One of the most significant measures of a president’s success is the number of “firsts.” Some are worthy of praise. Ronald Reagan, for example, was the first president to directly challenge the Soviet Union and attempt to collapse its empire rather than try to co-exist through a policy of “mutually assured destruction.”

Others firsts, however, are dubious, and it’s safe to say that Barack Obama could easily establish himself as the president with the most firsts of that kind.