Achievements and Legacy of the Obama Presidency: “Hope and Change?”

Foreword: The Obama Legacy
Contents
Notes on Contributors
List of Tables
1 Introduction
	References
Part I Domestic Policy and the Legacy of the Obama Presidency
2 Almost, Maybe, Kinda, Transformational: Barack Obama
	Rural Populists
	The White Working Class
	Rural Populists and the Backlash Thesis
	The New Politics and the White Working Class
	Monopolies: The Rural Populist and Urban Liberal Glue
	From Populist Anti-Monopolism to New Deal Liberalism
	The Obama Coalition
	References
3 Barack Obama, Intergovernmental Relations, and Economic Policy: Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, and Something Blue
	Economic Policy Institutions
	Something Old
	Something New
	Something Borrowed
	Something Blue
	Conclusion
	References
4 Obama’s Education Policy: Is the Price of the Ticket a Moral Thicket?
	History of Presidential Legacies
	The Modern Era 1950–2008
	President Obama’s Legacy in Education
	Input from Practicing Teachers
	Secretaries of Education—Duncan, DeVos, and Cardona
	Concluding Remarks
	References
5 How Obama Made Unilateralism Safe for His Successors
	The Presidential Trend Toward Unilateralism Before Obama
	Obama’s Unilateralism
		Unilateralism from the Start
		Justifying Unilateralism
		Practicing the Unitary Executive in All But Name
	Obama’s Unilateralist Legacy
		Unilateralism from the Start
		Unilateralism Across the Board
		Institutionalizing the Super-Strong Presidency
	Trump and Biden Follow in Obama’s Footsteps
		Donald Trump
		Joe Biden
	Unilateralism and the Gaullist Presidency
	References
Part II The Rhetorical Legacy of the Obama Presidency
6 Obligations to Act: The Rhetorical Legacy of the Rescues of the Domestic Auto Industry
	Bailouts for the Domestic Auto Industry
	Presidential Rhetoric and The Institution of the Presidency
	The Obama Legacy on the Domestic Auto Industry
	Obama’s Rhetorical Legacy in the Trump and Biden Administrations
	Presidential Legacy and the Domestic Auto Industry
	References
7 A Lighthouse and a Crossroads: The Rhetorical Strategy of President Barack Obama
	Nesting Dualisms of Race and Identity
	Nesting Dualisms and Visceral Politics
	Nesting Dualisms and the Rule of Law
	Conclusion: The Obama Legacy
	References
Part III Foreign Policy and the Legacy of the Obama Presidency
8 From the Audacity of Hope to “Small Ball”: How Obama’s Retrenchment and Caution Contributed to Trump’s Rise
	Globalist Hopes Raised and Dashed
	Obama’s Strategy of Retrenchment and Posture of Caution Mismatches Public Fears
	Conclusion: Discipline vs. Terrorism Fears
	References
9 President Barack obama’s Counterterrorism Strategy in Afghanistan: Transformational and/or Transactional
	United States Strategy Versus Reality, 2009–2014
	Afghan Presidential Election of 2014
	United States Military Withdrawal from Afghanistan
	Operation Freedom’s Sentinel
	The Pakistan/China Axis Impact on Afghanistan
	United States’ Role in Afghanistan Beyond 2016
	Conclusion
		Obama as Transformational and/or Transactional
	References
10 The Perils of Retrenchment: Barack Obama’s Middle East Policies
	The Obama Modus Operandi: Mostly Risk Averse
	Doldrums of Empire
	Obama’s Promising Start
	The Arab Spring and the Remaking of the Middle East
	The Early Obama Second Term: What Could Have Been
	Overtaken by Events: Obama’s Policy in the Post-Arab Spring Era
	The Obama Legacy
	Obama and Trump: The Continuity of Retrenchment
	References
11 Containment, Engagement, and Continuity: China and the Evolution of obama’s Foreign Policy Toward the Asia–Pacific
	From Bush’s Rebalance to Obama’s Rebalance
	Economic Realities
	Military Rivalry
	Peer Competition
	References
Part IV Conclusion
12 Obama’s Uncertain Legacy
	Assessing Obama’s Legacy: Transformative, Transitional, a Little of Both?
	The Take-Away
	Works Cited
Index