In the 2014 Address to the Nation, a steady leader once insisted, “My fellow Americans, we are and always will be a nation of immigrants. We were strangers once, too.” The 44th president, Barack Hussein Obama II, became the first African American to represent the country of the United States. Seen as a legend amongst the Democratic Party, his continuous image of the head of state is what built a strong reputation around his leadership. After being sworn in through the oath of office – swears to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States – Obama takes on the next two terms, eight years, to rebuild the economy from the ground up. During the time of Obama’s presidency, his domestic policy was centered on enforcing Obamacare, access to affordable healthcare for all, and instituting a moderate tax increase on higher-income Americans in order to fund health care reforms. On the other hand, today tells a completely different story as the current president, Donald J. Trump has sanctioned a contrasting agenda. For instance, his domestic policy concerns tax cuts for the top 1% of Americans and to undermine Obamacare by making it non-mandated. The same goes for foreign policy, as Obama executed an Iran Nuclear Deal -Iran agreed to reduce machines that enrich uranium that is needed to produce nuclear weapons. This weakens the possibility of nuclear war between enemies- and dealt with the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. While Trump Rejects Iran Nuclear Deal by giving back the power of nuclear weapon production and implementing economic sanctions against Iran as a replacement. In addition, he has repeatedly instigated issues amongst America’s allies and stirred problems with Russian and North Korean leaders. If Obama were to take office today, his domestic strategies would prevail to that of America’s current president as he focuses on implementing solutions that positively impact the average citizen. This carries on to his foreign issues, as he would have more self-control when interacting with foreign countries.
The domestic policies of the Obama presidency were supported by rerouting the financial troubles to a road of recovery which started with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. This ultimately stimulated the economy as it took measures in modernizing the nation’s energy and infrastructure and provide funding to preserve jobs to further promote economic recovery. Though there was blowback, it’s important to understand that it takes failure to achieve success, in order to know what not to do next time. The next step towards recovery was establishing health care reforms which had been a leading Democratic Party goal since the presidency of Harry S. Truman. The goal was to persuade Congress to pass legislation to guarantee health care coverage for everyone else. He funded these reforms through implementing an increase in taxes to ensure funding to have the government help individuals and families cover substantial portions of their income. Soon the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was on its way into law as it would stand as a successful way to bring affordable health care to millions of Americans. Nevertheless, it helped protect people with pre-existing conditions from being denied health insurance as it gave a lifelong guarantee that health insurers cannot. All and all, Obama’s domestic strategies during his time as president focused on looking out for the good of the people and is the reason why his influence left a large impact after the stains left from the previous president, George W. Bush.
In the 2016 election Donald J. Trump, republican, came out victorious and had taken office with a long list of promises to fulfill to please Americans once he became president. This is where the country takes a turn for the worse, as Trump’s domestic policy falls short of representing the country after Obama steps down and passes the torch down to him. Trump’s domestic issues focused on immigration and building the “wall” which undermines Obama’s outlook on border security. The same goes for his stance on health care as he goes forward in initiating a repeal and replace towards Obamacare as soon as possible. In contrast, Trump wounds up keeping certain aspects of the program such as guaranteed coverage of pre-existing conditions and children’s eligibility to be covered by their parents’ health insurance until age twenty-six. The problem today is the fact that Trump continues to make significant tax cuts on the wealthy and purposely tears down Obama’s reputation and everything he built for this country has been compromised due to ignorance.
If Obama were to handle the domestic issues that are occuring across the country in today’s society then he would overcome the barriers that Trump faces due to Obama’s experience as a politican compared to Trump’s relaity star resume. After having two terms under his belt, he continues to stay invovled as his actions spoke louder than words which can ring true for Trump as well as he has been proven to abuse his power for his own personal and political gain. For this reason, Obama would enforce more legislations, pardon those who have been wrongly accussed, and pursure his healthcare stragety. With the country being as corrupted as it is right now, Obama would bring peace and no longer divide us against each other like Trump has. Immingrates would feel safe and welcomed, as they should, to live in this country and be proud of who is representing the United States. Many familes wouldnt fear I.C.E -Immigration and Customs Enforcement- or having the constant panic of being deported which could lead to seperation amongst fmailies. The trickle down theory would be utlitized to bring justice to the top 1% who deserve to be taxed for the sack of those struggling on the streets. The democratic party would be at rest knowing that if Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Beter Geinburg, were to pass the republican wouldn’t take over the majority of the seats. The same goes for the House and Senate majority as it is currently right leaning which has democrats on edge. Overall, if Obama were president today he would be aware and selfless especially when dealing with domestic policy as he would inspire change for the good of the people.
Foreign policy is where Obama struck home when taking office as he was under the impression of clean up control. This is reference to Obama’s inheritance of two wars: Iraq and Afghanistan. In February 2009, he announced a plan to bring troop levels down in Iraq from 160,000 to 50,000 by August 2010, including the removal of all combat forces. The remaining troops, he added, would be withdrawn by the end of 2011. Later, Obama granted the military’s request, initially made at the end of the Bush presidency, to send an additional 21,000 troops to Afghanistan, raising the American military presence there to about 60,000. One of his largest foreign policy accomplished extended beyond the wars he inherited or that broke out while he was in office. At the beginning of his second term, himself and the five other leaders of other nations began negotiations with Iran that resulted in an agreement known as the Iran Nuclear Deal. This is where Iran agreed to reduce machines that enrich uranium that is needed to produce nuclear weapons. Obama was able to weaken any possibility of nuclear war between America’s enemies or even allies. Another important thing to note is the killing of Taliban chief Mohammad Mansour and the founder/leader of Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden who was responsible for the terrorist attack on the United States in 2001. Substantially, Obama has proven to strengthen the nation’s foreign policy to further relations with countries overseas.
Trump’s approach on foreign policy is certainly one that is seen by many as out of the ordinary. For instance, he has outlined a deeply misguided foreign policy vision that is distrustful of U.S. allies, scornful of international institutions, and indifferent, if not downright hostile, to the liberal international order that the United States has sustained for nearly eight decades. It has even gone as far as rejecting relationships built by Obama’s presidency such as the Iran Nuclear Deal. He has a step further by allowing Iran to regain power of nuclear weapon production and has alternated to implementing economic sanctions against Iran as replacement. This decision showcases how irrational Trump is towards foreign countries as its actions are not for the good of the people. He has proven to disdained expertise when approaching ways to handle foriegn issues and resists coherent strategies making him lack in leadership skills. Overall, Trump’s proposition when administering forgein policies has shown he cannot be trusted to put the nation’s interest ahead of his own personal political aims.
If Obama were to take on the foreign issues affecting the nation today, he would overcome what Trump could not. Knowing what he accomplished during his presidency concerning foregin policy it can be determined that he would handle relations with opposing nations with awareness. For example, he would sustain the Iran Nuclear Deal and be cautious when it came down to negotiating with enemies or allies. The difference between them also consist of sanctions that were put in place during each presidency. From China to Iran to Venezuela, sanctions and other coercive economic tools are central to Trump’s maximum pressure campaigns against U.S. adversaries. Obama would be able to stay more neutral when dealing with sanctions towards foriegn countries compared to that of Trump’s aggressive approach. Ultimately, Trump is reversing Obama’s foreign policy and making it difficult for future presidents to go back on them. For this reason, if Obama were to be head of office now, then the country would be balanced due to his successful past of dealing with foreign countries with maturity.
In conclusion, if Obama were to be president today, his domestic policies would overcome America’s current president as he would take actions in putting forth realistic solutions that would look over the country with respect. This goes the same for his foreign policies, as he would have more awareness and maturity when interacting with foreign countries. After going through each president’s flaws and achievements it can inferred that Obama would take on the role with more experience and understanding of representing this country. Their domestic issues counteract each other as their viewpoint on the manor are completely opposite as Trump tends to reject what Obama built during his presidency. Unlike Trump, Obama has been scandal free and was never accused or under the impression that he should be impeached. He lead the way in furthering the nation as he helped legalize same sex marriage, fought to diminsh pay discrimination against women, signed an executive order that banned torture of prisoners and detainees, and his administration is the most diverse in history. All the good that Obama has done to change society for the better constantly looms over any of Trump’s greedy decisions that would end up benefiting him. Therefore, Obama’s constant pursuit of equal justice for all and making decisions that would benefit the country long-term is why he will go down in history as one of the greatest presidents to serve this country. Overall, what America needs is adult supervision, and that’s exactly what Obama would do if he was president today.