by Matthew Zipple

Created on: October 28, 2009   Last Updated: May 29, 2010

When Barack Obama gained the presidency on a cold day in mid-January, I was more hopeful for the future than I had ever been thus far in my 14 year existence. At last, we had a president that was going to make major changes in the numerous failed policies of the previous administration. He would get us out of Iraq within 16 months, pass a health care overhaul bill with a public option, close Guantanamo Bay, make serious improvements in our economic situation, and eliminate the failed "Don't ask don't tell" policy, all within his first year as president. Yet as I sit here in late October, I am rather disappointed to inform you that he has succeeded in just two of these promises. He does deserve applause for his stimulus package that has brought us back from the edge of economic disaster, and for ordering the closing of Guantanamo Bay, a detention center for "terrorists" that has overstepped its ethical bounds of torture countless numbers of times over its eight year history

But let us now look at his campaign promises that he has thus far failed to come through on. President Obama promised a thorough and comprehensive time line that would remove all of our troops from Iraq within sixteen months. While troops have been removed from some cities thus far, manyy remain at their posts, and there is currently no time line for the removal of the troops that are not stationed in Iraqi cities.

When it comes to the bigoted "Don't ask don't tell" policy of the military, President Obama has yet to deliver on his promise to end this unethical program. Days after his inauguration it was at the forefront of his political message, but since then, his spokesmen have repeatedly stated that while the termination of the policy was important, the President, "Has a lot on his plate right now..."

Finally, the hot topic of health care reform is still being discussed in the senate, and we may not see a senate bill until late November. This bill will then have to be merged with the bill from the House of Representatives before congress votes to pass this bill. The chances of a public option existing in the final bill are negligible. The bill will be weakened by moderate democrats, and it will not do enough to fix the health care system

President Obama's first ten months in office have been filled with change, but he has failed to deliver on all of his "first year promises." Though I have not discussed all of the campaign promises that he has kept or not kept, I think that I have covered all of the important points, with the exception of our presence in Afghanistan and Pakistan, an issue that deserves an essay by itself. While he has made definite progress towards reintroducing America as the greatest world power that it once was, there is still a long way to go, and we must not let him get by on a free pass, a tactic that some news corporations have chosen to follow thus far. We must hold President Obama to the campaign promises that he made, and change our country for the better.

Learn more about this author, Matthew Zipple.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.