Often, leaders are remembered for their failures rather than their accomplishments.
American presidents are no exception to this rule. According to C-SPAN.org, the worst U.S. president of all time is James Buchanan, famous for his role in the Dred Scott case and for his lifelong single marital status.
Richard Nixon, the 37th president, will be most remembered for the Watergate scandal. However, it would be an injustice — and in bad taste — to not consider all of a leader’s actions when evaluating them.
For instance, despite the fact that pseudo-liberals love to denigrate former President George W. Bush for his military endeavors, the former Republican president gave more aid to Africa than any other American president — an accomplishment that often goes unnoticed.
Under the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief program, Foreign Policy reported the U.S. has spent $44 billion on combating AIDS, an expenditure that, according to Secretary of State John Kerry, has saved 5 million lives.
This brings us to President Barack Obama, a man of African descent, who has proposed cutting the AIDS relief program budget.
How will the 44th president of the United States be remembered?
When evaluating a leader, one should examine both competence and catastrophe — so examine we shall. Faced with an economic downturn, two wars and the rising threat of Islamic extremism, Obama inherited a number of headaches when he assumed office in 2008.
During his first term, Obama accomplished victories as historic as repealing the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and as minor as getting the FDA to regulate tobacco, and only homophobes and tobacco planters could oppose such progress. He also passed health care reform and saved the American auto industry.
With such progressive policies, why would anyone define this president by failure?
Well, there are four notable failures that people may choose to remember Obama by.
By the time he moved into the Oval Office, the president had promised to close the infamous Guantanamo Bay prison.
According to NPR, the prison was supposed to be closed by executive order but was opposed by legislation that prohibited any detainees from being moved to the U.S.
Similarly, Obama also advertised himself as a candidate against the Patriot Act in order to distinguish himself from Bush.
However, the massive and overly intrusive PRISM scandal left the president exposed. According to The Huffington Post, PRISM allowed the NSA to collect phone records and other personal information.
Aside from his post-9/11 Bush-like policies, the greatest defeat that the president has suffered may be in the hands of a domestic enemy rather than a foreign one: the NRA.
A series of mass shootings have scarred the Obama presidency, and these were followed only by brief rhetoric and congressional impotence.
It seems as though Obama may be a president who cannot follow through on his promises — or perhaps an idealist confined by the restrictions a Republican legislature has to offer.
Regardless of how you will remember the man who won the Nobel Prize, one thing should be painfully obvious: Obama shouldn’t cut aid to Africa.
Richard Vieira is a UF political science senior. His column runs on Fridays. A version of this column ran on page 6 on 9/20/2013 under the headline "Public perception of Obama will plummet"
