Harvard Law & Policy Review

President Obama

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Inferred Consent: Merrick Garland Should Be Allowed To Sit On The Court

By Andrew Hanson* After refusing to hold hearings on the appointment of Merrick Garland, President Obama’s nominee to fill a Supreme Court vacancy—because “the people” should be able to decide who nominates the next Justice—Republicans recently suggested that they would continue to leave the Court with a vacancy if the people’s decision was Hillary Clinton. Now that Trump has won, they are likely to allow him to appoint the next Justice. But the vacancy occurred on Obama’s watch, and he still …

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DIRECTOR ZIENTS: Building an Economy to Last

When President Obama took office in 2009, the economic outlook was bleak. We were losing nearly 800,000 jobs—the equivalent of laying off the entire workforce of West Virginia every month. The unemployment rate was headed to 10 percent. The auto industry and the financial system were on the verge of collapse. We were approaching a second Great Depression. Fortunately, in the face of stiff opposition, the President took bold, determined action. He moved aggressively to repair our financial …

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CHAIRMAN MASSAD: Bold, Steady Leadership in the Face of the Financial Crisis

As President Obama took office in January of 2009, our nation was in the depths of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. We were losing more than 750,000 jobs a month. Ultimately, those job losses totaled nearly nine million. Over five million American families lost their homes. Countless small businesses were shuttered, and about thirteen trillion dollars in family wealth was destroyed, costing many Americans their retirement savings, their chance to go to college, and other …

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LAURENCE TRIBE: The Trumpet Summons Us Again: A Post-Election Call To Action

I remember well how I felt as dawn broke the morning after Barack Obama’s election as president in 2008. My hopes were boundless, my expectations unrealistic. That President Obama did not succeed in mobilizing the deeply transformative political dynamic I dared to anticipate is no doubt true, especially in light of this year’s election results. But looking back, I remain enormously proud of my former student and chief research assistant. Obama achieved great things both domestically and …

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DEP. ASST. JOCELYN FRYE: Reflections on the Legacy of President Barack Obama

The President often speaks about the strong women who have helped shape his life – his mother who raised him mostly as a single parent, his grandmother who worked for years in a bank but lost out on jobs after hitting the glass ceiling, and his wife and daughters who have provided the immeasurable strength of family and have been the foundation of his support. The diverse roles that women play in their families, in the workplace, and in society are core themes that have figured prominently in …

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CHAIRMAN JOHN LEVI: President Obama’s Legal Aid Legacy

The Legal Services Corporation was established in 1974 as an independent 501(c)(3) corporation to oversee the federal grant distribution to 134 civil legal aid clinics across the country and every congressional district with a mission of “providing equal access to the system of justice in our nation.” The Board is charged with the responsibility of selecting a paid President and a full-time staff headquartered in Washington, D.C. that is responsible for oversight and support of these grantees …

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