Obama Tallies Worst Legislative Record in History

President Barack Obama signed just 1,227 bills into law during his 8-year run, a worse record than one-term presidents Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush, The Washington Times reported.

Notable is that Obama enjoyed a Democratic-controlled Congress for the first two years of his tenure.

"The president was never good at reaching across the aisle. So when the composition of Congress changed relative to what it was in his first two years, he wasn't able to accommodate that very well," Andrew Busch, presidential scholar at Claremont McKenna College, told the Times.

Given that Obama was a lawmaker first in Illinois and then for four years in the Senate before getting elected president makes that assessment all the more mystifying, experts say.

"Could he have potentially reached out more? I think that's a fair criticism," said Joshua C. Huder, a senior fellow at Georgetown University's Government Affairs Institute.

The Times reports that the 111th Congress dominated by Democrats was still the 6th least productive on record; Obama signed just 383 bills into law.

The 112th and 113th Congresses were the worst on record.

• Gallup Poll: Only 18 Percent of Americans Approve of Congress
• CNN/ORC Poll: Obama Ends Presidency With 60 Percent Approval Rating