Barbara Perry quoted in a BBC News interview

With a history of involvement in politics, Bill Antholis sends an open message to the U.S. President Elect of 2016. He outlines the challenges the new president will face and the reasons for the successes and failures of previous leaders.

My recent research indicates that optimism is an essential characteristic of successful presidents.

In a world where Twitter feeds dominate the political news cycle, former President Bill Clinton's recent description of Obamacare as "the craziest thing in the world" was clearly a poor choice of words. Critics of President Barack Obama's signature Affordable Care Act rushed to repeat the seemingly critical comment to voters across the land: "Obamacare is a disaster! Even Bill Clinton admits it!" While the political instincts of such commentators may be sound, their grasp of health care policy is deeply flawed. And Clinton's extended comments were actually much more interesting than a simplistic attack on the health care law, because of both what he got right about health care and what he got wrong. When paired with the week's other health care related social media sensation – the story of a Utah hospital that supposedly charged a new mother for holding her baby after a caesarean delivery – Clinton's remarks highlighted a common misunderstanding about health care in this country.

Free trade agreements have taken a beating during the 2016 presidential campaign. Both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have repeatedly argued that trade deals — such as the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the yet-to-be-ratified Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) — cost America jobs, especially in manufacturing. These criticisms usually center on the idea that trade agreements are the main reason the United States has lost manufacturing jobs. For instance, during a Republican debate in February, Trump blasted the Carrier Air Conditioning for moving an Indianapolis plant to Mexico, saying, “We are killing ourselves with trade pacts that are no good for us and no good for our workers.”

According to some polls, nearly two-thirds of Americans believe that the Senate should consider President Obama’s nominee, Judge Merrick Garland, to fill the Supreme Court seat vacated by Antonin Scalia’s death. Senate Republicans have refused to do so, marking the first time that opponents of a president’s Supreme Court nominee have blocked hearings entirely. Is this really in their best interest?