America’s next great president: Why Obama’s departure paves the way for the next FDR

[Denzil_DC]

5. Obama actually said Reagan was a "transformational" president, not transitional,

but as you say, one shouldn't take that in a positive way, though some have chosen to try to portray it as such. This was how it looked to one commentator back in 2009:

But historian Douglas Brinkley said he believes Obama's election marked the conclusion of an era that will forever link him to Reagan.

"The age of Reagan went from 1980 to 2008," said Brinkley, a prolific biographer of presidents. "We are in the age of Obama now."

"There is a new progressivism. Even in Bill Clinton's eight years, he was hostage to Republican policies," Brinkley said. &quot Clinton) was still a part of the era of Reagan. This is a new era, the most progressive era in politics since 1964 with Lyndon Johnson."

Despite running as a centrist, Obama has advanced liberal policies for the most part, re-inserting government as the solution three decades after Reagan characterized government as the problem. Obama's foreign policy of arms control, engagement, humility, even apology, is 180 degrees from George W. Bush's willingness to go it alone and project military power foremost in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/opinion/columnist/raasch/2009-04-16-raasch-column-04162009_N.htm