By Patrick Holohan
Meena Bose, a University political science professor, and Peter S. Kalikow, chair in presidential studies, held a lecture regarding the first 100 days of a presidency, five years into the Bill Clinton administration. She admitted that she felt then that five years was too soon to evaluate the president as it would be difficult to tell what had really been accomplished.
On Wednesday, Bose lectured on the first 100 days President Barack Obama’s presidency. The difference she said, is the rapid change in the speed of information and developments in new media. With 24-hour news networks and the enormous quantity of information available with the internet, Bose acknowledged that the speed at which people analyze these things has increased.
“How can I read the future,” Bose wondered. “That’s not something they teach us in grad school.” The focus Bose said, is to instead see what we can assess only 100 days into the Obama administration. According to Bose, the key to this is to focus on what President Obama promised the American people, and what he has done thus far to implement those promises.
Though 100 days is a common measuring stick for new presidents, Bose said that the concept of 100 days is “somewhat of an artificial construct for evaluating presidents.”
In order to create realistic expectations for what the people should see today, Bose first discussed the first 100 days of past Democratic presidents, beginning with Franklin Roosevelt in 1933. She stated that “no president has matched, or will match, the scale of policy achieved in [Roosevelt’s] first 100 days.”
The reason for this, Bose explained, is partially because of a much shorter transition time. Roosevelt was the last president to be inaugurated in March, while Obama was inaugurated in January, as a result of the 20th amendment. Bose added that an earlier start for Congress and a shorter “honeymoon” period are also significant reasons. Roosevelt’s notable first 100 days achievements include the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the National Industrial Recovery Act.
Bose pointed out that she felt the administration’s biggest problem was its potential Cabinet appointees’ legal troubles. Former Senator Tom Daschle (D-N.D.) who was the candidate for Secretary of Health and Human Services, withdrew his name from consideration over controversy that he had not properly paid his income taxes. Bose however dismissed these troubles as “speed bumps.”
Bose also said that Obama followed through on his foreign policy promises and increased the United States presence in Afghanistan while still planning to decrease the amount of troops in Iraq. She added that, “it’s certainly a fair assessment that we haven’t seen an over-arching foreign policy framework.”
Bose credited the president for the passage of the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act and the Digital Television Delay Act, among others.
While Bose approved of the job the president has done in his first 100 days, she made it clear that “with spending [regarding the stimulus packages], comes budget deficits.” She also pondered if this spending equaled political boldness.
Bose closed with questioning whether or not the Obama administration can enact the policies that they promised, and if they will work.