Obama Now Faces What Reagan, Clinton and Bush Did

Neil Irwin: “A president in the final two years of an eight-year run in the White House. Congress held by an opposing party that loathes the occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. A staff that is depleted and exhausted by six-plus years of governing.”

“That is the situation that Barack Obama will face in the final two years of his presidency, with, we learned Tuesday, a Congress now controlled by Republicans in both houses. But it is not particularly uncommon. Three times in the last 30 years it has occurred: with Ronald Reagan in 1987 and 1988, Bill Clinton in 1999 and 2000, and George W. Bush in 2007 and 2008.”