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I always recall on his inauguration day my mom being genuinely really pleased and very hopeful for him/the US. This was coming from a 60 year old white Irish woman having no real interest in politics at all. Many friends etc felt the same way, a change for the better was coming.
I feel however he didnt live up to expectations on several levels.
Interested in your views on his presidency as a whole? The good bad or merely indifferent?

The way I judge a President and politicians in general is how they do in keeping campaign promises. So by that metric I don't think Obama has done a good job.

Whether you thought his plan to fix the country was stupid or not he didn't really deliver.

Good or bad, he is the president that eliminated the 'prior condition' exclusion for health insurance. That was an act of great good.

And I really enjoyed the way he dealt with that young inventor who built the clock, and was accused of being a terrorist. What better way to send a lasting message that America is about innovation, and not intimidation than letting that young child meet the President for his efforts, rather than coming down hard on those who accused him?

On the other hand, I do remember it as a profoundly inefficient presidency. The government shut down over budget issues, and we've been without a supreme court justice for months. He was unable to effectively operate as a unifying force. So I think I'd say he had a marvelous gift for the personal touches- I'm hard pressed to think of a more charismatic and genuinely kind president. On a macro level, the country did not run well, which I realize isn't just his fault.

The initial hope and promise quickly gave way to cold, hard political reality in the form of a Congress that was anti-Obama.

He spent a lot of time and political capital in order to obtain his ACA.

I think this difficult passage knocked the stuffing out of him.

Domestically, his economic recovery, whilst looking good on the balance sheet, failed to help those at the bottom that needed it. I believe that real time wage increases stagnated on his watch, despite the recovery....

His foreign policy was a continuation of the failure that preceded him, and often utilized the advice of those who had ill-advised GW Bush.

His failure to close down G'Bay, the number of civilians killed in his drone strikes, and of course, the shredding of the 4th amendment on his watch, are fail marks against his legacy...

Candidate Obama was a first class organizer and orator, but alas, that initial promise failed to transform into real political capital.

He made history as the first African-American to become President, and to be fair to him, brought dignity and class to the role of President, especially when he faced down the appalling and racist abuse from those who believed he was non-American, especially from one Donald Trump....

And I suppose he got Bin laden,

but all in all, I would have to rate Obama as solid, but unspectacular, but perhaps sometimes a nation needs that.

Final rating 3/5

There's already a thread for this:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/698575.page

Thanks!