I'm not clear on something. You mention "26,000 drone strikes in 2016", and then claim he ignored Islamic terrorism. So, who were those strikes against? If they weren't to target ISIS and other terrorist organizations, what was the point?
And while the Bush administration decided to ignore the mastermind behind the plot that killed 3,000 Americans in a few hours and instead lie so they could get us into a pointless war that cost tens of thousands of lives, Obama gave the go-ahead for the mission that finally killed Osama bin Laden.
(Cool Obama Fact #237: When he met the members of Seal Team Six at the White House to congratulate them in person, he found out there was a dog involved in the mission as well. He insisted on meeting the dog....)Who ignored Islamic Terrorism again?
And on the Economy, there's the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that helps ordinary consumers fight back against predatory banks. It's just one part of the Dodd-Frank financial reform package, proposed by the Obama administration in June 2009. By the way, how's the stock market doing? How's the unemployment rate? Especially compared to what they were when Obama took office?
With regards to the Iran deal, would you rather Iran DID have nuclear weapons?
There's also the matter of "Soft Power". No, it doesn't mean you're "soft" and get pushed around in diplomacy. It refers to things other than military might that play a role in international affairs. How well you are seen to live up to the values you profess. Moral persuasion. Cultural influence. Being the "shining city on the hill" that others want to emulate.
"A country may obtain the outcomes it wants in world politics because other countries – admiring its values, emulating its example, aspiring to its level of prosperity and openness – want to follow it. In this sense, it is also important to set the agenda and attract others in world politics, and not only to force them to change by threatening military force or economic sanctions. This soft power – getting others to want the outcomes that you want – co-opts people rather than coerces them." - Joseph Nye,
Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics (New York: Public Affairs, 2004).
That's where America's REAL strength lies, and that's what Obama understood.
I'm not so sure Trump gets it.
(Cool Obama Fact #2: Since pretty much his first day in office, and right up until the very end, Obama had his staff present him EVERY DAY with ten letters out of the thousands he received. He'd always personally respond to a few of them.)Something else worthwhile? The First Amendment allows for the right "to petition the Government for a redress of grievances". In September 2011, the Obama administration launched the "
We the People" website, where anyone could take advantage of that right. A petition needed 100,000 signatures to attract official attention and get a response. Some of them, like the one started in November, 2014, asking the government to "Secure resources and funding, and begin construction of a Death Star by 2016", were clearly frivolous (but that one, since it met the threshold, got a response from Paul Showcross, a White House Science and Technology advisor: "The Administration does not support blowing up planets," he wrote. "Why would we spend countless taxpayer dollars on a Death Star with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship?"). But the one from early 2013 - to "Make Unlocking Cell Phones Legal" - was just one that actually led to legislation.
I'd call that a pretty good legacy......