The presidency of the United States of America- acronym POTUS- is made legal by Article Two of the constitution of USA. This article vests several powers to the president of Te United States of America; head of state and government of the country, commander in chief of the USA army, leader of the executive branch of government. Article two also charges the president with the powers to ensure execution of the federal law, appointing of diplomats, judicial and regulatory officers, entering into treaties with other foreign powers on the consent and advice of the senate. The president can also grant pardons and reprieves and adjourn or convene the two houses of the congress when the circumstance is deemed as extraordinary. The president has also been the one to dictate the affairs of his party as well as decide on the foreign policy of the country even though this powers are not expressly vested on him by the constitution.
The President of the United States of America will serve a maximum of only two terms before stepping down and handing over power. He/ she may serve only one term if he is not re-elected president in a presidential election after his/her first term in office. A person who has previously served as president for a period exceeding two years is not eligible to be elected president on more than one occasion. The constitution stipulates that one term of the presidency shall be a period of 4 years, after which presidential elections will be held. The citizens of the United States of America indirectly elect their president through the Electoral College. This is composed of delegates who are elected by the citizens, and are expected to vote for the person on whose party they were elected to the Electoral College.
George Washington was the first president of America, elected in the year 1789. The current serving president, Barrack Obama, was elected into office in 2008. Between the period of George Washington and Barrack Obama, 43 other presidents have been elected into office, serving a total of 55 four year terms. Some of the famous names include: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton among other great presidents. These former presidents were popular amongst the public not only for their handling of wars, which were common in the yester years when they served, but for their general foreign and internal policy and personal charisma.
President Obama’s birthplace is Honolulu, Hawaii, on August 4th, 1961. He went to Columbia University and also Havard law school, where he got his degree in law. He has previously taught constitutional law and also worked as a civil rights attorney. He started his political career in 1997, where he was representing the 13th district in the Illinois senate (“Barrack Obama,” n.pag). He held this position until 2004 after which he contested the Illinois senate position and won on a Democratic Party ticket. His campaigns and subsequent victory in the Illinois senate brought him much national attention, something he would capitalize on to win the Democratic Party ticket to contest the presidency in 2008. Later that year, he beat Republican candidate, Senator John McCain, in the presidential elections to become the 44th president of USA (“Barrack Obama,” n.pag). Ever since taking office, he has been faced with several big issues to tackle mostly economic recovery and the war on terrorism. Basing on his handling of these two matters of severe national importance, and one of his personal traits, we can strongly say that President Obama is a good president.
Attention to detail
President Obama has sometimes been viewed in the light of the exact opposite to the man he replaced as president, George W Bush. Critics say that whilst Bush was decisive and moved fast (Marel, n.pag), Obama takes too long to make decisions and they even wonder whether he agonizes over decisions he has made after making them. Looking at this keenly, however, it is important to point out that Obama is not slow to make decisions because he is indecisive, but rather because he is looking to get all the information that may inform his decision. Jared Barnstein, former economic advisor to the vice president once said that the president was interested in very tiny details of the credit market such that Paul Vaulker, the former chairman of the federal reserve of New York wondered how why he was interested in those numbers. Things like this obviously will consume more time on decisions and one can easily be judged to be indecisive. Given the prevailing economic conditions at that time, though, where these seemingly unimportant numbers could make a huge difference, it seems is the right thing to do. Mr. Barnstein in his remarks to the BBC said that Obama saved the economy from falling off a cliff (Mardel, n.pag). If president Obama was to make a wrong move and the economy worsened because of ignoring certain details, his critics would pretty much hang him on accounts of being careless and incompetent.
Handling of economic crisis
President Obama Inherited an economy that was in depression when he came into power in late 2008. The economy was and is always a big factor in election campaigns. President Obama designed the economic stimulus package which was meant to save the economy and bring it back into an upward trend. The package, quantified at $ 787 billion, was to be used over a period of 10 years. Over 90% of the package was to be used in the first three years and the rest spread over the remaining years. The results of the plan were positive, with the plan already having saved 640, 329 jobs by October 2009 (Kimberly, n.pag), against the target of approximately 2.3 million over the period of 10 years. There have been many critics of the stimulus package, but it is fair to say that it has done more good than harm. Some political analysts have even suggested that anyone else would have handled the economic problem pretty much in the same way.
Handling of terrorism
President Obama came into power with the promise of improving security in the country and withdrawing America’s troops from Afghanistan and Iraq. This, even though still in progress, is on the right track. He has also shown commitment to fighting terrorism by supporting sanctions against countries like Iran, which is said to fund terrorists. America’s help has also been felt in Africa. During the Arab spring, the US assisted the rebels in Libya to overthrow the dictatorial regime of the late president Muhammad Gaddaffi. It is also during his reign that the much sought after terrorist Osama Bin Laden was killed. This has greatly boosted the confidence of the citizens in knowing they are safe.
The presidency is not a walk in the pak. It is important to register that the president may not get it right every time, but it should be good enough if he gets it right most of the time. In my opinion, Obama is a good President
Works Cited
“Barrack Obama.” the WHITE HOUSE. n.d. Web. 10 September 2012
Kimberly, Amadeo. “What Was The Stimulus Package?” About.com. (2012). Web. 10
September 2012
Mardel, Mark. “Is President Obama a Good Leader?” BBC NewsWorld. (2011). Web. 10
September 2011
