Those of us who hoped Obama would bring a truly progressive policy to the White House have been sorely disappointed. Part of this may be because Obama realizes that there is a great deal of social and cultural inertia in the country, and that the nation is simply not ready for drastic changes. And some of it may be simply due to his not being intrinsically as far Left as his critics love to paint him, or his followers had wished he had been. I am not being critical here. Change, even change for the better, can be overdone, especially if it is pushed too hard and too fast.

Basically, I don't see that much difference between Obama and Bill Clinton. As for health care, there is not that much difference from what Obama achieved and Hillary wanted. His defense policy, particularly the war on terror, is not that tactically different from Bushes, although it has been carried out much more intelligently strategically.

In economic policy there is more room for argument, since the conditions after the crash changed everything so profoundly, only time will tell. Conservatives howl that Obama didn't fix the economy, and Liberals exult that he saved Capitalism from another Great Depression. They may both be right. There's no way to tell now without access to alternate timelines.

Conservatives fear, and Liberals hope, Obama will be the new Roosevelt. I suspect he will be remembered by history much like Harry Truman.