President Barack Obama led the United States out of its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s, and as the country enjoys its most robust economy in years. His policies helped revive the auto industry, clamp down on financial industry abuses and provide health insurance coverage to millions.

WASHINGTON — Barack Obama promised hope and change when he became the nation’s 44th president eight years ago. He delivered on the change, but leaves a nation still struggling for hope.

He departs office after leading the United States out of its worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s, and as the country enjoys its most robust economy in years.

His policies helped revive the auto industry, clamp down on financial industry abuses and provide health insurance coverage to millions.

And his very ascension to the White House “sent a strong signal about America as the land of opportunity,” said former South Carolina Gov. James Hodges, a Democrat.

Yet Obama leaves not with a country united and eager for what comes next, but one divided between rural and urban, left and right, lower-skilled workers and the more educated. Huge numbers of people are not confident about their financial futures. They’re deeply concerned about whether the government can keep them safe. Overwhelming numbers of Republicans continue to dismiss Obama as too liberal and out of touch.

The Republican-led Congress and President-elect Donald Trump see ObamaCare as emblematic of much that’s gone wrong, a costly big-government disaster spawning higher premiums and less quality care.

While history’s judgment of any president inevitably changes over time, Obama at the moment gets generally high marks from scholars.

“We know, and have known for a long time, that he will be regarded as a consequential president,” said Richard Norton Smith, a presidential scholar.

“He is someone who shifted the conversation, remade the political weather, as it were, (and) broke with tradition,” Smith said.

“He saw himself as a transformational president. In some ways that was defined simply by who he is,” added Michael Siegel, author of “The President as Leader.”

Same-sex marriage became legal. Diplomatic relations with Cuba were restored for the first time since 1961. Nearly everyone was required to get health care coverage, and the government is making a strong effort to help pay the cost. Millions of immigrants in the U.S. illegally who came to this country as children have been allowed to stay.

The most notable change during Obama’s years involved the economy. In January 2009, the nation was hemorrhaging jobs. In the previous year alone, the number of unemployed people had increased by 4.1 million.

Within a month, Obama had pushed a $787 billion economic stimulus plan through the Democratic-controlled Congress, with virtually no Republican support. “Imagine what would have happened if it didn’t happen,” said former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, now a Democratic congressman.

Yet the debt soared. And significant blocs of workers and regions still have not felt the recovery. That’s why, said John Pitney, professor of politics at Claremont McKenna College in California, “President Obama will not be remembered as a great job creator.”

The jobless rates often differ widely between urban and smaller areas. In North Carolina, the Charlotte-area rate in November was 4.5 percent, while smaller Rocky Mount logged a 6.8 percent rate. In California, Fresno’s rate was 9.3 percent, a sharp contrast to the San Luis Obispo area’s 3.8 percent.

“Economic opportunity is still driven by educational opportunity and where you live,” said Hodges.