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Jonathan Chait is a senior editor at the New Republic and writes the magazine's signature TRB column

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Tagged

Algemene kennis

Geboortedatum
1972
Geslacht
male
Nationaliteit
USA
Opleiding
University of Michigan
Beroepen
journalist
Organisaties
The New Republic
New York Magazine

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Besprekingen

Barack Obama has been criticized in so many ways for so many different things, it would be refreshing to see a forthright and unapologetic defense of his legacy just for the novelty factor alone. The audience here seems to be mainly disappointed liberals who have bought into some variant of "he started off well, but either got only half-measures done or didn't even try". Chait demolishes these criticisms one by one: over a staggering range of policy issues, Obama was not only pretty good at getting things done, but right up there in the pantheon of liberal heroes like FDR and LBJ. Seen in full context, Obama's accomplishments were tremendous, and unlikely to be fully reversed even by the most determined efforts of the current Trump cadre of reactionary Republicans. While one could have always hoped for more (Guantanamo Bay, etc), given the maddening institutional constraints of the United States political system, Obama made remarkable progress in health care, climate change, education, and seemingly dozens of other areas that looked permanently out of reach during the Clinton and Carter years. This is not a "neutral" work of scholarship but an argument; Chait is advocating for his point of view, but on the merits I think he's correct that Obama is underrated. A successful contrarian take must not only assemble uncontroversial truths to package them into a surprising conclusion, it must also make that conclusion seem obvious in hindsight, and by the end of this book the idea that Obama was in any way a disappointment seems laughable. By the standards of US Presidents (admittedly not always a very high one), Obama has very few peers in American history.… (meer)
 
Gemarkeerd
aaronarnold | 3 andere besprekingen | May 11, 2021 |
4.5 stars

This book is really good at breaking policies and actual history down in understandable facts instead of just a bunch of information that doesn't have a clear meaning. If you have any interest at all in the subject matter, it's worth a read for sure. A lot of not well known occurrences both good and bad that happened concerning this administration are brought to attention.
 
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ToniFGMAMTC | 3 andere besprekingen | Feb 17, 2021 |
This book explains how the Republican party was hijacked by crackpot economic theories. The book focuses on the years since Ronald Reagan and comes to an end during the George W Bush administration. This book is full of lines to remember.
 
Gemarkeerd
M_Clark | Jun 12, 2018 |
Not sure what I expected, but this book wasn't it. I like reading about history, but this book was more like reading a really dry elementary school text book than what I was expecting. There are many better books out there about Obama - including his own.
 
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KatKealy | 3 andere besprekingen | May 3, 2017 |

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Statistieken

Werken
3
Ook door
4
Leden
271
Populariteit
#85,376
Waardering
3.8
Besprekingen
5
ISBNs
20

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