CNN issues Obama’s final report card
On January 10 CNN published a very good article on Obamas work and legacy as president of the United States with the title: “Obama’s final report card: did he live up to his promise?”. In this article, CNN issues Obama’s final report card by asking 11 different authors to sum up his two terms of office as well as his biggest achievements and failures from their point of view. In the end of their comments, each author gives Obama a final grade.
I enjoyed this article because it is interesting, many-sided, and a very good read. The authors have very different opinions and therefore the article brings forward various different facets of Obama’s two terms of office, legacy and decision making.
I really like the “final grade-idea”, as this is an interesting and easy way to sum up a complex set of ideas and facts on many different aspects and topics. To give you a littler teaser: His final grades reach from A+ to C-!
Of course, the reader needs to understand that these grades are not to be taken overly seriously, but they need to be seen as a fun, quick and easy way of wrapping and summing up an opinion on Obama.
The authors have very different backgrounds, ethnic identities, jobs and political views. This is great and essential for a good article with many contributors, as it makes it diverse and wide-ranging.
In the following, I will introduce you to the authors:
Julian Zelizer: Professor of History and Public Affairs, Princeton University
Sabrina Corlette: Research Professor, Center on Health Insurance Reforms (CHIR) at Georgetown University’s Health Policy Institute
Ana Navarro: Republican strategist and political commentator
Douglas Holtz-Eakin: Director of the Congressional Budget Office
Dorothy A. Brown: Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County (Illinois)
Jennifer Morgan: Greenpeace International Executive Director
Ted Olson: lawyer, former United States Solicitor General
Stephanie Coontz: author, historian, faculty member at Evergreen State College (family studies), Director of Research and Public Education for the Council on Contemporary Families
Jeffrey Toobin: lawyer, author, legal analyst for CNN and The New Yorker
Frida Ghitis: world affairs columnist for The Miami Herald and World Politics Review, former CNN producer and correspondent
Raul A. Reyes: attorney, journalist, and television commentator
Sources:
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/01/09/opinions/obama-legacy-opinion-roundup/
