awarded the prize.

 

Will Barack Obama be remembered as one of the great American presidents? For 240 years, the title has stood for only the most loved of leaders and faithful fathers of the nation: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy. Obama wasn’t loved by all, and he did make mistakes - but these past 8 years, he has proved that a good president puts the people first., and is a role model for the nation’s future leaders.

 

Will he be remembered as the best president? Maybe not, but his legacy of integrity, working for what you want, and the love for his country will be one for the books.