President Obama said he failed one of the central goals of his presidency to reduce "knee-jerk" partisanship in a recent interview with VICE News.
"But there is no doubt that one of the central goals that I'd had, which was to make the politics in Washington work better, to reduce the knee-jerk partisanship, to elevate the debate—I haven't accomplished that," Obama said.
A look back throughout Obama's presidency reveals he has not always heeded his own advice and resisted the urge to resort to partisan attacks.
Early in his time in office, Obama bragged to Republicans that he "won" the debate over the 2009 stimulus package and used that to signal to his opponents they should pass his agenda with little resistance. But after the 2014 midterm elections, when the Democratic Party lost control of the Senate, Obama came out defiant and did not acknowledge that voters may be unsatisfied with his party's policies.
When the Obama administration was trying to sell the Iran nuclear deal in 2015, the president compared Republicans to hardliners in the Iranian regime because of their opposition to the accord.
"It's those hardliners chanting 'Death to America' who have been most opposed to the deal. They're making common cause with the Republican Caucus," Obama said during a speech. He later doubled down on his comparison.
During the 2008 presidential campaign, Obama called some Americans "bitter," adding that they "cling to their guns and their religion" at a San Fransisco fundraiser.
One of Obama's favorite lines of attack against his Republican opponents is that they are holding his agenda or the American people "hostage."
Obama, in a speech at the Illinois State House earlier this year, acknowledged that partisanship got worse under his presidency.