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When Trump boasted that his IQ was higher than Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's, it was part of a pattern. In 2013, he tweeted that his IQ was "much higher" than Barack Obama and George W Bush. He has also claimed a higher IQ than comedian Jon Stewart. This is a guy who seems obsessed with IQ…. what psychologists might rightly call “illusory superiority,” a condition of cognitive bias wherein a person overestimates their own qualities and abilities, in relation to that of others…..or what we might call wishful thinking.Trump has never revealed his own IQ. So can we work it out? Well, it’s not as impossible as it looks, here is a review of what we do know, all of it quite revealing and refection of a person’s intelligence. After all, isn't the real issue not an abstract IQ number, but how we leverage our intelligence to interact, socialize, learn and maneuver through the ups and downs that life throws at us?So let's take a look at the evidence readily available in regard to both men.Trump is a guy who doesn't read, has no interest in any type of intellectual pursuits of any kind and was rated as really dumb by one of his Profs;"William T. Kelley, who taught Trump at the University of Pennsylvania, said, “Donald Trump was the dumbest goddamn student I ever had.”Source: Chicago Tribune “Donald Trump's biggest flaw: He's not that bright” https://www.chicagotribune.com/n...“Trump transferred into Wharton’s undergraduate program — then known as the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce — after spending two years at Fordham University in New York. Despite Trump’s repeated mention of Wharton, his own classmates hardly remember him, and he even describes the school’s high-flung reputation as overwrought in his 1986 book, “Trump: The Art of the Deal.”In a 1985 biography of Trump, Jerome Tuccille wrote that he was not an honor student and “spent a lot of time on outside business activities.”Another biographer, Gwenda Blair, wrote in 2001 that Trump was admitted to Wharton on a special favor from a “friendly” admissions officer. The officer had known Trump’s older brother, Freddy.Source: Trump flaunts Wharton degree, but his college years remain a mystery. The Daily Pennsylvanian; Trump flaunts Wharton degree, but his college years remain a mysteryTony Schwartz, the ghostwriter of “The Art of the Deal,” ( you really didn’t think Trump wrote this did you?) said Trump had “a stunning level of superficial knowledge and plain ignorance.”Source: https://bluenationreview.com/don...This is not a smart person. By the way, one of the markers of intelligent people is their vocabulary. One psychologist who tests students rated Trump’s vocabulary at the grade 6 or 7 level, virtually spot on to General Jim Mattis’ assessment.Source: Donald Trump speaks at the level of an 8-year-old, analysis findsSource: https://bluenationreview.com/don...David Cay Johnston, a financial reporter, and someone who knows Trump intimately, having literally followed and reported on Trump and his career for decades, had this to say after scoring an interview with Trump, at a time when Trump was planning to enter the casino business. Johnston said he was stunned by Trump’s lack of business acumen and stated: “Trump couldn’t answer basic business questions that a first-year Wharton student could.” This was a poseur, a phony, someone who always got by on bluff and intimidation, unable and/or unwilling to do the work or take the time to learn the business or develop the business skills necessary to succeed.Source: “It's Even Worse Than You Think; What the Trump Administration Is Doing to America By David Cay JohnstonIt has become more than apparent that Trump knows little about most things and next to nothing in terms of either managing his administration, the country or in fulfilling his role as president. Not only are these accusations voiced by his opposition, but similar concerns have also been even documented by his cabinet ministers, a number of whom have called him an idiot, a “fucking moron” or as “having the intelligence of a 5th or 6th grader”, virtually spot on with General Jim Mattis’ assessment of Trump’s ability.Source: “Fear: Trump in the White House” by Bob WoodwardSource: Donald Trump speaks at the level of an 8-year-old, analysis findsSource: https://bluenationreview.com/don...This guy is always claiming he " is like a real smart guy", yet Gary Cohn, the former White House adviser and former head of Goldman Sachs, someone considered as one of the, if not the, smartest guys on Wall Street, having joined TRUMP as an advisor, stated “this man HAS THE I.Q. OF AN INBRED TANNING BED”.Cohn said he was “astounded” by the depths of the president’s stupidity. He said it was a stone-cold, mind-blowing, we’ve-never-seen-an-I.Q.-in-the-single-digits-before levels of stupidity.He called the president a joke a liar and a “con on the public”, this from Cohn, the Goldman Sachs president turned National Economic Council director. Cohn stated he came away from his very first meeting with Donald Trump “astounded” by just how dumb the guy was.Cohn gave examples of what he meant. During a chat about various economic issues, Cohn told Trump that the Federal Reserve would likely increase rates during his first term in office, to which the President responded, “We should just go borrow a lot of money, hold it, and then sell it to make money.” This suggestion and “lack of basic understanding” about how federal debt works apparently sent chills up Cohn’s spine.Cohn went on to explain that borrowing more money would increase the deficit and add to the debt, something that would, in theory, be counterproductive for a delusional president who had pledged to completely eliminate the federal debt!!But “ I’m like a really smart guy”, wasn’t finished: The president-elect offered a solution. “Just run the presses—print money,” Trump said. Cohn suggested that would be detrimental to the fiscal and economic health of the U.S., since printing vast amounts of money leads to inflation. . . . Cohn also pointed out that there was a federal debt ceiling, a statutory limit to the amount of debt the federal government can have outstanding. Even approaching the debt ceiling can be harmful to the stock market and U.S. economic growth. But Cohn’s message did not seem to connect. Cohn told friends “It was clear that Trump did not understand the way the U.S. government debt cycle balance sheet worked”. Of course, the fact that the 45th president of the United States is an idiot is not exactly a new revelation.Source: “Fear: Trump in the White House” by Bob WoodwardBy contrast, Obama attended two top Ivy league schools, Columbia and Harvard Law, where he earned the very vaunted Harvard Law Review role in 1990.Here is what the New York Times reported at the time back in 1990: “The Harvard Law Review, generally considered the most prestigious in the country, elected the first black president in its 104-year history today. The job is considered the highest student position at Harvard Law School.The new president of the Review is Barack Obama, a 28-year-old graduate of Columbia University who spent four years heading a community development program for poor blacks on Chicago's South Side before enrolling in law school. His late father, Barack Obama, was a finance minister in Kenya and his mother, Ann Dunham, is an American anthropologist who did fieldwork in Indonesia.”As well as the high office won on merit, of note is the fact that both of Obama’s parents were well educated, each holding graduate degrees as well as a Ph.D. in his mother’s case. The education of parents is often a harbinger of similar intelligence levels in their offspring.Harvard professor Laurence Tribe is a sort of legal rock star rated as one of the very best of the best legal minds and American Law Professors who taught Obama and had this to say about his famous student: Upon checking his day timer, Tribe pointed out, "and there's an exclamation point next to it. ( Obama’s name)" That was to remind Tribe how impressed he was by this skinny kid in jeans, a sweatshirt and an afro, then a lowly first-year law student.” Their first conversation lasted hours, and Obama went on to work for Tribe on articles and books, including one called Abortion: The Clash of Absolutes.Tribe recalls that his research assistant tried to find a way out of deeply entrenched lines of the abortion debate, focusing instead on education and access to birth control. "It's as though he was looking not just for a point in the middle of a spectrum, but for a line that was perpendicular, so that one could get outside the tragic choice."The two have remained close, with Tribe serving as a mentor and informal adviser to the president over the years.Professor Charles Ogletree plays a similar role in Obama's life. In 1989, Ogletree taught a non-credit Saturday course to give first-year students a basic set of skills in law school.Ogletree remembers the student “who always arrived on time, sat in the front row, and was professorial almost to a fault. After answering the question, Obama would say, "But Al, who talked earlier, had a very good point when he said X. And Sarah, I think she really captured it when she said Y. And if you think about Latoya, her analysis was ..." at which point Ogletree would interject, "Barack, I'm teaching this class, not you!" That might sound like the arrogance Obama is sometimes accused of, but to Ogletree it sounded like this student was trying to bring everyone into the conversation.Bridge-BuilderAccording to Harvard classmate Ken Mack, “He (Obama) seemed to know who he was, be very grounded. Even then, classmate Ken Mack recalls, Obama stood apart. Mack is now a professor at Harvard Law School and author of the book Representing the Race: The Creation of the Civil Rights Lawyer."He seemed to know who he was, be very grounded," says Mack. There was no sign of the kid people used to call "Barry.""If you would've told me that someone had called him Barry, I would have been surprised. Barry is a little bit diminutive — that would not have fit him at all," Mack saysTaking The LeadBy the end of Obama's second year, his academic record and reputation had qualified him to run for one of the most prestigious roles at the law school — president of the Harvard Law Review.The review editors were a partisan, contentious group. Classmate Brad Berenson remembers the guy from Hawaii who floated above the fray. "One of the enduring images I have of him is of a guy in jeans and a leather jacket, Jimmy Dean style, standing out in front of Gannett House smoking a cigarette."Berenson was one of the conservatives, and in a long, contentious election, his group ultimately supported Obama's candidacy."They did that in part because they had a sense that he was more open-minded and would listen to the conservatives, and would value and accept their contributions in a way that some of the other candidates would not," says Berenson, who worked in the George W. Bush White House and is now a member of Romney's justice advisory committee. The following are Obama's top 16 major accomplishments:1. Ended the 2008 RecessionIn February 2009, Congress approved Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus package. It cut taxes, extended unemployment benefits, and funded public works projects.The recession ended in July 2009 when GDP growth turned positive.In just seven months, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act pumped $241.9 billion into the economy. That increased growth to a robust 3.9 percent rate by early 2010. By March 30, 2011, almost all ($633.5 billion) of the funds were spent.2. Modernized the Auto IndustryObama bailed out the U.S. auto industry on March 30, 2009. The federal government took over General Motors and Chrysler, saving three million jobs. It forced the companies to become more fuel efficient and therefore more globally competitive.3. Received the 2009 Nobel Peace PrizeOn October 9, 2009, Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. The Committee lauded "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." He withdrew troops from Iraq in 2011. He reduced the U.S. nuclear warhead stockpile by 10 percent.4. Reformed Health CareOn March 23, 2010, the Affordable Care Act revolutionized healthcare. By 2014, the economy benefited from having 95 percent of the population on health insurance.The greater number of people receiving preventive care reduced the number of expensive visits to emergency rooms.That slows the rise of health care costs for everyone. That's because Medicaid reimburses hospitals for emergency care. Those are the most significant of Obamacare's 10 advantages.Why did health care need to be reformed? Rising costs threatened to take over the entire federal budget. It was also the no.1 cause of bankruptcies. In return, Americans received the worst health care in the developed world. It is the only one of 33 developed countries without universal health care.President Donald Trump promised to "repeal and replace" Obamacare. As of October 2017, he has failed to pass any legislation. But he is weakening Obamacare even without repeal.5. Regulated the Big BanksIn July 2010, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act improved regulation of eight areas that led to the financial crisis. The Consumer Financial Protection Agencyreduced harmful practices of credit cards and mortgages. The Financial Stability Oversight Council regulated hedge funds and banks that became too big to fail. The "Volcker Rule" banned banks from risking losses with their depositors' money. Dodd-Frank clarified which agencies regulated which banks, stopping banks from cherry-picking their regulators.Dodd-Frank directed the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. These regulated the riskiest derivatives, like credit default swaps and commodities futures. Dodd-Frank also asked the SEC to recommend how the credit rating agencies, like Moody's and Standard & Poor's, could be improved.6. 2010 Tax CutsIn December 2010, Obama and Congress agreed upon additional stimulus in the form of an $858 billion tax cut. It had three main components: a $350 billion extensionof the Bush tax cuts, a $56 billion extension of unemployment benefits, and a $120 billion reduction in workers' payroll taxes. Businesses received $140 billion in tax cuts for capital improvements and $80 billion in research and development tax credits. The estate tax was exempted (up to $5 million), and there were additional credits for college tuition and children.7. Eliminated bin Laden Threat and Withdrew Troops from Iraq and Afghanistan WarsOn May 1, 2011, Navy SEALs attacked the al-Qaida leader's compound in Pakistan and eliminated Osama bin Laden. Later that year, Obama withdrew troops from the Iraq War. Three years later, renewed threats from ISIS meant troops had to return. The Sunni-Shiite split within Islam means there may always be wars in the Middle East.In 2014, Obama wound down the war in Afghanistan. Ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan should have reduced annual military spending. At over $800 billion, it was the largest discretionary budget item and one of the leading causes of the budget deficit and national debt.Instead, spending on the War on Terror remained higher than during the Bush administration.8. Raised Fuel Efficiency StandardsOn August 28, 2012, the Obama administration announced new fuel efficiency standards. He required cars and light trucks obtain 54.5 MPG by 2025. That would reduce oil consumption by 12 billion barrels, saving drivers $1.7 trillion. It would also reduce the damage of climate change by lowering greenhouse gases.The Trump administration promised to roll back these standards. But California requires zero-emissions vehicles. Twelve other states adopted the mandate. Major automakers must build cars to meet stricter standards in the European Union and Asia.9. Won 2012 Presidential Re-electionOn November 6, 2012, Obama won a second term. Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney promised to repeal Obamacare and Dodd-Frank. Voters were not sure about eliminating health benefits and regulations against big banks. Romney failed to capture the country's imagination by not presenting a new vision for economic growth.10. Reduced Carbon EmissionsObama announced carbon reduction regulations in 2014. He enacted the Clean Power Plan in 2015. It reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 32 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. It did this by setting carbon reduction goals for the nation's power plants. To comply, power plants agreed to create 30 percent more renewable energy generation by 2030. It encourages carbon emissions trading by allowing states that emit less than the carbon cap to trade their surplus to states that emit more than the cap.11. Nuclear Agreement With IranOn July 14, 2015, Obama brokered a nuclear peace agreement with Iran. That meant Iran could not longer build a nuclear bomb in three months. Instead, it would take at least a year. In return, the United Nations lifted the economic sanctions it imposed in 2010. Trump is weakening the agreement to try and negotiate a better deal for the United States.12. World's Largest Trade AgreementOn October 4, 2015, Obama's team negotiated the Trans-Pacific Partnership. It would have replaced NAFTA as the world's largest free-trade agreement. It would have removed tariffs between the United States and 11 other countries that border the Pacific Ocean. On January 23, 2017, Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement. The other countries are planning to continue the agreement anyway. Japan and the European Union are negotiating their own agreement.Obama launched the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the United States and the European Union.Obama's term ended before negotiations on the TTIP could be finalized. It would have been bigger than the TPP. President Trump has not made much progress on the TTIP.13. International Climate Change AgreementOn December 12, 2015, Obama and 196 other countries announced the Paris Climate Agreement. Countries agreed to reduce carbon emissions and increase carbon trading. The goal is to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures. Developed countries will contribute $100 billion a year to assist emerging markets. They bear the brunt of damage from climate change. They face increased typhoons, rising sea levels, and more severe droughts.On October 5, 2016, enough countries ratified the agreement that it went into effect. At the 2016 G20 meeting, China and the United States agreed to ratify the agreement. These two countries are the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gases. On June 1, 2017, Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the agreement.14. Third-Best Job CreatorObama is the third-bestt job-creating president in U.S. history. His policies put 16 million people to work from the depths of the recession in December 2009 to the end of his term. That's because unemployment continued to rise even after the recession ended in July. It takes a few months of economic growth before businesses are confident enough to begin hiring again.Other AccomplishmentsMaintained Continuation of Federal Reserve Policy - Obama appointed Federal Reserve Vice-Chair Janet Yellen to replace Ben Bernanke. She maintained an expansionary monetary policy that created the lowest interest rates in 200 years. This allowed the early stages of the housing recovery and slow but steady business expansion to continue. That's because Treasury yields affect mortgage interest rates.Deficit Spending - The major mark against Obama is the increase in the national debt. Part of the reason for this increase was the deficit spending he used to stimulate the economy. Deficits fell in his second term. Obama's total deficits were $6.785 trillion, more than any other president.·FY 2017: $666 billion·FY 2016: $585 billion·FY 2015: $438 billion·FY 2014: $485 billion·FY 2013: $679 billion.·FY 2012: $1.087 trillion·FY 2011: $1.3 trillion.·FY 2010: $1.294 trillion.·FY 2009: Added $253 billion in stimulus spending to the Bush budget.No Personal Scandal - One achievement has gone unnoticed but is nevertheless admirable. That's Obama's unblemished personal record. President Obama has served longer than any president in decades without the appearance of the word “scandal” on the front page of The Washington Post.For any thinking person, looking at Trump and Obama, there is no question that Obama essentially the same height as Trump, but metaphorically Obama is head and shoulders over Trump, more intelligent and smarter in every measurable way.

When Trump boasted that his IQ was higher than Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's, it was part of a pattern. In 2013, he tweeted that his IQ was "much higher" than Barack Obama and George W Bush. He has also claimed a higher IQ than comedian Jon Stewart. This is a guy who seems obsessed with IQ…. what psychologists might rightly call “illusory superiority,” a condition of cognitive bias wherein a person overestimates their own qualities and abilities, in relation to that of others…..or what we might call wishful thinking.Trump has never revealed his own IQ. So can we work it out? Well, it’s not as impossible as it looks, here is a review of what we do know, all of it quite revealing and a reflection of a person’s intelligence. After all, isn't the real issue not an abstract IQ number, but how we leverage our intelligence to interact, socialize, learn and maneuver through the ups and downs that life throws at us?So let's take a look at the evidence readily available in regard to both men.Trump is a guy who doesn't read, has no interest in any type of intellectual pursuits of any kind and was rated as really dumb by one of his ProfsWilliam T. Kelley, who taught Trump at the University of Pennsylvania, said, “Donald Trump was the dumbest goddamn student I ever had.”Source: Chicago Tribune “Donald Trump's biggest flaw: He's not that bright” https://www.chicagotribune.com/n...“Trump transferred into Wharton’s undergraduate program — then known as the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce — after spending two years at Fordham University in New York. Despite Trump’s repeated mention of Wharton, his own classmates hardly remember him, and he even describes the school’s high-flung reputation as overwrought in his 1986 book, “Trump: The Art of the Deal.” In a 1985 biography of Trump, Jerome Tuccille wrote that he was not an honor student and “spent a lot of time on outside business activities.”Another biographer, Gwenda Blair, wrote in 2001 that Trump was admitted to Wharton on a special favor from a “friendly” admissions officer. The officer had known Trump’s older brother, Freddy.Source: Trump flaunts Wharton degree, but his college years remain a mystery. The Daily Pennsylvanian; Trump flaunts Wharton degree, but his college years remain a mysteryTony Schwartz, the ghostwriter of “The Art of the Deal,” ( you really didn’t think Trump wrote this did you?) said Trump had “a stunning level of superficial knowledge and plain ignorance.”Source: https://bluenationreview.com/don...This is not a smart person. By the way, one of the markers of intelligent people is their vocabulary. One psychologist who tests students rated Trump’s vocabulary at the grade 6 or 7 level, virtually spot on to General Jim Mattis assessment.Source: Donald Trump speaks at the level of an 8-year-old, analysis findsSource: https://bluenationreview.com/don...David Cay Johnston, a financial reporter, and someone who knows Trump intimately, having literally followed and reported on Trump and his career for decades, had this to say after scoring an interview with Trump, at a time when Trump was planning to enter the casino business. Johnston said he was stunned by Trump’s lack of business acumen and stated: “Trump couldn’t answer basic business questions that a first-year Wharton student could.” This was a poser, a phony, someone who always got by on bluff and intimidation, unable and/or unwilling to do the work or take the time to learn the business or develop the business skills necessary to succeed.Source: “It's Even Worse Than You Think; What the Trump Administration Is Doing to America By David Cay JohnstonIt has become more than apparent that Trump knows little about most things and next to nothing in terms of either managing his administration, the country or in fulfilling his role as president. Not only are these accusations voiced by his opposition, but similar concerns have also been even documented by his cabinet ministers, a number of whom have called him an idiot, a “fucking moron” or as “having the intelligence of a 5th or 6th grader”.Source: “Fear: Trump in the White House” by Bob WoodwardSource: Donald Trump speaks at the level of an 8-year-old, analysis findsSource: https://bluenationreview.com/don...This guy is always claiming he " is like a real smart guy", yet Gary Cohn, the former White House adviser and former head of Goldman Sachs, someone considered, if not the smartest guy on Wall Street at least one of them, having joined TRUMP as an advisor, stated “this man HAS THE I.Q. OF AN INBRED TANNING BED”.Cohn said he was “astounded” by the depths of the president’s stupidity. He said it was a stone-cold, mind-blowing, we’ve-never-seen-an-I.Q.-in-the-single-digits-before levels of stupidity.He called the president a “joke a liar” and a “con on the public, this from Cohn, the Goldman Sachs president turned National Economic Council director. Cohn stated he came away from his very first meeting with Donald Trump “astounded” by just how dumb the guy was.Cohn gave examples of what he meant. During a chat about various economic issues, Cohn told Trump that the Federal Reserve would likely increase rates during his first term in office, to which the President responded, “We should just go borrow a lot of money, hold it, and then sell it to make money.” This suggestion and “lack of basic understanding” about how federal debt works apparently sent chills up Cohn’s spine.Cohn went on to explain that borrowing more money would increase the deficit and add to the debt, something that would, in theory, be counterproductive for a delusional president who had pledged to completely eliminate the federal debt!!But “ I’m like a really smart guy”, wasn’t finished: The president-elect offered a solution. “Just run the presses—print money,” Trump said; Cohn suggested that would be detrimental to the fiscal and economic health of the U.S., since printing vast amounts of money leads to inflation. . . . Cohn also pointed out that there was a federal debt ceiling, a statutory limit to the amount of debt the federal government can have outstanding. Even approaching the debt ceiling can be harmful to the stock market and U.S. economic growth. But, Cohn’s message did not seem to connect. Cohn told friends “It was clear that Trump did not understand the way the U.S. government debt cycle balance sheet worked.” Of course, the fact that the 45th president of the United States is an idiot is not exactly a new revelation.Source: “Fear: Trump in the White House” by Bob WoodwardBy contrast, Obama attended two top Ivy League schools, Columbia and Harvard Law, where he earned the very vaunted Harvard Law Review role in 1990.Here is what the New York Times reported at the time back in 1990: “The Harvard Law Review generally considered the most prestigious in the country, elected the first black president in its 104-year history today. The job is considered the highest student position at Harvard Law School.The new president of the Review is Barack Obama, a 28-year-old graduate of Columbia University who spent four years heading a community development program for poor blacks on Chicago's South Side before enrolling in law school. His late father, Barack Obama, was a finance minister in Kenya and his mother, Ann Dunham, is an American anthropologist who did fieldwork in Indonesia.”As well as the high office won on merit, of note is the fact that both of Obama’s parents were well educated, each holding graduate degrees as well as a Ph.D. in his mother’s case. The education of parents is often a harbinger of similar intelligence levels in their offspring.Harvard professor Laurence Tribe is a sort of legal rock star rated as one of the very best of the best legal minds and rated as one of the best American Law Professors, a man who taught Obama and had this to say about his famous student “Upon checking his day timer, Tribe pointed out, "and there's an exclamation point next to it. ( Obama’s name)" That was to remind Tribe how impressed he was by this skinny kid in jeans, a sweatshirt and an afro, then a lowly first-year law student.” Their first conversation lasted hours, and Obama went on to work for Tribe on articles and books, including one called Abortion: The Clash of Absolutes.Tribe recalls that his research assistant tried to find a way out of deeply entrenched lines of the abortion debate, focusing instead on education and access to birth control. "It's as though he was looking not just for a point in the middle of a spectrum, but for a line that was perpendicular so that one could get outside the tragic choice."The two have remained close, with Tribe serving as a mentor and informal adviser to the president over the years.Professor Charles Ogletree plays a similar role in Obama's life. In 1989, Ogletree taught a non-credit Saturday course to give first-year students a basic set of skills in law school.Ogletree remembers the student “who always arrived on time, sat in the front row, and was professorial almost to a fault. After answering the question, Obama would say, "But Al, who talked earlier, had a very good point when he said X. And Sarah, I think she really captured it when she said Y. And if you think about Latoya, her analysis was ..." at which point Ogletree would interject, "Barack, I'm teaching this class, not you!" That might sound like the arrogance Obama is sometimes accused of, but to Ogletree it sounded like this student was trying to bring everyone into the conversation.Bridge-BuilderAccording to Harvard classmate Ken Mack, “He (Obama) seemed to know who he was, being very grounded. Even then, classmate Ken Mack recalls, Obama stood apart. Mack is now a professor at Harvard Law School and author of the book Representing the Race: The Creation of the Civil Rights Lawyer.There was no sign of the kid people used to call "Barry." "If you would've told me that someone had called him Barry, I would have been surprised. Barry is a little bit diminutive — that would not have fit him at all," Mack says.Taking The LeadBy the end of Obama's second year, his academic record and reputation had qualified him to run for one of the most prestigious roles at the law school — president of the Harvard Law Review.The review editors were a partisan, contentious group. Classmate Brad Berenson remembers the guy from Hawaii who floated above the fray. "One of the enduring images I have of him is of a guy in jeans and a leather jacket, Jimmy Dean style, standing out in front of Gannett House smoking a cigarette."Berenson was one of the conservatives, and in a long, contentious election, his group ultimately supported Obama's candidacy."They did that in part because they had a sense that he was more open-minded and would listen to the conservatives, and would value and accept their contributions in a way that some of the other candidates would not," says Berenson, who worked in the George W. Bush White House and was a member of Romney's justice advisory committee.The following are Obama's top 16 major accomplishments:1. Ended the 2008 RecessionIn February 2009, Congress approved Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus package. It cut taxes, extended unemployment benefits, and funded public works projects.The recession ended in July 2009 when GDP growth turned positive.In just seven months, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act pumped $241.9 billion into the economy. That increased growth to a robust 3.9 percent rate by early 2010. By March 30, 2011, almost all ($633.5 billion) of the funds were spent.2. Modernized the Auto IndustryObama bailed out the U.S. auto industry on March 30, 2009. The federal government took over General Motors and Chrysler, saving three million jobs. It forced the companies to become more fuel efficient and therefore more globally competitive.3. Received the 2009 Nobel Peace PrizeOn October 9, 2009, Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. The Committee lauded "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." He withdrew troops from Iraq in 2011. He reduced the U.S. nuclear warhead stockpile by 10 percent.4. Reformed Health CareOn March 23, 2010, the Affordable Care Act revolutionized healthcare. By 2014, the economy benefited from having 95 percent of the population on health insurance.The greater number of people receiving preventive care reduced the number of expensive visits to emergency rooms.That slows the rise of health care costs for everyone. That's because Medicaid reimburses hospitals for emergency care. Those are the most significant of Obamacare's 10 advantages.Why did health care need to be reformed? Rising costs threatened to take over the entire federal budget. It was also the no.1 cause of bankruptcies. In return, Americans received the worst health care in the developed world. It is the only one of 33 developed countries without universal health care.President Donald Trump promised to "repeal and replace" Obamacare. As of October 2017, he has failed to pass any legislation. But he is weakening Obamacare even without repeal.5. Regulated the Big BanksIn July 2010, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act improved regulation of eight areas that led to the financial crisis. The Consumer Financial Protection Agency reduced harmful practices of credit cards and mortgages. The Financial Stability Oversight Council regulated hedge funds and banks that became too big to fail. The "Volcker Rule" banned banks from risking losses with their depositors' money. Dodd-Frank clarified which agencies regulated which banks, stopping banks from cherry-picking their regulators.Dodd-Frank directed the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. These regulated the riskiest derivatives, like credit default swaps and commodities futures. Dodd-Frank also asked the SEC to recommend how the credit rating agencies, like Moody's and Standard & Poor's, could be improved.6. 2010 Tax CutsIn December 2010, Obama and Congress agreed upon additional stimulus in the form of an $858 billion tax cut. It had three main components: a $350 billion extension of the Bush tax cuts, a $56 billion extension of unemployment benefits, and a $120 billion reduction in workers' payroll taxes. Businesses received $140 billion in tax cuts for capital improvements and $80 billion in research and development tax credits. The estate tax was exempted (up to $5 million), and there were additional credits for college tuition and children.7. Eliminated bin Laden Threat and Withdrew Troops from Iraq and Afghanistan WarsOn May 1, 2011, Navy SEALs attacked the al-Qaida leader's compound in Pakistan and eliminated Osama bin Laden. Later that year, Obama withdrew troops from the Iraq War. Three years later, renewed threats from ISIS meant troops had to return. The Sunni-Shiite split within Islam means there may always be wars in the Middle East.In 2014, Obama wound down the war in Afghanistan. Ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan should have reduced annual military spending. At over $800 billion, it was the largest discretionary budget item and one of the leading causes of the budget deficit and national debt.Instead, spending on the War on Terror remained higher than during the Bush administration.8. Raised Fuel Efficiency StandardsOn August 28, 2012, the Obama administration announced new fuel efficiency standards. He required cars and light trucks obtain 54.5 MPG by 2025. That would reduce oil consumption by 12 billion barrels, saving drivers $1.7 trillion. It would also reduce the damage of climate change by lowering greenhouse gases.The Trump administration promised to roll back these standards. But California requires zero-emissions vehicles. Twelve other states adopted the mandate. Major automakers must build cars to meet stricter standards in the European Union and Asia.9. Won 2012 Presidential Re-electionOn November 6, 2012, Obama won a second term. Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney promised to repeal Obamacare and Dodd-Frank. Voters were not sure about eliminating health benefits and regulations against big banks. Romney failed to capture the country's imagination by not presenting a new vision for economic growth.10. Reduced Carbon EmissionsObama announced carbon reduction regulations in 2014. He enacted the Clean Power Plan in 2015. It reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 32 percent from 2005 levels by 2030. It did this by setting carbon reduction goals for the nation's power plants. To comply, power plants agreed to create 30 percent more renewable energy generation by 2030. It encourages carbon emissions trading by allowing states that emit less than the carbon cap to trade their surplus to states that emit more than the cap.11. Nuclear Agreement With IranOn July 14, 2015, Obama brokered a nuclear peace agreement with Iran. That meant Iran could not longer build a nuclear bomb in three months. Instead, it would take at least a year. In return, the United Nations lifted the economic sanctions it imposed in 2010. Trump is weakening the agreement to try and negotiate a better deal for the United States.12. World's Largest Trade AgreementOn October 4, 2015, Obama's team negotiated the Trans-Pacific Partnership. It would have replaced NAFTA as the world's largest free-trade agreement. It would have removed tariffs between the United States and 11 other countries that border the Pacific Ocean. On January 23, 2017, Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement. The other countries are planning to continue the agreement anyway. Japan and the European Union are negotiating their own agreement.Obama launched the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the United States and the European Union.Obama's term ended before negotiations on the TTIP could be finalized. It would have been bigger than the TPP. President Trump has not made much progress on the TTIP.13. International Climate Change AgreementOn December 12, 2015, Obama and 196 other countries announced the Paris Climate Agreement. Countries agreed to reduce carbon emissions and increase carbon trading. The goal is to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures. Developed countries will contribute $100 billion a year to assist emerging markets. They bear the brunt of damage from climate change. They face increased typhoons, rising sea levels, and more severe droughts.On October 5, 2016, enough countries ratified the agreement that it went into effect. At the 2016 G20 meeting, China and the United States agreed to ratify the agreement. These two countries are the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gases. On June 1, 2017, Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the agreement.14. Third-Best Job CreatorObama is the third-best job-creating president in U.S. history. His policies put 6 million people to work from the depths of the recession in December 2009 to the end of his first term. That's because unemployment continued to rise even after the recession ended in July. It takes a few months of economic growth before businesses are confident enough to begin hiring again.Other AccomplishmentsMaintained Continuation of Federal Reserve Policy - Obama appointed Federal Reserve Vice-Chair Janet Yellen to replace Ben Bernanke. She maintained an expansionary monetary policy that created the lowest interest rates in 200 years. This allowed the early stages of the housing recovery and slow but steady business expansion to continue. That's because Treasury yields affect mortgage interest rates.Deficit Spending - The major mark against Obama is the increase in the national debt. Part of the reason for this increase was the deficit spending he used to stimulate the economy. Deficits fell in his second term. Obama's total deficits were $6.785 trillion, more than any other president.FY 2017: $666 billionFY 2016: $585 billionFY 2015: $438 billionFY 2014: $485 billionFY 2013: $679 billion.FY 2012: $1.087 trillionFY 2011: $1.3 trillion.FY 2010: $1.294 trillion.FY 2009: Added $253 billion in stimulus spending to the Bush budget.No Personal Scandal - One achievement has gone unnoticed but is nevertheless admirable. That's Obama's unblemished personal record. President Obama has served longer than any president in decades without the appearance of the word “scandal” on the front page of The Washington Post.For any thinking person, looking at Trump and Obama, there is no question that Obama essentially the same height as Trump, but metaphorically Obama is head and shoulders over Trump, more intelligent and smarter in every measurable way.