President Obama will participate in a CNN town hall-style interview on the military, veterans and national security issues Sept. 28, two days after Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump face off in their first debate.
CNN anchor and chief Washington correspondent Jake Tapper will sit down with the president for a meeting titled, “America’s military and the commander in chief,” which will air live at 9 p.m.
The president’s national security legacy is a divisive topic, and opinions about its success or failure largely breaks down along partisan lines.
Obama fulfilled his promise of ending the war in Iraq and bringing all troops home, and has reduced the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan. But the rise of the Islamic State and its ability to recruit and carry out attacks in western countries has thwarted his attempt to shift attention away from the Middle East.
His decision not to enforce his own red line in Syria and ongoing violence there, along with the Islamic State’s use of the war-torn country as a safe haven, will also impact his foreign policy legacy.
Obama has also overseen what might have been the biggest scandal to hit the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the failure of that agency to keep up with the health demands of veterans has marred his record. Obama in 2014 was forced to oust VA Secretary Eric Shinseki amid a ballooning scandal that the agency was cooking its books to cover-up long appointment wait-times.
Obama appointed former Procter & Gamble CEO Robert McDonald to replace him. Despite some improvements in wait times, stories about lax VA service and oversight have continued to plague the agency.
