PD Editorial: President Obama forged his path on the high road

President Barack Obama took office eight years ago in the tumult of a global economic catastrophe, the worst downturn since the Great Depression.

As he prepares to step down, the recovery is in its 90th month, unemployment is at its lowest level in eight years, stock prices are approaching record highs, inflation remains at historically low levels and six in 10 Americans approve of his job performance.

Only Franklin Roosevelt, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan finished with higher approval ratings.

Still, if you will pardon a cliché, assessments of the Obama presidency will take years.

The domestic achievements of America’s first black president - averting a depression, saving the domestic auto industry, extending health insurance to more than 20 million people, preserving 550 million acres of public land, enacting stricter regulation of big banks, establishing a consumer protection agency and creating a clean power program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions - are historic.

But will they be long lasting? Obama had to overcome fierce opposition and knee-jerk obstruction from Republicans all along the way, and the new GOP majorities want to wipe away many of the laws and regulations enacted over the past eight years.

On the international stage, Obama used Special Forces and drones to track down and kill terrorists, most notably Osama bin Laden. His administration delivered climate accords that raised hopes of preventing a global cataclysm, halted Iran’s nuclear program and ended Cold War ostracism of Cuba. But Obama’s foreign policy successes were accompanied by the rise of ISIS and the failure to stop the slaughter of innocents in Syria or to capitalize on the Arab Spring uprisings to reshape the Middle East. President-elect Donald Trump inherits conflicts in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. And, after 15 years, U.S. troops are still fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The political assessment is harsh. For all of his personal popularity. Obama’s Democratic Party lost ground in Congress and state governments and, despite winning the popular vote by a wide margin, ultimately lost the presidency.

Trump and congressional Republicans want to reverse course on health care, trade, climate change, energy policy and more. But they already are finding that many of Obama’s policies, like the 44th president himself, are popular with a majority of Americans.

We will detail our hopes for, and our apprehensions about, the incoming administration in an editorial in Friday’s paper. We will listen carefully to Trump’s inaugural address and share our reactions over the weekend.

Some people find Trump’s shoot-from-the-lip style refreshing.

But we think many Americans, even if they didn’t agree with Obama’s policies, will yearn for his articulate style and the grace and dignity he showed as he endured vicious - and racist - challenges to his faith, his citizenship, his integrity and even to his family.

Obama’s approach was summed up by first lady Michelle Obama last summer at the Democratic National Convention: “When they go low, we go high.” That would be a proud legacy for any leader.