President Barack Obama has the worst record of getting Congress to adopt his proposals in his State of the Union speeches since Gerald Ford, whose two-year unelected presidency was crippled by the Watergate scandal, according to two presidential scholars.
From his first annual speech to a joint session of Congress in 2009 to his latest one last year, Obama has issued 209 legislative proposals, but Congress approved only 64, according to an analysis from Donna R. Hoffman and Alison D. Howard. The two political science professors found that Obama’s record of success is just 30 percent,
The Washington Times reported Tuesday.
Howard from the Dominican University of California and Hoffman of the University of Northern Iowa have
tracked State of the Union speeches since Lyndon Johnson’s 1965 address.
Ford, who assumed the presidency when Richard Nixon resigned over the Watergate scandal in 1974, managed to get Congress to pass only 28 percent of his State of the Union proposals, the professors said. He lost the White House in the 1976 election to Jimmy Carter.
A Congress controlled by Republicans for the first time in his presidency is unlikely to adopt many of Obama’s proposals, especially his expected calls for tax hikes, most analysts say.
NBC News even concluded that Obama will not even try to issue bold calls for action.
"Obama sets his sights small for upcoming State of the Union … not dissimilar to his 2014 address," NBC reported.
The White House insists that Obama has a better record of accomplishments through his often controversial executive orders.
"As we look ahead, the President will continue to work with Congress to find ways we can work together," Obama spokesman Eric Schultz told
The Washington Post.
“But where he can, he’ll continue to use every authority available to make progress through executive actions that strengthen the middle class and our country, as he’s done throughout this year of action.”
Howard noted that executive orders can be reversed by the next president.
"Without compromise, not much really happens in Washington," Howard told the Post. "Obama has been a lot more active if you count executive action, but legislation is a more lasting legacy."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.