Trump Wishes He Could Destroy Obama's Legacy. He Hasn't. And Won't.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

There has never been an American president so consumed with envy at his predecessor as Donald Trump. Consequently, there has never been a president whose legacy has been scrutinized in quite the same way as Barack Obama. That Trump would erase Obama’s achievements has served as a fantasy for Obama’s enemies on the right and the left (the latter, imagining that his shallow compromises could give way to True Socialism) and as a source of anxiety for his supporters. It has been asserted repeatedly as fact, most recently by my colleague Andrew Sullivan, who laments, “Obama’s Legacy Has Already Been Destroyed.”)

Obviously Trump has undone some of Obama’s work. But I think this conclusion makes three mistakes about Obama’s legacy: It understates its breadth, its depth, and conceptualizes the whole idea of a legacy in the wrong way.

Begin with breadth. The reason I wrote a book is that very few people, even people who follow politics closely or professionally, have been able to hold in their heads just how much Obama accomplished. Andrew is not alone in missing large swaths in his accounting. One of the most important elements of Obama’s legacy — indeed, at the time it was frequently said it would be the entire Obama legacy — was his response to the greatest financial crisis in 75 years. The stimulus, the stress tests that re-solidified the banking sector, and the auto bailout all collectively saved the economy from a second Great Depression. And all these measures passed in the face of total and frequently

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http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/05/trump-wishes-he-could-destroy-obamas-legacy-he-hasnt.html

For context Sullivan's editorial:


http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/05/obamas-legacy-has-already-been-destroyed.html

[ucrdem]

1. hey great article

agree 100%, Barack was a game-changer and a hard act to follow. Too bad. But sometimes I wonder if Trump isn't trying wreck the place on purpose out of pure spite.

[katmondoo]

4. I really believe Trump has been and will continue to wreck Obama,s legacy

[MineralMan]

2. Thanks for posting that!

[Iliyah]

3. t-rump and the Republican party have made Pres O's legacy

stronger and the sanity of who he is.

[RockRaven]

5. One way in which Trump can never touch Obama's legacy

is that Obama had basic human decency and a sense of personal dignity which Trump utterly lacks, everyone knows it, and Trump can't do anything to change it.

[lastlib]

10. PLUS the ability to speak in complete, intelligent sentences!

So much more!

AnusMouth is such a complete flop as pResident, and a total disaster as a human being that there is NO comparison to Barack Obama!

[Greybnk48]

6. Just as a symbolic gesture, I think I'm going to

start wearing my Obama necklace again. It's a really pretty sterling silver Obama symbol (the rising sun) that I bought in 2008 online. I have a bright orange Obama baseball hat too. I wonder what the reaction will be?

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

7. NEVER!!!

[aeromanKC]

8. Historians have already put Obama in the mid teens best all-time. (I've seen as high as 12th)

Trump will never get out of the bottom 3. NEVER.

[Kurt V.]

9. here is one

https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2018/05/americas-presidents-ranked/

[aeromanKC]

12. I like it!!

Trump is -10 and he hasn't even been indicted yet!! Could end up -100.

[Alethia Merritt]

11. Trump's legacy will be how he tried to destroy his predecessor's legacy.

And how he destroyed America while trying.