by Richard Watkins

Created on: April 24, 2009

The president who started "the first 100 days" was president Franklin D. Roosevelt. Ever since every president has had to try to measure up to FDR and has pretty much failed, with the exception of John F. Kennedy who had managed to bring the country together more than any other president in the two party system. At the 100 day mark of a presidency, since 1933 we take a look at the work that has been accomplished by the new president and his administration. Presidents who are polarized, usually don't achieve a high rating because one side of congress is not supportive of his policies which hinders the amount of changes and work he gets accomplished. President's who take office normally do not inherit the responsibilities and challenges that Franklin Roosevelt was faced with. That is until, now.

People have compared Obama to FDR frequently, even Obama himself has. Obama is not as comparable to Roosevelt, as the country now, is comparable to the country then, in 1933. Obama's job as president is most like that of Franklin Roosevelt than any other presidents has been since. When Roosevelt took office, the country was in economic ruin; it was in the midst of the Great Depression. The unemployment rate was 25 percent, while our unemployment rate isn't that bad its the worst its been since that time. Mortgages everywhere were going into foreclosures, just as they have been now. Both proceeded "expensive" presidents. To sum up the the comparison between FDR and Barrack Obama, is to say that both men took on running a country that was in need of complete economic recovery and reform.

So how is Obama doing? He's no FDR. However that isn't necessarily a bad thing. The economy of the nation in 2008 was not in a depression as it was when FDR took the presidency. When Franklin Roosevelt became president the country was on the brink of a revolution, the American people deeply troubled, farmers couldn't sell their crops, unemployment was highest in industrial areas and per capita more Americans then were losing their homes to foreclosure than they have been now. Obama's presidency is requiring that he address the same problems that FDR did, but not on as large of a scale. This is thanks to many of the laws and programs that Roosevelt was able to get passed that are still in affect today, have saved the country from having a repeat of 1933.

Obama's presidency started at the second worst financial time for the country, not the worst. The fact that not all American's have felt the

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