Mixed record of former savior obama

Washington (APA/AFP) – It's a departure in worry. U.S. President Barack Obama, who will deliver his farewell speech on Tuesday (local time), must befü.

Washington (APA/AFP) – It's a departure in concern. U.S. President Barack Obama, who delivers his farewell address Tuesday (local time), faces fears that his political legacy will be largely liquidated by his successor Donald Trump. The legacy of Obama, who was hailed by many as a savior when he took office eight years ago, is not only viewed critically by his opponents, however.

FOREIGN POLICY: Obama has had historic successes on the world stage, but also bitter setbacks. The deal with Iran to limit its nuclear program came about under pressure from tough U.S. economic sanctions. And Obama resumed diplomatic relations with Cuba after a decades-long ice age.

Obama also ended the unpopular U.S. military mission in Iraq. Subsequently, however, the jihadist militia "Islamic State" (IS) spread there as well as in Syria.

On the Syrian civil war, Obama showed a fickle attitude. He threatened head of state Bashar al-Assad with U.S. military strikes, but then refrained from doing so. This, according to its critics, emboldened Russia in its massive military intervention that helped Syrian government forces retake Aleppo in December.

Also because of the Ukraine conflict, the relationship with Moscow cooled dramatically during Obama's tenure. The lowest point was reached most recently by the suspected Russian hacking attacks during the U.S. election campaign. One of Obama's last acts in office was sanctions against Moscow, including the expulsion of 35 diplomats.

ANTI-TERROR CPF: Obama was unable to fulfill his promise to close the controversial Guantanamo detention center in Cuba because of opposition in Congress. At least he significantly reduced the number of detainees there through releases, from 242 when he took office to 55 currently.

Obama, on the other hand, has kept another promise: In May 2011, a U.S. special forces unit killed al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. However, al-Qaeda has since been replaced by IS as the greatest terror threat to the Western world.

In the fight against terrorist networks, Obama relied on the massive use of drones – which is highly controversial because of civilian casualties. In addition, the U.S. is supporting the fight of indigenous troops in Iraq and Syria against IS from the air and with military advisers and special commandos. In Iraq, the jihadists have now been pushed back considerably. At the same time, however, not only Western Europe but also the U.S. has increasingly become a target for Islamist assassins.

CLIMATE PROTECTION: Under Obama, the USA became a pioneer in the fight against climate change. This is what made the historic Paris Agreement on global climate protection possible.

RACIAL CONFLICT: The first African-American U.S. president wanted to be a reconciler. Instead, racial conflicts have intensified. Deadly police actions against African-Americans sparked angry protests.

GUN LAW: Despite the many gun attacks, Obama failed to curb lax gun laws. It failed because of opposition from Republicans in Congress.

IMMIGRATION: The president suffered another debacle with his plan to grant residency rights to some four million illegal immigrants. His decree was blocked by the Supreme Court.

HEALTH REFORM: Against Republican opposition, Obama succeeded in passing the biggest reform of the U.S. welfare system in decades. As a result of "Obamacare," the share of citizens without health insurance fell from 16 percent to just under nine percent. However, the system suffers from the sharp increase in insurance premiums.

ECONOMY: Obama took office amid the worst economic crisis in 70 years. He launched a nearly $800 billion stimulus package and rescued the U.S. auto industry with government aid. Overall, the US economy has come out of the crisis well. The unemployment rate has been reduced from ten percent in 2010 to 4.6 percent most recently.

But the recovery has passed many US citizens by. Suffering from stagnating real wages and massive mortgage debt. Many unemployed people have given up looking for jobs, so they no longer appear in official statistics.