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The question is whether or not Obama is similar to Lincoln?
If not then which prior President does Obama share more in common with?
The fact that Lincoln emancipated the slaves while Obama is the first African-American President seems to provide an instant connection between the two even if it were merely coincidental.
During the 1st Presidential debate, Obama responded to criticism about proposing Obamacare during a time of severe recession and high deficit spending by comparing his administration to Lincoln's.
Obama said something to the effect that even though the Civil War was ongoing, Lincoln had proposed some important legislation that helped the progress of American society even though they were costly during a time of war.
Here's some of the bills that Lincoln passed which include several that Obama had cited:
Quote:
Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln only vetoed four bills passed by Congress; the only important one was the Wade-Davis Bill with its harsh program of Reconstruction.[230] He signed the Homestead Act in 1862, making millions of acres of government-held land in the West available for purchase at very low cost. The Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act, also signed in 1862, provided government grants for agricultural colleges in each state. The Pacific Railway Acts of 1862 and 1864 granted federal support for the construction of the United States' First Transcontinental Railroad, which was completed in 1869.[231] The passage of the Homestead Act and the Pacific Railway Acts was made possible by the absence of Southern congressmen and senators who had opposed the measures in the 1850s.[232]
Other important legislation involved two measures to raise revenues for the Federal government: tariffs (a policy with long precedent), and a new Federal income tax. In 1861, Lincoln signed the second and third Morrill Tariff, the first having become law under James Buchanan. In 1861, Lincoln signed the Revenue Act of 1861, creating the first U.S. income tax.[234] This created a flat tax of 3 percent on incomes above $800, which was later changed by the Revenue Act of 1862 to a progressive rate structure.[235]
Lincoln also presided over the expansion of the federal government's economic influence in several other areas. The creation of the system of national banks by the National Banking Act provided a strong financial network in the country. It also established a national currency. In 1862, Congress created, with Lincoln's approval, the Department of Agriculture....
Lincoln is largely responsible for the institution of the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States.[240] Before Lincoln's presidency, Thanksgiving, while a regional holiday in New England since the 17th century, had been proclaimed by the federal government only sporadically and on irregular dates. The last such proclamation had been during James Madison's presidency 50 years before. In 1863, Lincoln declared the final Thursday in November of that year to be a day of Thanksgiving.[240] In June 1864, Lincoln approved the Yosemite Grant enacted by Congress, which provided unprecedented federal protection for the area now known as Yosemite National Park.[241]
Obama was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. In April 2011, he announced that he would be running for re-election in 2012.
As president, Obama signed economic stimulus legislation in the form of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 in response to the 2007–2009 recession in the United States. Other major domestic policy initiatives include the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010, and the Budget Control Act of 2011. In foreign policy, Obama ended US military involvement in the Iraq War, increased troop levels in Afghanistan, signed the New START arms control treaty with Russia, ordered U.S. military involvement in Libya, and ordered the military operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden. In May 2012, he became the first sitting U.S. president to publicly support legalizing same-sex marriage.
He signed into law the Car Allowance Rebate System, known colloquially as "Cash for Clunkers", that temporarily boosted the economy.
On March 30, 2010, Obama signed the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, a reconciliation bill which ends the process of the federal government giving subsidies to private banks to give out federally insured loans, increases the Pell Grant scholarship award, and makes changes to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
On September 24, 2009, Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to preside over a meeting of the United Nations Security Council.
In a February 2009 poll conducted in Western Europe and the U.S. by Harris Interactive for France 24 and the International Herald Tribune, Obama was rated as the most respected world leader, as well as the most powerful.[266] In a similar poll conducted by Harris in May 2009, Obama was rated as the most popular world leader, as well as the one figure most people would pin their hopes on for pulling the world out of the economic downturn.
Sorry but this comparison made me laugh. Obama like Lincoln? Lincoln was one of the most important figures in American history. Obama will go down in history as the first African-American President and what else? Hmm, that is about it.
10 years from now, Obama will be as irrelevant historically as Jimmy Carter or Gerald Ford
I think that Obama and Carter share the greatest amount so similarities. Let's just look at it.
Under Carter:
- There was a pretty significant recession that led to inflation and was worsened under his policies. Neither Obama nor Carter created the recessions but neither had policies that helped it and instead seemed to just lengthen the duration. Believe they dubbed it 'stagnation' under Carter.
- Carter bailed out Chrysler, much like Obama's bailout of GM. There are multiple differences between whether that was a 'good' or 'bad' decision but the push for government intervention by both is the same.
- There was an increasing energy crisis in the US under Carter. His response was to push green energy, including famously installing solar panels on the roof of the White House, push for higher fuel efficiency in cars, and ration oil and fuel.
- Carter, in response to unrest in the Middle East, took an appeasement strategy, which largely backfired. Interestingly enough, Carter accused Reagan of 'politicizing' the Iran hostage crisis during the 1980 campaign. The hostages were released on the day that Reagan was sworn into office.
The aforementioned events aren't exact replications of those that Obama has faced. However, the similarity of response and policy between the two are quite remarkable. One thing we learned from Carter was that his policies were largely unsuccessful.
Sorry but this comparison made me laugh. Obama like Lincoln? Lincoln was one of the most important figures in American history. Obama will go down in history as the first African-American President and what else? Hmm, that is about it.
10 years from now, Obama will be as irrelevant historically as Jimmy Carter or Gerald Ford
He will remembered as the first non-American president.
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