In January 2009, Barack Obama stood in front of the country as he accepted the oath of office. He had a lot on his mind before he even came into office: the financial crisis, the economy, two wars, Osama Bin Laden out there somewhere, and not to mention other things. This historical president had the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression to clean up right off the bat, left by former President George W. Bush. Although he had all this weight on his shoulders, he was not in any way condescending to former president Bush in his acceptance speech. “I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition,” the new president said, while seemingly nodding his head to signal for everyone to clap.

Now, as the president campaigns for re-election, there has been a question raised by the Republican party that the Obama campaign has had some trouble with. That question is simple: Are Americans better off now than they were four years ago? Vice President Biden had a clear answer for Republicans while speaking in Detroit recently: “Osama Bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive.”

In light of that statement, there are plenty of different arguments to be made about why we are better off now than we were four years ago.

Politics aside, the numbers do not lie. When Obama took office, the effects of the 2008 financial crisis were already hitting the economy and we were losing as much as 750,000 jobs a month. By May of 2010 (once Obama’s policies were clearly starting to take effect) we were gaining jobs instead of losing them. Also, at this point the country had had a lot of improvement in private sector growth, gaining 4.3 million jobs over the course of 27 consecutive months. Now, the unemployment rate stands at 8.1 percent. Just looking at the data it looks as though the unemployment rate has risen under President Obama because when he came into office it stood at 7.6 percent. At the peak of the financial crisis in October 2009, the unemployment rate was a whopping 10.2 percent. So although the unemployment rate is still high, the president’s policies are working and have brought it down.

Let’s also not forget that because of the president, General Motors and Chrysler are still in business, which would not be the case if they went through a private sector managed bankruptcy. Here’s why: at the time, the banks were on the verge of collapse and needed to be bailed out by the Bush administration. They had no money to lend America’s auto makers. “The auto industry restructuring worked. It saved more than a million jobs, not just at GM, Chrysler, and their dealerships, but in auto parts manufacturing all over the country,” former President Bill Clinton said at the Democratic National Convention Sept. 5.

The list continues. One of President Obama’s biggest accomplishments (so far) is unarguably the Affordable Care Act. Because of the bill (nicknamed “Obamacare”), private industry insurance companies actually benefit. Through this system, healthcare is still run through private companies. The Affordable Care Act provides 30 million more Americans with healthcare. Now all that’s left is logic. Health insurance companies are surely going to be getting a lot more new business. That sounds like good news for the economy, which sounds like good news for America.

More good news came to America last year, when the mission to capture Osama Bin Laden ended. “I don’t know where he is. I just don’t spend that much time on it,” President Bush said when talking about Bin Laden on March 13, 2002, not too long after 9/11. Not only did president Obama’s administration focus more on finding and killing the man who was arguably the biggest threat to America, over 20 terrorists were killed under his administration.

Barack Obama looked into the crowd on that cold January day in 2009 and said, “With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come.” When he finished his speech he walked off that stage with a lot on his mind and a lot of optimism. And as he finishes his first term, we realize that this country is better off than it was that day, four years ago.