Narrator: What do we remember in November of 2008? Was it this moment?
Or this?
Newscaster: This is an economy right now that cant find the bottom of bad news.
Newscaster:
Ten years of saving completely gone. Vanished. Poof.
Newscaster:
Watching the Dow Industrial Average has been like watching the heart monitor on a critically
ill patient.
Narrator: How do we understand this President and his
time in office? Do we look at the days headlines or do
we remember what we, as a country, have been through?
Austan Goolsbee:
The President elect is here in Chicago and hes named the members of the economic
team and they all fly in for the first big briefing on the economy. Many of the leading
financial figures of the world are taking the subway in from the airport and traipsing
through the snow to get to the transition office.
David Axelrod:
There was a screen set up for slides, but we might as well have been showing a horror
movie because what was described in that meeting was an economic crisis beyond anything anybody
had imagined.
Rahm Emanuel: You had people telling you that the auto industry
was literally days from collapse. The financial sectors kind of the heart that pumps blood
into the economy's was frozen up and in cardiac arrest.
Goolsbee:
The six months surrounding January 2009 is the worst six months ever that we ever
had in the data. It was the biggest crash of household wealth that weve ever had
in the United States. page Axelrod:
Christi Romer, the incoming head of the Council of Economic Advisors, Mr. President, thisll
be as deep as anything weve experienced since The Great Depression, and millions of
people are going to lose their jobs.Tim Geithner, the incoming Treasury Secretary
said the Financial systems locked up and Mr. President, it could collapse.
And then Peter Orszag, the Budget Director, was the cleanup hitter, and said this is gonna
add trillions of dollars to our debt. All I was thinking at that moment was, Could
we get a recount?
Narrator: Not since the days of Franklin Roosevelt,
had so much fallen on the shoulders of one President.
And when he faced his country, who looked
to him for answers, he would not dwell in blame or dreamy idealism.
POTUS:
Our time of standing pat protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant
decisions that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must begin again the work
of remaking America.
Narrator: As President, the tough decisions that he
would make would not only determine the course of the nation, theyd reveal the character
of the man.
The first decision where to begin?
Emanuel: Which is one, which is two, which is three,
which is four, which is five? Where do you start?
What I love about the guy he says, Were
gonna do em all. Because we gotta do em all, we dont have a choice to pick.
Narrator:
He acted quickly with the Recovery Act, giving help where it was most urgently needed. The
country had been hemorrhaging jobs more than 3.5 million lost in the six months before
he took office. Middle class jobs and economy security were vanishing.
The funding would keep teachers in the classroom,
cops on the street, and first responders ready. And for those who were hurting, small business
incentives, tax cuts for the middle class, and job training building bridges, highways,
and infrastructure laying the groundwork for a new economy, and restoring the possibility
of growth. But another immediate crisis confronted the President.
Narrator: Auto executives had asked for another bailout.
And there was pressure to act.
Newscaster: Tonight, a top GM executive warned,
Without help, the company will default. There is no Plan B.
Elizabeth Warren:
If the auto industry goes down, what happens to Americas manufacturing base? What happens
to jobs in America? What happens to the whole Midwest?
President Bill Clinton:
If you closed all these car dealerships, and you killed all these auto parts suppliers,
people have no earthly idea what wouldve happened not only to the economy, but to our
self image.
Emanuel: You know, a lot of conventional wisdom wanted
to do what Mitt Romney did let it go. Cant be saved. Why put good money after bad?
VPOTUS:
Everybody. Democrats, Republicans, I mean, it was overwhelming look at the polling
number do not rescue the automobile industry.
Warren: The President faced a real risk either way
he went. He fails to invest in the auto industry, it implodes, the economy goes further down,
and blood is on his hands. The President invests, and the auto industry just cant pull it
out. Thats on the Presidents hands as well.
Narrator:
But he knew who it would hurt the most and how devastating the loss of a job can be to
an entire family.
POTUS: My grandparents taught me that a job is about
more than just a paycheck. They grew up during the Depression, so, they tell me about seeing
their fathers or their uncles losing jobs. Even if youve got a strong spirit, if
youre out of work for a long time, it can wear you down.
Narrator:
He decided to intervene. But in exchange for help, the President would demand action.
The Bush Administration had given the car
companies thirteen billion dollars, and the money was now gone.
Clinton:
He didnt just give the car companies the money. And he didnt give the UAW the money.
He said, You guys gotta work together and come up and everybodys gotta have
some skin in the game here. You gotta modernize the automobile industry.
POTUS:
So dont bet against the American worker, dont bet against the American people.
We are comin back!
Narrator: Because of the tough choices the President
made, the stage was set for a resurgent U.S. auto industry.
And it wouldnt be the last time this President
would face a crisis that others would rather avoid.
Newscaster, John Chancellor:
One of the most worrisome problems facing Americans these days is the cost of healthcare
and the rate at which it has increased.
Narrator: It had been an issue that both parties had
struggled with for more than three generations.
Clinton:
This is a huge economic issue because we spend seventeen and a half percent of our income
on healthcare. No other big, wealthy country spends more than 11.8%. And almost all of
them have better results than we do.
Narrator: Healthcare costs had been rising three times
the rate of inflation, crushing family budgets and choking business. And he knew that he
couldnt fix the economy if he didnt fix healthcare. And he wanted to bring Washington
together to share the tough decisions.
Protestors: Kill the Bill! Kill the Bill! Kill the bill!
Narrator:
But he faced a fierce opposition, hostile to compromise.
Man at Town Hall:
Itll be a cold day in hell before he socializes my country.
Narrator:
After months of negotiation, it was unclear whether he could get the necessary votes.
Narrator:
Some advised him to settle. He could still claim victory if he accepted less.
Emanuel:
I regularly told him, Look, you dont have to spill this much political blood. You
wont get the healthcare accomplishment youre seeking, but you will have something.
Narrator:
But he knew from experience the cost of waiting.
POTUS: When my mom got cancer, she wasnt a wealthy
woman. And it pretty much drained all her resources.
FLOTUS:
She developed ovarian cancer never really had good, consistent insurance. That
tough thing to deal with, watching your mother die of something that couldve been prevented.
I dont think he wants to see anyone go through that
Narrator:
And he remembered the millions of families like his who feel the pressure of rising costs
and the fear of being denied or dropped from coverage
POTUS:
When you hear people saying that this isnt the right time, when you hear people more
worried about the politics of it than whats right and whats wrong, I want you to think
about the millions of people all across this country who are looking for some help.
Narrator:
And when the votes were counted, that help would come.
Nancy Pelosi:
The bill is passed!
Narrator: Beyond the crises at home, among the toughest
calls that he would make, he would make as Commander in Chief.
He had promised to bring a responsible end
to the war in Iraq, and bring the troops home. It was a promise kept.
Newscaster:
After nine years in Iraq, all the troops are returning.
POTUS:
Welcome home! Welcome home! Welcome home!
Narrator:
And it was part of his broader plan to refocus our efforts on those that had attacked us.
Intelligence reports locating Osama Bin Laden
were promising, but inconclusive, and there was internal debate as to what the President
should do.
VPOTUS: We sat down in the Situation Room\'97the entire
national security apparatus was in that room\'97and the President turns to every principal in
the room every secretary, What do you recommend I do? And they say, Well,
forty-nine percent chance hes there, fifty-one... its a close call Mr. President. As
he walked out the room, it dawned on me, hes all alone. This is his decision. If he was
wrong, his Presidency was done. Over.
POTUS: Today, at my direction, the United States
launched a targeted operation that killed Osama Bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaida. A
small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability.
No Americans were harmed.
Newscaster: Theyve been planning this operation for
more than eight months, but in the end it came down to a period of just forty minutes
when it could either be a major success or a disastrous failure.
POTUS:
A lot of people have asked, How did you feel when you first heard that it was Bin
Laden and he had been killed? And the truth is, I didnt have time for a lot
of feelings at that point because our guys were still in that compound, and it wasnt
until I knew that they were across the border, they were safe, everybody was accounted for including
the dog uh, that I allowed, some satisfaction.
Clinton:
He took the harder, and the more honorable path. When I saw what had happened, I thought
to myself, I hope thats the call I woulde made.
Narrator:
It was the ultimate test of leadership, a victory for our nation.
And there would be many others.
His satisfaction, not in Washington, but with the millions of families who would feel
for the first time, the security of coverage.
2.5 million young adults now have coverage. 17 million kids could no longer be
denied for preexisting conditions.
He expanded drug discounts for seniors.
And with a Patient's Bill of Rights, Americans no longer will see their coverage dropped
or capped when illness strikes.
Title: Restores Stem Cell Research Funding
He restored science to its rightful place.
Title: Doubles Fuel Efficiency Standards
He announced historic new mileage standards that will reduce oil imports, and the countrys
now on track to double production from renewables.
Title: Race to the Top Raising expectations in our schools with higher
standards in forty-six states.
Title: Making College More Affordable
He reformed the student loan system, shifting billions in subsidies from banks and middlemen,
to millions of young Americans.
Title: Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act
Cracking down on credit card companies and
mortgage lenders so the American people would never have to bail out Wall Street again.
And when Washington stalled, he would take
action, protecting everyday Americans from predatory lenders.
Title: Appoints Richard Cordray to Head of
Financial Consumer Protection Bureau
POTUS: Im not gonna stand by while a minority
in the Senate puts party ideology ahead of the people that we were elected to serve.
Not at this make or break moment for middle class Americans.
Narrator:
They changed the way the world sees us.
And brought fairness to soldiers who want to serve their country, regardless of who
they love.
Title: Dont Ask Dont Tell repealed
POTUS: Thank you. Yes we did.
Narrator: And a landmark law so that a woman who does
the same job as a man can get the same pay.
Title: Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act passes
POTUS:
And we will make sure that our daughters have the same rights, the same chances, the same
freedoms to pursue their dreams as our sons.
Judge: Judge Sotomayor, are you prepared to take
the oath?
Sotomayor: I am.
Narrator:
He placed two experienced jurists on the Supreme Court.
Narrator:
And while the economic crisis proved to be more severe than experts had predicted, month
by month there was progress over 3.5 million private sector jobs in two years and
welcome news from Detroit.
Diane Sawyer: It is a banner day for the resurgent US auto
industry, less than two years after coming out of bankruptcy, General Motors announced
today it is investing two billion dollars in seventeen plants.
Narrator:
And with business booming, they repaid their loans.
Lawrence ODonnell:
Tonight. General Motors is once again number one in sales worldwide.
Narrator:
Time and time again, we would see rewards from tough decisions he had made; not for
quick political gain but for long term and enduring change.
Narrator:
So when we remember this moment and consider this President then and now lets
remember how far weve come and look forward to the work still to be done.