Obama — History News Network

Jan 19, 2020

Strange Obsession: President Trump's Obama Complex

by Robert Brent Toplin

While Trump’s dislike of Obama is complex and multifaceted, his behavior at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner may reveal an important source of the hostility.

Source: Tom Dispatch

Jan 12, 2020

How the President Became a Drone Operator

by Allegra Harpootlian

From Obama to Trump, the Escalation of Drone Warfare

Source: Madman of Chu

Jan 6, 2020

Obama was Right, Trump is Wrong on Iran

by Andrew Meyer

The legacy of the hostage crisis has predictably engendered a "hard line" wing of the foreign policy establishment in Washington with respect to US-Iranian relations, represented by figures such as Paul Wolfowitz, Daniel Perle, John Bolton and Mike Pompeo.

Source: USA Today

Dec 22, 2019

How America went from Barack Obama to Donald Trump in one head-spinning political decade

by Kevin M. Kruse and Julian Zelizer

Obama’s America and Trump’s America feel like separate nations, but they are bound by Newton's law: For every action, an equal and opposite reaction.

Oct 27, 2019

New Jim Mattis Memoir Avoids Criticizing Trump, Instead Lashes Bush, Obama, and Others

by Jeffrey J. Matthews

With consequential elections forthcoming now is the time for Mattis to tell voters the unvarnished truth about Donald Trump.

Aug 18, 2019

Many Historians Got It Wrong on Obama's Foreign Policy

by Jeremy Kuzmarov

Many historians appear to have been so mesmerized by Obama’s charisma and progressive domestic policies that they cannot properly criticize the foreign policy of Obama.

Source: LA Progressive

Aug 17, 2019

Why Values Matter: Obama’s Empathy Versus Trump’s Egoism

by Walter G. Moss

Because of the power and influence of U. S. presidents, their values (or lack thereof) matter more than for most of us.

Source: Yahoo News

Jul 9, 2019

McConnell cites Obama in reparations debate: 'We both are the descendants of slave owners'

“I don’t think reparations for something that happened 150 years ago, for whom none of us currently living is responsible for, is a good idea,” McConnell said.

Jul 7, 2019

Historian Ian Reifowitz on How the Race-Baiting Invective of Rush Limbaugh on the Obama Presidency Led to Trump

by Robin Lindley

Reifowitz's latest book traces the election of Donald Trump and the recent rise in white supremacist activity to the incendiary language of racism that the right-wing relies on to win politically.

Source: Washington Post

May 16, 2019

How will Obama be remembered? A massive new oral history project will help shape his legacy.

Many of these oral history collections are housed in presidential libraries or academic institutions and provide biographers with richly detailed firsthand accounts from which to reconstruct Oval Office narratives.

Source: The Economist

Apr 25, 2019

Why presidential libraries are controversial

Barack Obama’s is dividing opinions, as others have before.

Apr 14, 2019

Health Care for All – A Cautionary Tale from the 1970s

by Richard Moe

If the ultimate goal is to expand affordable health care to every American, Jimmy Carter and Ted Kennedy offer important lessons.

Source: The Atlantic

Apr 9, 2019

Obama’s Presidential Library Is Already Digital

by Dan Cohen

The question now is how to leverage its nature to make it maximally useful and used.

Source: Politico

Feb 25, 2019

Obama Makes It Harder to See the Arc of History Bend

by John Gans

My old boss’ post-presidential center is a missed opportunity.

Feb 24, 2019

What 2020 Presidential Hopefuls Can Learn From Carter, Clinton, and Obama's Foreign Policy

by Ronald L. Feinman

It would be wise if the next President of the United States examined the records of accomplishment in foreign policy of the three most recent Democratic Presidents.