This book provides a broad analysis of the legacy of the Obama presidency, representing multiple perspectives across the partisan and disciplinary divides. The chapters in this book are grouped into three major legacy categories: domestic policy, foreign policy, and rhetoric. Domestically, the contributors examine the “Obama coalition” and its staying power in the age of Trump, President Obama's legacy regarding the use of executive power, his impact on intergovernmental relations, and his impact on the welfare state and education. On the foreign policy front, the central focus is on whether Obama was in fact much different from his predecessor, what impact he had on the Middle East and Afghanistan, and whether his pivot to Asia yielded the hoped-for results. The contributions in this book also aim to (re-)assess the Obama legacy in light of the subsequent efforts by his successor to undo many of the policies embraced and implemented during the Obama years.
Author(s): Michael Grossman, Ronald Eric Matthews, Francis Schortgen
Series: The Evolving American Presidency
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 208
City: Cham
Foreword: The Obama Legacy
Contents
Notes on Contributors
List of Tables
1 Introduction
References
Part I Domestic Policy and the Legacy of the Obama Presidency
2 Almost, Maybe, Kinda, Transformational: Barack Obama
Rural Populists
The White Working Class
Rural Populists and the Backlash Thesis
The New Politics and the White Working Class
Monopolies: The Rural Populist and Urban Liberal Glue
From Populist Anti-Monopolism to New Deal Liberalism
The Obama Coalition
References
3 Barack Obama, Intergovernmental Relations, and Economic Policy: Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, and Something Blue
Economic Policy Institutions
Something Old
Something New
Something Borrowed
Something Blue
Conclusion
References
4 Obama’s Education Policy: Is the Price of the Ticket a Moral Thicket?
History of Presidential Legacies
The Modern Era 1950–2008
President Obama’s Legacy in Education
Input from Practicing Teachers
Secretaries of Education—Duncan, DeVos, and Cardona
Concluding Remarks
References
5 How Obama Made Unilateralism Safe for His Successors
The Presidential Trend Toward Unilateralism Before Obama
Obama’s Unilateralism
Unilateralism from the Start
Justifying Unilateralism
Practicing the Unitary Executive in All But Name
Obama’s Unilateralist Legacy
Unilateralism from the Start
Unilateralism Across the Board
Institutionalizing the Super-Strong Presidency
Trump and Biden Follow in Obama’s Footsteps
Donald Trump
Joe Biden
Unilateralism and the Gaullist Presidency
References
Part II The Rhetorical Legacy of the Obama Presidency
6 Obligations to Act: The Rhetorical Legacy of the Rescues of the Domestic Auto Industry
Bailouts for the Domestic Auto Industry
Presidential Rhetoric and The Institution of the Presidency
The Obama Legacy on the Domestic Auto Industry
Obama’s Rhetorical Legacy in the Trump and Biden Administrations
Presidential Legacy and the Domestic Auto Industry
References
7 A Lighthouse and a Crossroads: The Rhetorical Strategy of President Barack Obama
Nesting Dualisms of Race and Identity
Nesting Dualisms and Visceral Politics
Nesting Dualisms and the Rule of Law
Conclusion: The Obama Legacy
References
Part III Foreign Policy and the Legacy of the Obama Presidency
8 From the Audacity of Hope to “Small Ball”: How Obama’s Retrenchment and Caution Contributed to Trump’s Rise
Globalist Hopes Raised and Dashed
Obama’s Strategy of Retrenchment and Posture of Caution Mismatches Public Fears
Conclusion: Discipline vs. Terrorism Fears
References
9 President Barack obama’s Counterterrorism Strategy in Afghanistan: Transformational and/or Transactional
United States Strategy Versus Reality, 2009–2014
Afghan Presidential Election of 2014
United States Military Withdrawal from Afghanistan
Operation Freedom’s Sentinel
The Pakistan/China Axis Impact on Afghanistan
United States’ Role in Afghanistan Beyond 2016
Conclusion
Obama as Transformational and/or Transactional
References
10 The Perils of Retrenchment: Barack Obama’s Middle East Policies
The Obama Modus Operandi: Mostly Risk Averse
Doldrums of Empire
Obama’s Promising Start
The Arab Spring and the Remaking of the Middle East
The Early Obama Second Term: What Could Have Been
Overtaken by Events: Obama’s Policy in the Post-Arab Spring Era
The Obama Legacy
Obama and Trump: The Continuity of Retrenchment
References
11 Containment, Engagement, and Continuity: China and the Evolution of obama’s Foreign Policy Toward the Asia–Pacific
From Bush’s Rebalance to Obama’s Rebalance
Economic Realities
Military Rivalry
Peer Competition
References
Part IV Conclusion
12 Obama’s Uncertain Legacy
Assessing Obama’s Legacy: Transformative, Transitional, a Little of Both?
The Take-Away
Works Cited
Index
