With each passing day, more and more people on the right and left are piling on President Obama for his continued ineptitude. As a student of history, I find that there is a fascinating parallel between President Obama and the Civil War Union general George McClellan.
For those not familiar with Civil War history, General McClellan was supposed to be the savior of the republic. After the North lost the battle of First Bull Run, President Lincoln selected him to lead his most important unit, the Army of the Potomac. The Democrat McClellan was smart, thought well of himself, and had a thin military leadership history when raised to high office. He was beloved by his followers, but cautious to the point of ineptitude in battle. He was good at blaming others for his failings and continually missing opportunities for victory by his failure to make decisions in a timely manner.
In perhaps the most blatant example of his incompetence, his men found a detailed copy of Robert E. Lee's movement plans for his 1862 invasion of Maryland. A better general would have used this information to destroy Lee's spread out army one piece at a time. Instead, McClellan dithered and gave Lee time to combine his forces. McClellan turned an easy victory that could have ended the war into a marginal one.
Lincoln complained the McClellan had "the slows." He was fired for failing in his mission of fighting the enemy.
I have found out that comparisons of Obama to McClellan was first raised on the left. Within less than one year in office, liberal articles (here and here) noticed how Obama shared many of the failures of McClellan. In the past 5 years, the accuracy of this comparison has been confirmed time and time again.
Notice where time and time again, Obama has exhibit a case of "the slows":
1. For his first two years in power, Obama had strong Democrat majorities in the Senate and the House of Representative. Obama wasted an opportunity to pass laws on minimum wage, climate change, immigration reform, closing Guantanamo, and gun control. He is still campaigning on these issues, but he missed his chance when it would have been easy. Obama had "the slows."
2. Obama campaigned about fixing problems with the VA system. Nothing happened until it became a major scandal discovered by the media. Obama had "the slows."
3. The U.S. military had time to send at least air support to help out the four American's attacked in Benghazi. No decision to act was made until it was too late. Obama had "the slows."
4. Obama had almost three years to get heathcare.gov ready for roll out. The fall 2013 launch was a fiasco. His foot dragging response over the following weeks did not help anything. Obama had "the slows."
5. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and our top generals advocated keeping some American troops in Iraq. Obama let things drag out until time expired. As a result ISIS now controls large sections of Iraq. In late summer Obama admitted he had no strategy to combat ISIS, and even now that he has announced his strategy, it is one focused on taking its time instead of taking action to destroy ISIS as soon as possible. "Obama has the slows."
6. Some foreign policy experts were recommending America provide weapons to moderate Syrian forces fighting the corrupt Syrian government in 2012-2013. Obama declined until he was forced to take action last month by the rise of ISIS in Syria. The lost time gave ISIS the breathing room it needed to consolidate power in Syria. Obama had "the slows."
7. The government of Ukraine has requested defensive weapons to deter Russian aggression. Obama has taken no action to assist with this request. Obama has "the slows."
8. Ebola broke out months ago but the Obama administration took no useful action early and even now daily headlines are showing each action seems to be too little and too late. Obama has "the slows."
9. Obama arranged for the Simpson Bowles Commission to come up with recommendations to deal with massive federal overspending. Obama has ignored the recommendations and taken no action in want is the greatest threat to the future of our country. Obama has "the slows."
Lincoln was finally able to get rid of McClellan, Unfortunately, we are stuck with President Obama for 2+ years.
