Rachel Maddow said President Obama's accomplishments will place him somewhere in the top 10 presidents in U.S. history, even if he hadn't been the first African-American president doing it. Maddow credited the outgoing president prior to his farewell address in Chicago while also acknowledging the Democratic party lost the Senate, House and many state legislatures under his leadership.





MADDOW: He got reelected in 2012 but meanwhile over the course of his presidency Democrats lost the House, lost the Senate, lost state legislatures all across the country, got absolutely outmaneuvered in terms of all other levels of political power while he stayed not only in office but now is leaving office with an incredibly positive approval rating and is the most respected man in America if you believe the polling.



So his journey has been singular in so many ways, for better and for worse, but I think he'll go down in history as both a consequential and excellent president viewed from the very beginning of the country until now. I think that his economic record alone in terms of saving us from the Great Depression, if that's the only thing you knew about him, even if he hadn't been the first African-American president doing it, that alone will put him in the top 10 presidents in U.S. history and nothing else that anybody ever says about him, or nothing else that happens by his successor will change that.