Drama in Obamaland: How 2014 Was a Very Tough Year for POTUS
A look at the president's year of crises.
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The Year in Review - 2014 was not easy for President Obama, who faced a series of crises both domestic and abroad. Here's a look at some of the events that may have made the leader of the free world question why he ever wanted this job. — Joyce Jones (@BETpolitichick) (Photo: Patrick Hamilton/G20 Australia via Getty Images)
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Ebola - The Ebola outbreak in the U.S. couldn't have come at a worse time for the president – mere weeks before the midterm elections. The federal response to the deadly disease was widely believed to be weak and disorganized. Making matters worse, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cleared Amber Vinson, a nurse who had treated Thomas Eric Duncan, to fly on a commercial airliner after reporting that she had a fever. In addition, some critics opposed Ron Klain, the president's choice for Ebola czar, because he has no medical experience. (Photo: AP Photo/Michael Duff, File)
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ISIS - The administration appeared to be caught off guard this past summer by the militant Islamist group ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Critics blamed the White House for the group's rise because Obama was unable to come to an agreement that would have allowed enough U.S. troops to remain in Iraq to prevent the crisis. In addition, the terrorist group has publically beheaded several hostages, including American journalists. (PhALI AL-SAADI/AFP/Getty Images)oto:
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A Bad Look - After addressing the beheading of American journalist James Foley and an emotional conversation with Foley's family, the president, on vacation at the time, hit the links, inviting a lot of heavy criticism. "Part of this job is also the theater of it. 'Well, it's not something that always comes naturally to me. But it matters. And I'm mindful of that," he told NBC News' Chuck Todd. "I should have anticipated the optics of playing golf." (Photo: Matthew Healey-Pool/Getty Images)
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Vladimir Putin - Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin have been in a standoff throughout much of the year over Russia's military intervention in Ukraine. Congressional lawmakers on both sides of the aisle pressed the president to provide military aid to Ukraine and argued that his proposed economic sanctions against Russia were not enough. (Photo: Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
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Affordable Care Act - The rollout of Obama's signature domestic legislation began on a disastrous note in 2013 that continued into the new year with ongoing technical and other glitches. Health and Human Services' Kathleen Sebelius ultimately paid the price and stepped down in May. And although the administration met its enrollment goal, the law continued to face challenges in Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court. In addition, House Republicans are planning to sue the president based on executive actions he took with regard to the law. (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
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Immigration - The president deeply disappointed immigration activists when he announced in September that he would delay planned actions on immigration and deportations until after the November elections. Sparked by a surge of thousands of unaccompanied immigrant minors who'd entered the U.S. illegally, Obama vowed in June that he would toward the end of summer use the power of his office to protect families from the threat of deportation. That deferred action may have been a political miscalculation that cost his party at the polls. (Photo Ross D. Franklin-Pool/Getty Images)
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Race Relations - The Aug. 9 shooting death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown has sparked a national protest movement against racial profiling and police brutality. That and other deaths of unarmed African-Americans at the hands of white police officers and controversial grand jury decisions to not indict also have started a national conversation about whether the state of race relations in America has deteriorated during the president's time in the White House. (Photo: Muhammed Bilal Kenasari/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
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Approval Ratings - It was a bad year for Obama's job approval ratings, which reached all-time lows and played a key role in the outcome of the midterm elections. He was for the most part persona non grata on the campaign trail and one Democratic candidate even refused to say whether she'd voted for him in 2012. His overall approval rating at the end of 2014 is at about 42 percent. He remains highly popular among African-Americans, but among 18-to-29-year-old Blacks, his rating has fallen from 92 percent to 84 percent, according to a new Gallup poll. (Photo: Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images)
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Republican Lawsuit - In July, the Republican-led house made history for passing a resolution to sue the president. While GOP leaders claim they are taking Obama to court because of executive action on the Affordable Care Act's mandate to buy insurance, the conventional wisdom is that his plans to overhaul immigration also played a role in their decision. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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Veterans Affairs - Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki also was forced to step down in 2014 following the disclosure that several veterans had died while waiting to receive treatment at a VA facility in Phoenix. An inspector general investigation found that delays in treatment and other misconduct were pandemic throughout the VA system, which led to other investigations, including inquiries by the White House and the FBI. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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Tell-Alls - In her memoir Hard Choices, former secretary of state and potential 2016 presidential nominee Hillary Clinton distanced herself from Obama's foreign policies. In Worthy Fights, former CIA director Leon Panetta blasted the president's leadership style, which he said "avoids the battle, complains, and misses opportunities.” Former Defense secretary Robert Gates also questioned Obama's leadership in his memoir, titled Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War. (Photos from left: Simon & Schuster Publishing, Penguin Press Publishing)
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Security Breaches - The Secret Service agents hired to serve and protect the president and his family earned several black eyes this year due to serious security breaches at the White House and on the road. As a result, Julia Pierson, the politically correct hire Obama made to head the elite protection service and clean up its raunchy boys' club image, was forced to resign. Her lack of experience in security, some speculated, may have been part of the problem. (Photo: AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
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Midterm Shellacking - In a crushing blow that could have severe ramifications for the president's final two years in office, the Republican Party won control of the U.S. Senate and strengthened its majority in the House. (Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)