GOSHEN — Barack Obama made history in 2008 as the first person of color to be elected president, and after two terms that will conclude Friday, local community reflected on what his legacy will be.
Obama assumed an economy that was still in the midst of a recession upon taking office in January 2009. Government bailouts were provided to automotive companies in attempts to retain jobs. And for better or worse, Obama introduced the Affordable Care Act to Americans in 2010, a health care reform law, which in part, required that all citizens obtain health insurance regardless if they had a pre-existing condition.
Dwight Fish, vice chairman of the Elkhart County Democratic Central Committee, said Obama paid particular attention to the Elkhart County economy during his presidency. Particularly, the recession years when the county was at the top of the national list in unemployment, Fish said.
Obama visited the county in February 2009 to promote his economic stimulus plan and again in August 2009 to promote three electric vehicle projects scheduled to be funded by stimulus programs that would help replace thousands of local jobs lost when Monaco RV went out of business and other RV companies had massive layoffs. Unemployment in the county reached 19 percent that year.
The electric vehicle projects fizzled and the economy rebounded and debate continues on what impact the stimulus plan had on the economy.
Fish cited the approximately $140 million in funding that was awarded to the county through the Obama administration during the recession. The funds, in part, targeted local infrastructure and road construction projects, which Fish said created a lot of local jobs.
“He helped save this area economically,” Fish said. “He came here several times to prove that he cared. Now we’re booming and it’s thanks to him and his efforts.”
As an independent voter, Tina Ervin, Milford, doesn’t associate with either the Democratic or Republican parties. Her opinion of Obama’s legacy was fairly neutral.
“I thought he had a lot of great ideas, but he wasn’t able to do as much as he wanted to,” she said.
Goshen resident and Democrat Doug Long said Wednesday he felt Obama did a fine job.
“I believe if he had been eligible to run for a third term he would have won,” Long said.
An inspiration
Democrat Arvis Dawson, a member of the Elkhart County Election Board, called Obama a great inspiration for county residents. Dawson met Obama on at least five occasions when Obama served as an Illinois state senator and as president, particularly when he came to Concord High School. He visited the school in 2009 and again in 2016.
“We were at the center of the recession, without a doubt,” Dawson said of Elkhart County when Obama was first elected.
Dawson also praised Obama for extending unemployment benefits to workers who were unable to find work, and to the one in five people within the city of Elkhart who were unemployed.
In 2008, Dawson said he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. He called it one of those great memories that people never forget.
“I think it was symbolic for me that I didn’t think a black man could be president,” Dawson, an African-American said. “The rest is history.”