Barack Obama had no way to know it at the time, but when he signed the $787 billion stimulus bill into law on Feb. 17, 2009, it would be the last major legislative achievement he would put his signature to during his first year in office.

In the months that followed, Obama’s health care effort would run into a brick wall. His regulatory reform measure would face Wall Street delaying tactics. Cap-and-trade legislation would be vaporized by economic worries.

That left the stimulus, which Obama signed less than a month into his presidency as the defining legislative achievement of the president’s first year. And — with gridlock in Washington showing few signs of loosening up in this election year — the massive spending bill may yet come to define the first half of his first term.

That’s why the White House is locked in a messaging war with Republicans in a struggle to define the stimulus as a success in the public consciousness, with the administration stressing the early need for action. 

Obama defended the stimulus act in remarks Wednesday, saying, “One year later, it is largely thanks to the Recovery Act that a second depression is no longer a possibility.” 

Obama also got in a dig at Republicans who criticize the program, but accept the money for hometown projects all the same. “Now, despite all this, the bill still generates some controversy. And part of that is because there are those, let's face it, across the aisle who have tried to score political points by attacking what we did, even as many of them show up at ribbon-cutting ceremonies for projects in their districts,” Obama said. 

“But if we're honest, part of the controversy also is, is that despite the extraordinary work that has been done through the Recovery Act, millions of Americans are still without jobs. Millions more are struggling to make ends meet. So it doesn't yet feel like much of a recovery. And I understand that. It's why we're going to continue to do everything in our power to turn this economy around,” Obama said.