Obama’s first 100 days

Wednesday, April 29, 2009 | 2:07 a.m.

Today marks the 100th day of Barack Obama’s administration. Even though this is an arbitrary period used by the media to give a new president his first report card, the improvement over his predecessor, George W. Bush, has been striking.

We now have a president who is forthright with the American people and who has the decency to admit when he is wrong. He has made sincere attempts to reach across the aisle to embrace Republicans in Congress, overtures rejected by a minority party bereft of fresh ideas that has quickly become irrelevant.

Not since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt has someone assumed the presidency with as many challenges as Obama has faced. And the president has been exceedingly cool under pressure, as was evident in how he handled the crisis that resulted in the rescue of the ship captain from Somali pirates.

Presidential historian Andrew Polsky, a professor at Hunter College in New York, described Obama perfectly when telling the Associated Press: “You’d be hard-put to find another president facing those kinds of challenges who has acted as intelligently and aggressively to meet the challenges head on. He hasn’t pushed things to the back burner.”

It’s too early to tell when the battered economy will recover, but Obama has been fully engaged on this issue. He has shown a willingness to get tough with the financial institutions that created this mess and has acted decisively in dealing with the mismanaged automobile industry.

Nevadans won a major victory when the president, acting on a campaign promise, announced his intent to kill the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump. Americans have been appreciative of Obama’s strategy to confront global warming while embracing increased energy efficiency.

Expanding federal funding for embryonic stem cell research is one of many positive reversals of Bush policies, as is Obama’s willingness to mend fences with foreign governments that were shunned by the prior administration.

If the remainder of Obama’s term in office is like the first 100 days, the U.S. can look forward to a brighter future.