It has been 100 days.

Since being sworn into office, President Barack Obama has set an aggressive agenda and wants to change the image of the United States throughout the world.

He’s turned the focus of the anti-terror war away from Iraq and toward Afghanistan, lifted decades-old restrictions on Cuban-Americans visiting and sending money to their homeland and moved to reverse a slide in relations with Russia.

“I don’t know how he does it, but I think it’s great that he has been so active in communicating with the rest of the world,” said Eric Marsh, president of ISU Democrats and graduate student in mechanical engineering. “It is extremely important to work together with them for the common good. In this day and age, isolation certainly isn’t going to get us anywhere.”

According to poll numbers, most Americans are, if not supportive, at least understanding of the actions he has taken so far.

“I’m glad to see that the approval ratings show the majority of this country to be giving Obama a fair chance to do what he needs to do,” Marsh said.

Most realize that one of the most important areas of policy — the economy — there will be no clear winner for a while.

“He’s walking a very fine line between the need for cooperation from the folks most public think made the problem, and the understandable anger from those that we call Main Street,” said Richard Mansbach, professor of political science.

However, optimistic thoughts and public perception still have a large role to play in that area.

“As the economy begins to improve, there will be a public perception that the stimulus package worked,” said Dirk Deam, senior lecturer in political science. “In the long run, it will likely help him.”

Others, however, see the stimulus package differently — something the government should avoid at all costs.

“The government is a monopoly, and a monopoly with complete control over billions of dollar is just a bad idea,” said LeeAnn Steffen, president of ISU Libertarians and senior in apparel, merchandising, design and production. “By allowing the stimulus bill to pass, we have just given our hard-earned money to the government to spend recklessly as they please. When the government puts money into private companies, it then also owns a percentage of that company.”

She said these companies that received stimulus money will eventually collapse because the stimulus is acting as a “Band Aid for a cut that needs stitches.”

Steffen said she also worries about the federal budget because it doesn’t seem to be getting much smaller.

“Obama’s budget looks as though the U.S. is moving in a more ‘European’ direction, including bigger government and more taxes,” she said.

But Steffen, like other Americans, see Obama’s decision to close down the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in the near future as a positive move. Being the subject of many prisoner’s rights questions over the last few years, some felt that closing the prison was the right move, while others still disagree.

“There have been high numbers of people being released and then returning to anti-American organizations,” said Paul Vidmar, president of ISU College Republicans and junior in chemical engineering. “Also, no one wants to take the responsibility of housing the inmates.”

Mansbach concurred on that point, but on the whole, considered the closing order a positive.

“Not just Guantanamo, but the whole subject of torture created massive anti-American feelings. He moved quickly and well on this issue,” he said.

Another major area Obama was judged on in the first 100 days was his decision to set an actual withdrawal timetable for forces in Iraq, saying that all troops were to be out within 16 months’ time. While military leaders, including commander David Petraeus, fought Obama on his timetable, many at home are thankful for the withdrawal.

“In aggregate, over the last few months, most people don’t think Iraq was the problem that it was two years ago,” Deam said.

With that said, however, some are not so supportive of the withdrawal efforts, while others are cautiously optimistic.

“I think he has one shot at making it work,” Mansbach said. “If they get out, and an upsurge in violence happens, Obama will find himself labeled as the one who lost Iraq.”

The one thing about Obama’s first 100 days that all sides can agree on, however, is that the standard of 100 days shouldn’t be used to evaluate a presidency anymore, on the grounds that one can’t really get a solid grasp of how a presidency will turn out. Clinton is used as proof of this; after a rough start to his first term, he then got a large jump in his approval ratings, and was elected for a second term.

“It takes the first 100 days to figure out where the washrooms are,” Mansbach said.

One thing that will come out of it, though, is the beginning of the dissolution of Obama’s campaign myths.

“He came to office perceived as a miracle worker, but when all is said and done, he is a Chicago politician,” Mansbach said. “He won’t be able to live up to his own myth…But then again, no one could.”

— The Associated Press contributed to this article