Obama in Action - IV: Day 50
An American Presidency Project Exclusive Analysis
March 11, 2009
SANTA BARBARA —Tuesday March 10 marked the midway point of the traditional 100 day “honeymoon period” newly elected presidents experience following their inauguration.  Through day 50, President Obama has continued to issue orders at a pace exceeding most other modern presidents (F. Roosevelt – present) who ascended to the presidency following an administration controlled by the opposition party. When excluding administrative orders and other non-policy related actions by Franklin Roosevelt, President Obama far exceeds his predecessors. Day 49 (March 9) was especially significant as Obama’s three actions generated significant news coverage.
Gravity of Unilateral Action
An examination of the substance of Obama’s actions reveals the president continues to produce substantive policy change, comparable to Ronald Reagan. On March 9, President Obama issued one executive order and two memoranda, all of which illustrated a significant contrast with policies of the Bush Administration, and like Reagan, sought to fundamentally alter previously dominant social-political arrangements.
Executive Order 13505 overturned the previous administration’s prohibition on federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research, while a separate memorandum asserted the integrity of scientific inquiry in federally administered departments and agencies. Later that day Obama issued an additional memorandum notifying the executive branch that the controversial act of issuing certain signing statements would be limited.
Scholars often cite Ronald Reagan as a president who fundamentally altered the political landscape. In his first 50 days, Reagan engaged in substantive unilateral action by issuing orders to deregulate business, limit the size of the federal bureaucracy, and evaluate budget priorities.
At the halfway point of the honeymoon period, Obama appears on pace to meet the significance of Reagan’s reconstruction of public policy when earlier orders on interrogations and detention facilities are included.
Frequency of Travel
After initially seeming to adopt a "going public" strategy that involved high rates of out-of-town travel, in the past few weeks Obama has mostly stayed in Washington, D.C. At the 50 day mark,  Obama trails behind his immediate predecessor in the frequency of public remarks outside of the capital. His pace most closely resembles Bill Clinton (see chart). It is noteworthy that consistent with his campaign theme of “change,” the President has been active in Washington by publicly advocating large-scale policy reforms such as health care.
Through 50 days, Richard Nixon emerges as the newly elected president with the most extensive foreign itinerary having established 23 distinct events in a whirlwind tour of Europe in February and March 1969.
©The American Presidency Project
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