An American president must maintain an image that is usually described as strong, powerful, leader of a free world and commander in chief, among others. Many base a president’s success on whether they were true to these titles during their time in office. One of the most important roles of a president, which seems to encompass all the others, is that of a leader. However, a leader can be viewed as different things and when determining if a president was a successful leader, all aspects of their presidencies are taken into consideration. In American politics, real leadership can be defined as one that “creates the conditions and coalitions for others to step up as well” as described by President Barack Obama (“The president’s definition of leadership”). In fact, President Obama shows these leadership qualities in his involvement in the Affordable Care Act. The Affordable Care Act, also known as the ACA and Obamacare, was signed into law on March 23, 2010 by President Obama. It was enacted to make sure all Americans can afford health insurance. The Affordable Care Act had the goals of: 1) expanding access to health insurance, 2) protecting patients against arbitrary actions by insurance companies, and 3) reduce costs. To accomplish this, two things are done. First, consumer discounts, or tax …show more content…
In November of 2009, in the House of Representatives, 219 Democrats and 1 Republican voted for the Affordable Health Care for America Act, and 39 Democrats and 176 Republicans voted against it. Then, the following December, in the Senate, 60 Democrats voted for the Senate’s version of the bill, called America’s Healthy Act, 39 Republicans vote against the bill, and one Republican senator did not vote. However, on March 2010, Senate Democrats use budget reconciliation to pass it to the president’s desk for signature, and it was signed on the 23rd of that same month (“History and Timeline of the Affordable Care Act