On Nov. 4, 2008, Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States. With much hope, the country looked on as this young charismatic leader told of his plans to return this country to its former glory with “change you can believe in.”

Two months later with much Pomp and Circumstance hundreds of thousands lined the mall in Washington, D.C., while millions more watched at home to witness his inauguration and the history that was unfolding. The feeling was our country was finally heading in the right direction and we could move forward and escape some of the mistakes that the former administration had made. The entire country was ready for that change.

Almost immediately the president was being graded on his job performance. Never before in our history had a newly elected president been under such scrutiny. I remember reading a letter to the editor of another local paper just a few weeks into his presidency. The reader had taken the stock market as a guide and compared it from election day to inauguration day up to that day. It seems that the market had made steady declines since the president was elected and this made his presidency, still in its infancy, a failure.

It was as if he had been in control of domestic policy since the time the votes were done being counted.

One of the first official milestones that he was graded on was his first 100 days in office. This might have been his own fault for setting that benchmark. He had made clear that he was going to hit the ground running. I don’t think that anyone expected him to solve the unemployment problem, save the credit and banking industry, fix the failing automotive industry not to mention end two wars. At least he was trying, and that is more than can be said for the previous administration. President George W. Bush was telling us how strong the U.S. economy was just up to the point that the bottom fell out. I got the feeling that he believed by remaining steadfast that the free market would fix itself and that he had to show strength as leader of the free world. Not until it was clear that we were in a downward spiral did his administration attempt to solve the problem at hand.

Probably the most unfair evaluation of the president’s tenure came just last month. The president decided that he would use his influence and attempt to sway the International Olympic Committee in choosing his adopted hometown for the 2016 summer games. The president flew to Copenhagen, Denmark as the U.S. Olympic committee was pitching Chicago to host the games. As you probably know Chicago was not chosen and Obama’s critics had a field day. One cable news organization, (it rhymes with BOX BLUES FLANNEL) said it diminished the office, by reducing the president to a pitch man comparing him to the late “Billy Mays.”

I believe that the president knew going in that Chicago was a long shot at best and he gave it his best shot but the decision was made long before he decided to pitch the Windy City. Many people thought that his place in the international community had quickly diminished until just a few days later he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Of course his critics quickly said that it was undeserved to which the president readily agreed as he accepted the honor as “a call to action to confront the common challenges of the 21st century.”

The most recent appraisal of his performance came just last week as the nation braced for the “crucial” off year elections. Some people called the two governor’s races in Virginia and New Jersey a referendum on the president’s approval. Of course these two isolated elections had no effect on Obama’s presidency and should not be considered otherwise.

Last week some disappointing unemployment numbers were released. The figure was released of 10.3 percent unemployment for the month of October it was said that it was the highest rate since 1983.

A quick history lesson shows that it was the middle of the third year of Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Reagan is considered by some to be the greatest (conservative) president of all time. Of course he inherited the worst economy, at the time, since the Great Depression. Now the recession that Obama inherited is considered worse.

President Obama has been in office for less than 10 months. He has made great strides but there is still a lot of work to do. I think that he would be the first to admit that. I believe that he has good intentions and I think the results of last weekends vote on the President’s health care bill and the stock market hovering over 10,000 prove that we are moving in the right direction. Why don’t we hold off judgment on his presidency for a couple more years? I suggest that we have a referendum on his progress in November 2012.



Matthew Nash thinks his column is as fair and balanced as any of the cable news networks. He can be reached at dmatthewnash@gmail.com