April 29th sees Donald trump's 100th day in office as President of the United States and there is plenty of reference in the media to his first 100 Days. But how significant is this first 100 days? And exactly what can be garnered about a presidency potentially lasting 8 years from a mere 3 months? And why 100 days?
The historical significance
On July 24th, 1933 President Franklin D Roosevelt delivered a radio address to the American people from The White House. America was still suffering the effects of The Great Depression and FDR's address talked about the achievements of his young presidency and the first 100 days " devoted to the starting of the wheels of the New Deal."
Roosevelt's young presidency was in many ways the product of a perfect storm.
In his first 100 days, 15 major bills were passed and one, The Emergency Banking Relief Act, was drafted and passed by Congress within 5 days of FDR taking office. The reason FDR and Congress moved at such speed was because they had to. A massive ongoing economic crisis meant bills had to be in place quickly.
What this has led to is an unrealistic significance being placed on a new president's first 100 days. All surveys illustrate clearly that there is no correlation between what a president achieves in his first 100 days compared with the rest of his term in office.
Trump's 100 day plan
Should the same pressure, therefore, be placed upon the present incumbent of The White House? Trump himself made many promises of what he would achieve in his first months in post and if the truth be told he has actually achieved very little.
Trump came to office full of bluster and bravado and made promises in his '100 day plan to make America great again' including repealing Obamacare, commencing the building of the border wall and banning immigration from mainly Muslim countries, all of which have failed to even reach the first hurdle.
He was wise enough to admit that the "media will kill" when he does reach the "ridiculous standard" of 100 days regardless of what he has or hasn't achieved.
Trump's achievements
There is no debate over what the Commander in Chief actually has achieved in this short time. He has sent 59 Tomahawk missiles to bomb Syria, he has detonated the largest non-nuclear bomb in history in Afghanistan, he has provoked North Korea to the brink of nuclear retaliation by sending a fleet of warships to North Korean waters.
To cap this all off he has spent more time, and US taxpayers money, on the golf course in these first months than Barack Obama spent in his entire presidency.
So maybe it is unfair to judge a president on his first 100 days. But then Donald J Trump set himself some huge goals and has spectacularly failed to reach any of them. Unless he is impeached or somehow forced from office in another way he has at least 3 years 9 months remaining and it is a worrying thought for everyone to consider what he may yet accomplish.
