“Was President Obama the Worst President in U.S. History?”

“Was President Obama the worst president in U.S. history?”

President Obama’s approval rating has averaged about 48% to date in contrast to Congress’ approval rating averaging around 15% in the eye’s of the American public(Gallup, 2014).  The President’s job rating for the sake of this writing will be viewed from the vantage point of its effect on the American economy.

The job market hit a milestone this year, after 52 consecutive weeks of job growth, the market has recovered all the jobs lost in the 2008 financial crisis.

Job loss from the 2009 economic crash have been recovered to date.

Job loss from the 2008 economic crash have been recovered to date.

Those jobs gains came entirely from the private sector, as government jobs were flat.  This could be a turning point for workers and their wages.  Some feel that this a meaningless benchmark, because it doesn’t feel like a recovery.  7.4 million people are working part-time, even though they would prefer full-time hours.  These figures lead to the conclusion that the job market is tougher with a growing population creating a higher supply of available workers.  Even with the President’s success in job recovery, it may take another 5 years to create another 5 million jobs to bring down the unemployment rate to 5.5%(Shierholz, 2014).

The U.S. Treasury Department reported that the federal deficit has decreased from approximately $1.4 trillion dollars in 2009 to a dramatic $680 billion dollars.  This news comes in light of Republicans insisting that the president has been a poor steward of the economy.  It maybe noted that fiscal battles on capital hill have gone from a boil to a mild simmer as knowledge of the improvement reaches the voting public.

The country has heard the cries of ” trillion dollar deficits as far as the eye can see.”  Such cries are being replaced by a more rational prediction of the rapidly diminishing national deficit.  Jan Hatzius of Goldman Sachs expects the deficit to be down to $500 million dollars or just under 3% of GDSmithsonian 003P.  What is contributing to the reduction?  Is it less spending and less taxes on the rich?  Not at all, despite the pundits call for both measures to improve the economy.  President Obama has affected the deficit reduction by fueling economic growth with his stimulus program.  For decades deficits as a % of  GDP have been closely correlated to economic improvement.  In a nutshell, if the current trend continues, and if it plays out, America will be shocked!

The next area to  examine as a factor  to determine president Obama’s rating in history must come from Wall Street, the economic hub of the world.

Dow Jones Average

Dow Jones Average

The Dow remains a Bull market during its record breaking climb from the summer of 2008 where it closed at a low of 6,500 to the present incredible high.  The Dow continued upward to surpass its prior all-time record setting performance with an inflation adjusted average of 17,000 for the best milestone since the end of 1999.

Did the president’s policies help this remarkable growth?  The answer is a proven yes. As the the statistical facts found in the  above illustrated;  examples of growing financial markets,steady job growth,  a soon to be shocking deficit reduction, and a targeted stimulus policy which has worked in concert to bring American back from a near financial collapse in 2008.  So, why does the public believe he has been ineffective?  According to Nancy Pelosi in her television appearance, the president needs to do a better job of communicating his achievements.  His critics had avoided the true facts as they  twisted and turned information into half truths in an effort  to cause confusion and chaos with the public.  Obviously, after an examination of the U.S. economy and its related facts, President Obama is closer to being one of our foremost leaders.