Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

Blogging, lessons learned, politics, Teaching and Education, United States 2 Minutes

This post is in response to a comment from a fellow blogger, Margy, on my recent post, “This Is What Good Neighbors Look Like.”

Here’s part of her comment: “By the way, have you ever blogged about this President’s administration’s achievements?”

Here was my response:

Margy, your comment really made me think. I’ve just spent the past 30 minutes searching through my six years of posts to see what I have written about President Trump and President Obama. While I have always been upfront about my political beliefs, I’ve always tried to avoid getting down into the mud when talking about politics or politicians. I did find a few posts that praised President Obama, and a few that expressed my dislike for President Trump, but hopefully not in a way that would be considered nasty. So your comment has challenged me to write a post that highlights all the successes that President Trump has had over four years.

So I thought I would use this post to share some of the accomplishments of President Trump since he became President.  I did some Google searching and came across a few different sites that offered takes on what President Trump has accomplished. The first couple of lists I came across was one from the White House, while another was from The New York Times. I thought each of these might come across as a bit biased, as one is coming from the Office of the President, and the other is a fact-checked list of a social media posting of all of President Trump’s accomplishments, from what most people consider to be a liberal newspaper. I’ve provided the links for anyone who may want to read them, but they will not be the basis for this post.

Instead, I found this compact list from a letter to the editor someone wrote in the St. Louis Post Dispatch earlier today. Here are the key accomplishments noted:

  1. The stock market reached a record high.
  2. He raised tariffs on products from China to bring back manufacturing jobs.
  3. Early on, he banned travel from China.
  4. He insisted NATO allies pay their fair share.
  5. He removed restrictive regulations on businesses, allowing more, better-paying jobs.
  6. Before the pandemic, the economy had low unemployment, even for minorities.
  7. He instigated new agreements between Middle East countries.
  8. He approved the killing of top terrorists and brought soldiers home.
  9. He asked manufacturing companies to retool and manufacture ventilators, providing thousands for us and others and partnered with the private sector to provide testing and protective equipment.
  10. He encouraged drug companies to work fast to provide new vaccines and medications that might soon be available.

I don’t feel qualified to comment on most of these, but I will agree that the stock market has done quite well; the early ban on travel from China was a good move; we had, before COVID, record unemployment; the agreements between Middle East countries look promising; getting companies to retool and focus on manufacturing goods during the early stages of the pandemic seemed to be the right move; and the drug companies do seem to be working quickly to develop vaccines for COVID.

So congrats to the President for these accomplishments.

Despite these accomplishments, as I noted in a post earlier this week, I have opted to vote for Joe Biden. I think he is the right person for the job at this moment in time…

Feel free to use the comments to add more accomplishments or to question any that I, or others, may list. All I ask is that your comments are made in a respectful way…

*image from Fortune

Published by Jim Borden

A 60-something guy trying to figure out the world, and his place in it. Happily married for 40-plus years, three wonderful sons. Accounting teacher, fitness enthusiast, blogger, reader.

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63 thoughts on “Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due”

  2. Unlike you, I have written a few mean, nasty things about Trump. But I’ve been seeing him in a different light lately. So to help atone for my mean, nastiness, here are a few other of Trump’s accomplishments:

    He made it easier for the terminally ill to try experimental medications, and these medications have sometimes saved their lives.
    He’s making it easier, beginning in January, to buy pharmaceuticals from foreign countries, at much lower prices.
    He’s overseen the first drop in prescription drug prices in many years.
    He’s negotiated two historic peace deals between Bahrain and Israel, and between the UAE and Israel. And Somalia and Saudi Arabia may soon follow suit, making peace with Israel.
    He got a criminal justice reform bill passed that eliminates mandatory minimum sentences, and reduces incarceration of drug offenders, many of whom are black.
    He’s funded Historic Black Colleges for the next 10 years.
    He established the U.S. Space Force.
    While his handling of the Covid crisis may be questionable, at least he’s navigated our economy to a historic comeback, when a deep depression seemed inevitable.
    He legalized CBD and hemp.
    He’s made us energy independent.
    Wages of low-incomer workers rose substantially, under Trump (pre-Covid).
    He signed an executive order requiring hospitals to publicize their prices (takes effect in January).

    I got some of this list from memory, but I had to look up the other stuff. This list is not exhaustive. There’s a bunch of other nice things I left out. Personally, I’m impressed with what Trump has done. I think his biggest failure is that he’s not very diplomatic about the way he gets things done. That’s made a lot of enemies for him, and these enemies are doing their damndest to make him lose re-election.

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    1. Thank you for expanding on the list; I had meant to mention some of the successes he has had with prison reform, since that is one of my key issues.

      And I guess that’s what enemies/opponents do – try their hardest to make the other guy lose…

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      1. This is not an endorsement of Trump, by the way. I think if Biden wins, he’s likely to accomplish a lot of good things, too. I also think they’re both deeply flawed in their own ways, and I worry about our country if either one of them wins.

        But I want to be fair, and perhaps make up for some of the unwarranted criticism I’ve directed toward Trump in the past. I’ve learned a lesson about politics, and this is why I’m being mostly apolitical on my blog these days.

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      2. I did not view it as an endorsement, but just a thoughtful look back on some of the things President Trump has accomplished.

        Joe Biden was not my first choice (Booker was), or my second (Warren was), but I am certainly happy to support him now.

        And yes, talking politics is risky business these days…

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    2. Thanks for that list Tippy and for yours Jim, it does open one’s eyes and realize that its NOT all bad! But I do still long for the day when I can feel like I really like a Presidential candidate and want to endorse them. So I really would like to know when either one of you are going to stop being lazy and go out there and run for President! 🙂

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    1. It has been a tough time to be a leader during COVID, but I think some leaders around the world have received praise for the way they have handled it. Let’ s hope all economies can get back on track, and soon.

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  6. Kudos, Q! I agree with Pete. I have much admiration that you saw this as an opportunity rather than an affront. What someone accomplishes while in the office is certainly one measure of success. But the job also requires you to represent our country to the rest of the world. You will have a harder time getting me to see his behavior as presidential or even typical for an American.

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  8. Good morning Jim, I am no fan of the current President and I have already voted early for the Biden Harris ticket. Thank you for being fair and balanced. However, all of these notable accomplishment doesn’t mean a thing when you are a mean, nasty, racist individual who tells white supremist groups to stand back and to stand by. He calls people names, and just lie about everything. Then when he does good things he reminds you that he did them. America represents the world and the current President has not did us any justice

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    1. I appreciate your comments, LaShawn. I am certainly not a fan either, but I did want to share some positive things that have happened while he was President. However, I think the negatives far outweigh the positives…

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  9. As I have said before I am no fan of politics but I do think it is important to look at all issues, good and bad before making a decision. I am so tired of seeing and hearing such hatred, lies and cruelty towards fellow humans on both side of the political forum. Great post! In my opinion positive achievements on all candidates is so much more informative and less depressing but harder to find! Not just on the national level but all the way down to the local level!

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  11. I think every leaders has something good about them. Just as I believe every human has a good and a bad side.
    Even the late Spanish dictator Francisco Franco did a lot of things that were good during his administration. During his time criminality in Spain was low. Older friends often told robbery and thieves are next to nothing when he ruled. You can forget a wallet in public and return to find it there, no one will touch it because everyone fear the severe punishment.

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  12. Great post Jim and equally great comment from Tippy Gnu. (Thanks for mentioning my ‘encouragement’ to you to write this. Very kind of you.)

    Since I seem to be the last to read your posts, I end it by saying that I think the best thing about Trump is that he isn’t a politician. He doesn’t speak like the political and educational elite. He isn’t a statesman – he is a man who speaks to the needs of the working man. He has many quirks and fails at a fundamental level on the little things that politicians do best. He is extremely good, though, at doing things that other Presidents were not able to do.

    I’ve listened to the pundits denigrate people who supported Trump as being people who aren’t smart enough to even vote because they don’t have college degrees. I’ve watched the Democratic Party elite do everything within their power to remove the President without ever understanding that they were alienating (again) a part of the electorate who like Trump because he isn’t like most Politicians. I’ve seen the media on both sides pit the left against the right with bias laced with lies and omissions.

    If I could vote in this election, I’d vote for Trump – mostly because he represents optimism for the future and a devotion to your country. He is the most likely President to get your economy going again during Covid’s extended stay.

    I’m going to predict that if Biden is elected, he’ll only be around for a short time before he steps down for health reasons (dementia, probably). Harris will come in by the back door, as it were. You’ll have a President who no one actually voted for.

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    1. Again, thank you for the motivation for this post.

      I agree, President Trump is not like any President we have ever had before. In some ways that is good, but I would have to say overall it is bad. I do think there is a certain decorum that should be associated with such a position, and I do not think he has that.

      And while he may be devoted to our country, I think he is more devoted to himself.

      I certainly hope your Biden prediction does not come true; he was not my first choice (Cory Booker was, followed by Elizabeth Warren), and they would have been my first two choices as VP as well. But I still think he is better than Trump to move our country forward.

      And I think the dementia is an example of Trump making things up and his followers just picking up on it…

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      1. I hadn’t heard that Trump said anything about Biden’s health. Not much different than the media saying Trump has dementia or Nancy Pelosi saying she wants to talk about the 25th Amendment!

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  14. I think it’s great that even though you did not vote for him you were able to look at his achievements in a unbiased way. I think we can all get a bit carried away when we support someone or something but we need to try harder to be more neutral and think of things in a more open minded way.

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      1. Yeah I agree just because you may not have the same opinion does not mean you have to be disrespectful. Not everyone is going to agree on everything but we need to be kind to one another even when we disagree.

        It’s going well but of course WP is not making it easy. Unfortunately they no longer do the move for you so I’m doing it through someone else.

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  16. Food for thought, but I’m not entirely sure why some of these items are being chalked to the credit column for Trump. But there is a great deal of misunderstanding in the world about how our systems actually function. This leads to credit being assigned to whomever is standing nearby when a thing takes place. A better analysis looks at causal chains leading to certain outcomes, and locating the headwaters of those streams. And it must assess what was traded or expended on balance for the trophy. Credit and blame must be parceled out carefully. Misattributing can amount to injustice in either direction.

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    1. I agree that it is quite hard to attribute a success or failure to one particular person or administration. Such outcomes could be the result of years of effort. I was simply sharing one person’s perspective on some good things that have happened over the past four years.

      Since it is so hard to attribute success or failure, that’s why character is so important to me…

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  17. I dont disagree with your list, but think his approach has been inefficient, could have had better results, and caused as much damage as good. He put tariffs on allies as well as China, alienanting countries he should have engaged with to work together to greater effect on China. Strong allies are our greatest international strength. He ignored that, went at it alone and even alienated our allies.
    The peace deals have been fringe deals so far. The first 2 were with countries that had never watered with Israel. The las with a country that had. The approach may yeild results in the end but let’s see those greater results before calling this peace deals.
    His tax cuts were financed by borrowing a half trillion a year and putting our governme t in a precarious financial position right before a major crisis. Now we cannot afford to provide the help people need or he doesnt want to.
    I’m a Republican who has voted for Biden. I just want rational government. I expect that from a current president if they want my vote.

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    1. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Eric. Others have questioned whether some of these could be considered wins or not.

      And I agree, I think we all just want calm and sanity…

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  18. Good on you, Jim for, despite your political leanings, being willing to consider Trump’s (underreported) accomplishments and provide a list. It’s rare these days and something to be admired.

    I’d like to add some more to your list:

    President Trump followed through on his promises to America’s veterans, ensuring they have access to quality care. He championed significant health care reforms and veterans’ choice, something he’s achieved through the Mission Act of 2018 — the biggest and most comprehensive VA health care reform in decades.

    Trump signed the First Step Act into law in December 2018, marking the first legislative victory in years for advocates seeking to reform the criminal justice system. It offers relatively modest changes to the federal prison system, but was praised as an important step forward by groups and activists seeking to end mass incarceration.

    After a five-year effort led by the US, ISIS’s caliphate was finally defeated in March 2019.

    It’s said that Trump’s response to a deadly neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, remains one of the most controversial moments in his presidency. but check you tube for the many responses Trump made condemning racism and racists.

    In 2016 Trump campaigned on reducing undocumented immigration, pledging to take a hardline approach. He made good on that promise when coming into office, but has been accused of human-rights abuses and violating international law by the UN. (Ironically made up of countries ignoring human rights abuses in their own back yard).
    Trump points to his predecessor former President Barack Obama, for the policy that saw thousands of children separated from their parents.

    Trump brokered peace between four Muslim countries and Israel. Something his predecessors never managed. Obama got a Nobel Prize award for merely winning office. No Nobel prize for Trump..

    Careful what you wish for is the old saying. You might want to remember that once the changing of the guard occurs next year

    regards

    Mary

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