Evaluating the Obama Presidency - Paperbackby No Contributor (Other) In 2007 and 2008, Barack Obama ran for president with a message of a shared purpose uniting all Americans, and was elected with expectations that he would usher in a new national culture under an approach grounded in public engagement that would transcend partisan divisions. But in an institutional system designed for incremental and contested policy making governance, enacting these transformational ambitions proved to be