Political Science

Historians are known for long to have been measuring the performance of American presidents by their policies implemented within the first 100 days of office. Although this performance evaluation technique has been in use in America for long, a debate on its reliability to predict the performance of the president in the remaining part of is term has been on the debate for long. Many a time history has proved it unreliable and again on the contrary, it has worked for same cases. Based on this technique, the historians have argued that Obama achievements within the first 100 days in office can be closely related to those of Franklin Roosevelt (Kroll, 2010). This is because they became president when America was facing great economical crisis and the American image to the international community was poor. Their biggest challenge was to reform the economy and save their people from the risks of poverty and unemployment. In this interest, this paper is written and gives the policies implemented by both Obama and FDR. It also highlights the reliability, of this method of evaluating performance, in predicting the long term performance as presidents. 

Within the first 100 day, Obamas presidency has been marked with great achievements top on the list being the implementation of the electronic medical record system. This was achieved by initiating a debate which saw through the allocation of more than 19 billion to the health care system. The establishment of this information technology system within the health sector was seen and welcomed by many Americans as a noble move made to restructure and upgrade the deteriorating health sector (Barnett, 2009).

Still cited as an achievement, is the approval of the 2,500 highway projects. This has been effective since the passage of the economic stimulus bill and has been welcome by the Americans in a two fold points of view. One it is expected to create more jobs for the unemployed and therefore eliminate the issue of unemployment in America which was making it no longer the land of opportunities and secondly facilitate good transport in the country which is a corner stone for their economy.

Another notable policy implemented within the first 100 days of office under the presidency of Obama was the 2,500 tax credit intended to offset education expenses for the poor people seeking college education. He initiated the policy to see that the treasury contributed effectively to the more than five million families who were burdened by debts in a more qualitative and quantitative manner. This can be described as a kick start to the education sector which was on the high risk of collapsing (Rollins, 2009). Education sector was one of the driving forces of the American economy and its deterioration subjected the Americans to the risks of lacking enough trained personnel to build and maintain their economy to their standards.

The automobile industry in America particularly the general motors company was in a critical state of failure. Obama facilitated the restructuring of the management and elimination of ineffective employment in this sector. He also established a frame work which will revive the Americans dominancy in car manufacturing. He has for instant initiated the allocation of 2 billion in the economic stimulus package to cater for the development of the advanced battery system which is made to reclaim the Americans lost share of the automobile industry market.

In international affairs, the president has initiated funding and diplomatic talks in the war tone countries. This has been highly appreciated by the international community and restored the lost glory and friendship with the international community. A notable example is the allocation of 5 billion in aid commitment to Pakistan to restructure their economy and fight terrorism in their country (McManus, 2009). In addition he has shaped the image of America by engaging with the Muslims world. Although this move was under appreciated by the conservative Americans, it cleared the doubts that America was not fighting the Muslim religion. 

More than any other president in the history of America, Obama has implemented policies which will facilitate the growth of Americans struggling cities. By creating an urban policy office in the white house, he declared his interest in helping the small cities grow to their best. It is believed that the biggest challenge, for the development of these cities is violence and crime. To eliminate this, some 2 billion were allocated through the recovery act to Byrne Grant which funds anti gang forces (Kroll, 2010).

On the issue of environment Obamas government did quite an appreciateble work within the first 100 days. One notable policy implemented on this sector was the putting under government protection more two million acres of forest, many miles of rivers and national parks. For the long trailing history of the American forestry, Osama initiated the signing of the omnibus public land management act which was intended to enhance the environment and world life conservation.

One of main policies implemented by Roosevelt was that aimed at restoring the agriculture sector. He is believed to have been very interested in farming and underscored the fact that the American economy could not be revived until the agriculture sector was prosperous. To enhance this, he initiated the establishment of the farm security act which was intended at increasing the income from the firms. This was achieved trough increasing the prices of the firm products by reducing the total output from the firms. Another act which was established to facilitate the growth of the agriculture sector was the agricultural adjustment act. This was established to put into the consideration the requirements of the big firm organization and reflect the commitment of his firm advisers (Barnett, 2009). The effeteness of this police was felt later when the prices increased significantly and remained high with the increase in output. This policy is believed to have had given a long and a reliable solution to the troubled agriculture sector.

Still to be cited here is the implementation of what is normally described as the repeal of prohibition. This policy was aimed at legalizing the production and selling of alcohol within America. By signing the bill, several states and cities gained more income from revenues and this contributed amicably to his popularity.

Another appreciateble policy implemented during the 100 days of Roosevelt of office was the groups of programs contained under the so called Puerto Rico. These programs were aimed at promoting land reforms and enhance development of small firms. It also foresaw the establishment of firm cooperatives and promoted industrial and agricultural diversification. Finally, Roosevelt is remembered predominantly for establishing long term plans made to prevent American economy from undergoing another depression. This included but not limited to business, labor and government structure (Rollins, 2009).

From the above discussion, it can be appreciated that both Obama and FDR had many similarities particularly in reforming the American economy which was depressed. They initiated the congress to pass bills and acted efficiently in signing them into laws as well as reinstalling the confidence of the people and giving them some hope of recovery of their economy. History has proved that the first 100 days judgment method does not hold true because President Roosevelts policies which reformed the country totally were implemented after the 100 days in office. A good example was the Glass Steagall act and the national industrial recovery acts were constituted on the 105th day of presidency.

Although the first 100 days of Roosevelt were not as significant as the rest of his term, they were very important in reflecting his economic philosophy and can be used as a yard stick to measure the presidents performance within an agreeable accuracy. The author of this essay appreciates the good work achieved by Obama in his first 100 days but if little to any other person, there is still hope and chance to outpace the past

In conclusion therefore, it is clear that there is no direct correlation between what the president accomplishes within the first 100 days and in the rest of his term. It can therefore be reflected that if Roosevelt was judged by his 100 days in office, he would have failed and therefore there are still hopes of Obama achieving more in his long term legacy. The similarities and differences can be derived directly from the above discussion.