CBS News White House Correspondent and guru of all things relating to the Presidency, Mark Knoller, put out some interesting numbers over the weekend on President Obama’s first term in office. “As President Obama’s first term nears an end, the numbers reflect a chief executive who cast few vetoes, was tightfisted with pardons, granted hundreds of interviews, spent over a year on the road and is an avid golfer,” Knoller wrote.
But that’s certainly not all the numbers tell us. Obama entered office in January of 2009 and was greeted with a sky high 7.8% unemployment rate. He closes his his first term with the same. The national debt ballooned at a rate of roughly $4 Billion per day, giving him the distinction of increasing that national debt by more than any President in history.
One number that Knoller didn’t point out? 4. That’s the number of meetings President Obama met with the Jobs Council he created. It’s now been over a year since they met. What was he doing instead? Take a look at the numbers below to find out.
National unemployment rate:
Jan. 2009 – 7.8%
Jan. 2013 – 7.8%
National Debt:
Jan. 2009 – $10.616 trillion
Jan. 2013 – $16.432 trillion
The $5.8 trillion increase is the largest increase in the national debt under one president. This represents an increase of roughly $4 Billion each day he’s been in office.
Bill sisnged into law: 654
Cabinet meetings: 19
Commencement speeches: 15
Visits to Camp David: 29
Foreign trips: 25
Nations visited: 35
Golf outings: 113 (Roughly once every 13 days)
Media interviews: 591
News conferences: 21 formal, solo, full-length White House news conferences
Meetings with foreign leaders: 131
State dinners at the White House: 6 (India, Mexico, China, Germany, South Korea, Great Britain)
Addresses to the nation: 8
Addresses to Joint Sessions of Congress: 6
Flights on Air Force One: 836
Flights on Marine One: 801
Nights out on the town (dinner, theater, shows): 57
Days with no public or press appearances: 93
Presidential pardons: 22 – This is the fewest of any president since James Garfield who served only 200 days in 1881 until his death.
Number of speeches, remarks and comments: 1,852
Number of speeches delivered with Teleprompter: 699
Number of speeches in which he referred to Slurpees: 35
Number of domestic trips as president: 245, spanning 417 days (not including days out in D.C.)
Number of states visited to date: 44
States not yet visited: 6 (Arkansas, Idaho, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah — all went for Romney)
Vacations: 13 (spanning 83 days) (Roughly 3 weeks of vacation per year)
Vetoes: 2
