Introduction
After Barrack was elected the President of the United States of America, the public expectations of his success in bringing positive change in the country were far much greater than they had ever been for any other American president who came before him. According to the Associated Press-GfK’s poll, it was found that over 60 percent interviewed believed that he would be a president who would be above average or even better including 30 percent who thought he would be the best president. This poll discovered a greater hope in people that the new president would assist in improving the country’s economy considerably to overcome the prevailing economic crisis. Over seventy percent were hopeful that the economy would be turned around during the first year of Obama’s presidency. More so, there was solid support of his economic plan in which almost a trillion US dollars were to be introduced in new spending, to be there tax cuts to revive the ailing economy, with about sixty percent having a belief that this would improve the economy to a considerable level (Gmillner, 2009, Para. 4 ).
The Americans sought after the focused, strong, efficient, and influential presidency that they saw in Barrack Obama (Rawlston, 2009, Para. 3). They were no longer interested in wars, especially those fought in Afghanistan and Iraq, causing America to be considered as the world’s number one enemy. Americans did not like this idea. They also did not want to continue living in continuous fright of terrorism; they were concerned about their security, wealth, and the general value of life. The expectations that Barrack Obama could enable them to realize these were very high and that was why he was elected as the president.
Americans Expect Much From the President Today
The Americans’ expectations from the president are still high despite some of the challenges he is currently facing. But still, it is very natural for any human being to encounter obstacles in the course of life, and indeed, the president can not be an exception. Ray (Para.1) agrees with the fact that people’s expectations of the president are currently high. He suggests that people are looking ahead to more from the president for the reason that he is a minority. But this should not be taken as a change of racism, but this is the way the American people are. since minorities, and not just black people but women and other groups as well, have gotten to elevated positions of duty only after working so hard, there is a tacit and most of the time unrealized prospect that these people will put much effort in doing their work.
The second reason for people having high expectations from the president lies in the state of affairs. The country gets itself in a terrible situation. Two wars are being fought: one in Afghanistan and the other in Iran and these wars are not just a walk-over, the country is handling the piracy that is widespread in the Gulf of Eden and the ailing economic state. Now, in this state, the expectations have to be high since radical measures have to be taken by the president since he has no otherwise to clear out this mess. The president can not just sit back and watch things crumbling down before his face.
Ray (Para. 2) also concurs with this idea of the president taking appropriate measures to turn things around. She suggests that regardless of people’s thoughts of the president in terms of his history trace, or his policies, the majority of the people are optimistic that he will have the appropriate machinery to bring the country into a more desirable state.
People’s expectations have also been brought to a higher level by the things the president has accomplished so far. Some of the positive changes include among others: the removing of the ban on stem cell research, bringing down payroll taxes, he gave an order to close Gitmo, he gave out unemployment benefits to the workers that had been on unemployment and signed the biggest stimulus bill in the American record. The list is long. From this, point of fact, the American people are increasing their expectations of the president and not bringing them down (Ray Para.1). According to the USA TODAY/Gallup poll conducted recently shows that over seventy percent of those interviewed accept as true that things will be better in the country at the time Obama’s term expires. At the time when he completed his first one hundred days in office as president, his job-approval ratings were at sixty-three percent and the personal rating at seventy-three percent and this was according to the poll carried out by Gallup. These job-approval ratings of the president in his first term are the highest for Obama among the presidents ever since the time of Ronald Reagan who was rated at sixty-seven percent (Ray Para. 5). Also, Obama’s ranking is more positive than that of Bill Clinton, a fellow Democrat, following his initial a hundred days in power (Lydia, 2009, Para. 5).
The president is going on to show his commitment to improving people’s lives in America. For instance, this is seen in his move to bring about health insurance restructuring that would provide more steadiness and security to those with the health insurance, and covering those not having it, and bringing down the cost of health care for the families, the business enterprises and generally, the government (Whitehouse, 2009, Para. 1). His commitment to living up to people’s expectations is also echoed in what he said when he was recently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He said that he received the award as a call for action in which all nations should face the widespread challenges in the current century and of course America inclusive (Anonymous, 2009, Para. 2).
Conclusion
To conclude, Obama entered the Whitehouse on the power of his assurance of positive changes. To the present, he still holds on to his promise. The Americans were mainly heartbroken because of the perception they were getting from all over the world as an unscrupulous country that kept bullying others. Well, we understand that the president is a human being too and may have his weaknesses but as Americans, we do believe that sooner or later we shall realize the change we need to be brought about by the president. Below is a summary of points indicating that people expect much from the president today:
- There is hope that the president will have to live to people’s expectations by working very hard. Originating from the minority and ascending to such a position of power calls for someone who is naturally industrious and strives to realize the set goals.
- So far, the president has brought about several positive changes among them being giving out unemployment benefits to the unemployed workers, bringing down payroll taxes, just to mention but a few. This sets a base on which people have to stand their future expectations.
- People have great expectations from the president about taking radical measures to turn around the situation in terms of clearing the financial crisis, dealing with wars in Iran and Afghanistan, handling the widespread piracy in the Gulf of Eden among other issues.
- By the president receiving the Nobel Peace prize, it has instilled confidence in the American people that the president has to maintain his standards as a worldwide recognized leader and will have to make the necessary efforts to reciprocate through delivering his promises.
- The high job-approval rating of sixty-three percent for president Barrack Obama at his first a hundred days in office in comparison to other Presidents during their first hundred days in office since the time of President Reagan is a clear indication that people have great confidence in the president that sooner or later he will have to deliver to their desires, and can not be hopeless about such a president.
- The president’s plan to restructure health insurance to bring about stability and security to those with health insurance, and to cover those not having it, and bringing down the cost of health care to families and business enterprises is good news to every American and they have no reason to look forward to full implementation of such a wonderful plan.
Works Cited
Anonymous, Obama says Nobel an ‘Affirmation of American Leadership’, Honolulu Advertiser. Web.
Gmillner, Americans’ expectations for Obama are sky-high: Associated Press poll. Web.
Lydia saad, In the First a100 Days Obama Meets or Exceeds Expectations, Gallup.
Rawlston Pompey, President Obama Struggles and Expectations, Caribarena Antigua Barbuda. Web.
Ray, C. Are Americans Lowering their expectations of the President? 2009. Web.
Whitehouse, The President’s plan, Health care, 2009.