No President in living memory has entered office with a greater amount of goodwill and broad, bi-partisan support than Barack Obama. And few Presidents in living memory had arrived in Washington proclaiming such dramatically articulated vows to change the tone of politics, to usher in an era of post-partisanship in an effort to rally the nation behind his plan of enacting an ambitious program of social and economic change. He vowed to enact a broad bi-partisan agenda for health care reform, energy transformation, economic revitalization, job growth and restoration of America's standing in the world.
And no President in living memory has more quickly and more completely abandoned his promises.
He enacted a health care plan that far more resembled plans he had bitterly criticized his opponents for supporting rather than the one his campaign outlined
His promised job growth through economic stimulus measures drove up the unemployment rate to double digits leading to millions of job losses
His vows to restore fiscal probity resulted in the most ruinous deficits and public debt in U.S. history
He 'green energy' program collapsed into a cesspool of crony political favoritism
His vows to restore relations with hostile nations like Iran and North Korea had only deepened those nations' disdain for America
Despite his harsh criticisms, Obama adopted nearly every plank in the Bush-era anti-terror policy
His promise to restore science to its rightful place resulted in the most rigidly inflexible program of ideological extremism in modern memory
Even more noteworthy was the fact that the new era of post-partisanship he had vowed to create in Washington resulted in the worst political gridlock in living memory. This book examines in detail hundreds of campaign promises Obama made while running for President, contrasting those with the record of failure and broken promises left in his wake. It is a story that has received too little attention - until now.