President Obama leaves office with job approval ratings comparable to the high final marks for Presidents Reagan and Clinton. “Almost without exception, President Obama begins serious policy discussions by explaining why everyone else is wrong,” McConnell wrote in his 2016 autobiography. To the extent that Obama and Republicans in Congress have aggravated the gap, the two sides have very different explanations. For months, White House and Senate staffs shuttled up and down Pennsylvania Avenue, chasing potential compromises but finding none. After that, Obama increasingly used executive authority to order rule changes for the environment, immigration, unemployment and other issues.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 14, 2017 11:01 UTC