The tradition of marking the first 100 days of American presidencies sprang from the desire of Franklin Delano Roosevelt to project an air of dynamism and achievement after his accession to office in 1933. Having pledged ''a New Deal'' for the American people during his election campaign (who were then struggling through the depths of the Great Depression), Roosevelt judged an early progress card was in everybody's interest, including his own. It helped of course that he had lots to report in his efforts to pull the country out of recession. And while three months is an arbitrary and perhaps meaningless point at which to assess or mark the performance of a new president, it has been de rigeur ever since.
Barack Obama was of course elected to office during the worst global economic crisis since the Great Depression, and having himself made Rooseveltian pledges of a new beginning in America, it was always to be expected that his first 100 days in office would be the subject of close scrutiny. So it has proved. Most of the assessments have been positive, some even venturing that he has, thus far, been a B plus, even A minus president with the obvious rider that it is still too early to make a complete judgment.
That is especially true of his stewardship of the economy, which, above all else, will be the thing that defines his presidency. Obama's measures to pull the US economy out of its nosedive (a $US787 billion stimulus plan, underwriting the banks' sale of toxic loans with public funds, and a plan to remove toxic assets from the books of US banks, underwritten with taxpayer funds) have not all been embraced by economists and commentators, or indeed by Congress, which is ostensibly controlled by the Democrats. Surprisingly, the anti-foreclosure proposal was defeated in the Senate on Thursday, which points towards the need for Obama to work harder at selling his proposals to turn the economy around.
The US is essentially in uncharted economic waters, and so it will be many months before the efficacy of Obama's rescue plan can be ascertained. The other major items on Obama's domestic agenda are widening the coverage of healthcare, and improving its delivery, and overhauling the education system. The health reforms, particularly, will take months, if not years to implement as they require the cooperation of the states and powerful vested interests. Obama will require patience, courage, perseverance, and tenacity to see them through.
If it is too early to accurately grade Obama's economic performance, then he has more than measured up in other respects, particularly in the international arena although it could be argued that the bar set by his predecessor, the unpopular and deeply illiberal George W. Bush, was not high. Obama's prompt action in moving to close down the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, to scale back America's involvement in Iraq, his overtures to the Muslim world and his offer of talking with the leaders of rogue states like Syria and Iran: all have been welcomed by America's friends and allies weary of the unilateralism and Manichean arrogance of the Bush years.
He has repudiated America's isolationism on global climate change, and has begun moves to restore the environmental protection measures and the civil liberties dismantled under Bush. He has lifted restrictions on federal funding for new lines of stem cell research, and pledged that during his administration, scientific research will be free from political interference.
Above all, Obama has brought a welcome change of style to the White House. Not only is he an articulate and intelligent politician who takes a nuanced view of the world and its problems, but he is a man who is cool and collected when under pressure. This is largely the politics of symbolism, but nonetheless it is a source of pride for many Americans whose hopes and aspirations were fired by Obama's campaign rhetoric.
A poll this week claimed that close to 75 per cent of Americans were optimistic about the next four years, which is a fair measure of satisfaction with Obama's first 100 days in office. As Obama's presidency inevitably commits its share of gaffes and mistakes, his popularity will wane. That is to be expected. Disappointment and failure is a feature of every presidency, and it may be only with the arrival of these that we gain a better insight into Obama's true abilities.
The hopes and aspirations which Obama kindled during his dazzling victory and inauguration speech may yet prove to be chimerical, but on the evidence of his administrative style and his achievements thus far, he has made a promising start to the difficult and complex task of running the United States.
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