Big news at the time, the public soon forgets the claims and promises made by presidential candidates in accepting the nomination of their respective political parties.

Curious, I looked back at President Barack Obama’s acceptance speech on Aug. 28, 2008, in Denver. You remember that one. Democrats decided to move the speech from the civic center where they were holding their convention to the 80,000-seat Mile High Stadium.

Obama filled it.

Looking more youthful than his 47 years, Obama strode through the columns of a faux Greek temple and onto the stage. Late-night comedians had fun with that.

The first African-American to gain the nomination of a major American political party was giving his acceptance speech 45 years to the day that Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” address at the foot the Lincoln Memorial, part of the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.”

The parallelism was perfect.

Two things struck me as I again watched the speech. One was its optimism. The second how closely Obama has followed its major themes.

Our nation has its problems now, but those were truly dark times. Large financial institutions, thought invulnerable, had folded. Others teetered. The markets had collapsed and billions of dollars of wealth that Americans had counted on for retirement, their kids’ education, for buying a home, had evaporated. Millions of Americans were losing their jobs or their homes and, often, both.

Facing perhaps a second Great Depression, Americans watched in record numbers as a freshman senator delivered a hopeful message. Better days were ahead.

“It is that American spirit, that American promise, that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us together in spite of our differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen — that better place, around the bend. That promise is our greatest inheritance,” Obama reassured a nation.

Though many Americans remain disillusioned — the result of stagnant wages and too much wealth accumulating among the most rich — the nation is at a “better place, around the bend.”

Since Obama took office, the economy has added more than 10 million jobs, and job openings are at a 15-year high, according to Factcheck.org.

At 4.9 percent, the unemployment rate has dropped well below the historical norm. Corporate profits are running 152 percent higher, the S&P 500 is up 165 percent. The trade deficit has been cut by 24 percent.

“Now is the time to finally keep the promise of affordable, accessible health care for every single American,” Obama said at his Denver speech.

Once elected, he and fellow Democrats in Congress pushed through the Affordable Care Act.

“I’ll invest in early childhood education … I’ll ask for higher standards and accountability,” vowed Obama.

Though Republicans often blocked the funding he sought, Obama’s “Race to the Top” program encouraged states to pursue higher standards as they competed for grants, with 46 states undertaking comprehensive education reform plans, even though only 19 have won federal funding.

He told America that if elected he would tap natural gas reserves, require more fuel efficient cars, and push investment in wind and solar power development, boldly stating that “in 10 years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.”

In late 2014, U.S. oil production surpassed oil imports. Domestic oil production is up 84 percent, imports down 53 percent, since Obama took office. Energy from wind and solar is up 322 percent. MPG standards for cars and light duty trucks continue to rise, reaching a mandated 54.5 mpg by Model Year 2025.

Oh, he swore to “take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants” and use “diplomacy that can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.”

He also swung and missed, including in vowing to “curb Russian aggression.” The ACA has required many tax increases. Federal debt has doubled.

U.S. troops remain in Afghanistan and anarchy and civil war across wide swaths of the Middle East enabled the Islamic State to emerge. Obama has been cautious, arguably too cautious, in responding militarily.

On balance, however, the nation has come closer to the vision Obama offered in the shadows of those plywood Greek columns than even his most ardent supporters could have expected.

Paul Choiniere is the editorial page editor.