The first 100 days of a presidency are usually perceived as a glimpse into the

what the future may look like for their administration. Historically, presidents try and

accomplish a great deal of things in their first 100 days with the hope of delivering on

promises they made while campaigning. Of course, not everything they campaign will

become mandate, but for the most part, presidents of the past, upon entering office, will

work hard on making some change within the first 100 days.

The most recent case study of this would be with Barack Obama. Before we

discuss what he did in his first 100 days, it is important that we remind ourselves what

he campaigned on, the promises he made, and who he campaigned to. President

Barack Obamas campaign was quite vague. He never made specific promises based

on a specific field in politics. Rather, he promised change. He promised hope in the

future. Looking back, it was quite clever of him to not make specific promises as one

cannot fail to fulfill a promise on a promise that does not exist. The only thing he did

continue to press was bipartisanship and sweeping reform. Again, not clear on where

the reform would be. During his campaign, President Obama targeted the working man.

He targeted those who were struggling during the economic recession. He made it clear

he wanted to implement change, no matter the cost.

So how did his first 100 days go? It is difficult to come up with an adjective to

describe those days, but one that seems to fit the bill well is decent. He made clear

strides to fulfill on his campaign promises with the introduction of the stimulus package

and his attempts at reaching across the aisle.

Those attempts at reaching across the aisle however, were not returned by the

Republicans. In his first 100 days he was met with stiff opposition from minority
leadership in both the senate and the house. Of course, he was still able to get what he

wanted done as the Democrats controlled both chambers of congress. If there was one

thing that foreshadowed the rest of his presidency during his first 100 days, it would be

the lack of cooperation from the GOP. Throughout his first months in office, Barack

Obama was met with absolutely no cooperation from Republicans. This same general

theme continued throughout his presidency, continuing into his second term, especially

when the GOP controlled the house. The relationship between the president and his

opposition was one of little friendship and compromise. The Republicans either got

exactly what they wanted, or refused it.

It is clear that President Obama did not get everything done that he wanted and

that there were complications in his first 100 days. One thing that remained constant

throughout his administration? The lack of compliance from the Republicans.

Interested in another recent example of a presidents 100 days? Why dont we

look at someone from the other end of the spectrum. George W. Bush. Someone who

can be described as a polar opposite from Barack Obama. Again, lets dissect some of

the things he promised on the campaign trail. Unlike Obama, Bush made some specific

promises while campaigning. The biggest platform that Bush campaigned on was

cutting taxes. The previous administration with President Clinton was one defined by

sweeping tax increases. Bush targeted the lower class, working man. He promised

lowering taxes for those who were struggling.

Once he entered office, Bush tried to achieve just that. Unfortunately for him,

President Bush was unable to incorporate any tax cuts until June of his first year,
missing the first 100 day mark by a few months. Nonetheless, he still delivered on the

promise that very well won him the election.

It would be quite difficult to compare President Bushs first 100 days to the rest of

his administration. Unlike many presidents, Bush faced a major crisis near the end of

his first year office. No one could have predicted the terrorist attacks of September 11,

2001. After the horrendous attacks, Bushs administration pivoted from domestic affairs

to the battle against terrorism. The only foreign policy crisis he faced in his first 100

days was an incident with American military crashing on Chinese soil. Interestingly,

Bush handled the situation very well and the Americans were returned to US soil.

Unfortunately his success in the first 100 days did not translate to the rest of his

presidency. He led one of the single greatest false attacks/invasions in US history. His

legacy is tarnished with his failed invasion of Iraq and the lack of results he had in the

middle east.

Now that we have an idea of what our previous presidents did in their first 100

days and how that translated to the rest of their administrations, lets look at our current

presidents first 100 days. President Trump ran his campaign in an extremely unique

way. He targeted white, working class Americans across the country. He focused on

their issues and what they wanted to be done. Trump made countless amounts of

promises on his campaign. He promised to fight illegal immigration by building a wall

that spans our border with Mexico. He promised tax cuts across the board, from the

bottom to the top. He promised to repeal the failure, Obama Care.

Upon entering office, President Trump was met with a time of economic stability

and strength, a housing market that had rebounded substantially since the beginning of
President Obamas administration. Not everything was perfect, however. President

Trump came into office facing one of the most complicated situations in the middle east

than any president had. He came into office needing to figure out how his administration

would handle the delicate situation in Syria.

What were some of the initiatives he tackled in first 100 days? Very simple. The

things he promised while campaigning. Increased border security, the repealing of

Obama Care, and tax cuts across the board.

With respect to border security, Trump has yet to deliver on the building of the

wall. It would be unfair to criticize him on this, as it would be impossible for him to do it

on his first 100 days. Although it is important to understand that he has made practically

no effort at even beginning to build said wall.

In his first 100 days, President Trump has also failed to repeal Obama Care. Not

to say he hasnt made an effort, because he has. He has just failed miserably getting

support from his own party. Although it would be fair to say that within his term he

should be able to deliver on this promise, just not in his first 100 days.

In regards to his promised tax cuts, he has not been able to pass any new

legislation with respect to the tax cuts he promised on the campaign. He has proposed

his new tax plan and it seems to be gathering pretty wide support from his counterparts

in the GOP.

Much like with Barack and the Republicans in congress, the Democrats are

resisting any sort of change from Trump. Whether its the confirmation of his nominees

for his cabinet or his attempts at repealing Obama Care, the Democrats have fought
religiously. Strangely enough, even some members of the GOP in congress are

reluctant to support some of his ideas.

President Trumps current public approval ratings are abysmal. There is no way

for making this sound better than it is. As of writing this, his approval rating is 39.4% (via

fivethirtyeight.com). This is historically bad. He is struggling to garnish support from

some of those who actually voted for him. It is extremely important for him to turn this

number around, as he soon may begin to lose support from the GOP. It would not be in

their best interest to support a President who can barely get a third of the publics

support. It isnt clear what he will do to fix this issue, but it is clear that there is some

urgency to do so. The longer he stays this low, the greater risk he puts himself at.

With respect to media treatment Donald Trump has seen his fair share of

negative media treatment. According to TheHill.com, a study conducted on his first 100

days revealed that about 80% of coverage on President Trump was negative. Is it fair to

say that he warrants that much negative attention? Probably not. But when nearly a two

thirds of the country does not support him, it is hard for the media outlets to publish

anything but negative stories about Trump.

Looking at everything in a more general sense, Trumps first 100 days have been

rocky. His support in congress and from the public is weak. He needs to make sweeping

changes in order to make his future look any sort of bright. It is pretty much that simple.

President Trump needs to change something.

Works Cited
"113th United States Congress." Ballotpedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2017.

Concha, Joe. "Trump's First 100 Days Earned Triple the Coverage of Previous Presidents: Study."

TheHill. N.p., 18 May 2017. Web. 19 May 2017.

"First 100 Days of Barack Obama's Presidency." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 May 2017.

Web. 19 May 2017.

Lyons, Joseph D. "What Did George W. Bush Do In His First 100 Days? Trump Has Time To Make

His Mark." Bustle. Bustle, 27 Apr. 2017. Web. 19 May 2017.

"George W. Bush: Campaigns and Elections." Miller Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May 2017.

NateSilver538. "How Popular Is Donald Trump?" FiveThirtyEight. N.p., 18 May 2017. Web. 19 May

2017.