Barack Obama

Barack Obama's school record in St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Elementary School. Obama was enrolled as "Barry Soetoro" (no. 1), and was wrongly recorded as an Indonesian citizen (no. 3) and a Muslim (no. 4).[28]

At the age of six, Obama and his mother had moved to Indonesia to join his stepfather. From age six to ten, he attended local Indonesian-language schools: Sekolah Dasar Katolik Santo Fransiskus Asisi (St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Elementary School) for two years and Sekolah Dasar Negeri Menteng 01 (State Elementary School Menteng 01) for one and a half years, supplemented by English-language Calvert School homeschooling by his mother.[29][30] As a result of his four years in Jakarta, he was able to speak Indonesian fluently as a child.[31][32][33] During his time in Indonesia, Obama's stepfather taught him to be resilient and gave him "a pretty hardheaded assessment of how the world works."[34]

In 1971, Obama returned to Honolulu to live with his maternal grandparents, Madelyn and Stanley Dunham. He attended Punahou School—a private college preparatory school—with the aid of a scholarship from fifth grade until he graduated from high school in 1979.[35] In his youth, Obama went by the nickname "Barry."[36] Obama lived with his mother and half-sister, Maya Soetoro, in Hawaii for three years from 1972 to 1975 while his mother was a graduate student in anthropology at the University of Hawaii.[37] Obama chose to stay in Hawaii when his mother and half-sister returned to Indonesia in 1975, so his mother could begin anthropology field work.[38] His mother spent most of the next two decades in Indonesia, divorcing Lolo in 1980 and earning a PhD degree in 1992, before dying in 1995 in Hawaii following unsuccessful treatment for ovarian and uterine cancer.[39]

Of his years in Honolulu, Obama wrote: "The opportunity that Hawaii offered — to experience a variety of cultures in a climate of mutual respect — became an integral part of my world view, and a basis for the values that I hold most dear."[40] Obama has also written and talked about using alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine during his teenage years to "push questions of who I was out of my mind."[41] Obama was also a member of the "choom gang", a self-named group of friends who spent time together and occasionally smoked marijuana.[42][43]

After graduating from high school in 1979, Obama moved to Los Angeles to attend Occidental College on a full scholarship. In February 1981, Obama made his first public speech, calling for Occidental to participate in the disinvestment from South Africa in response to that nation's policy of apartheid.[44] In mid-1981, Obama traveled to Indonesia to visit his mother and half-sister Maya, and visited the families of college friends in Pakistan for three weeks.[44] Later in 1981, he transferred to Columbia University in New York City as a junior, where he majored in political science with a specialty in international relations[45] and in English literature[46] and lived off-campus on West 109th Street.[47] He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1983 and a 3.7 GPA. After graduating, Obama worked for about a year at the Business International Corporation, where he was a financial researcher and writer,[48][49] then as a project coordinator for the New York Public Interest Research Group on the City College of New York campus for three months in 1985.[50][51][52]

Two years after graduating from Columbia, Obama moved from New York to Chicago when he was hired as director of the Developing Communities Project, a church-based community organization originally comprising eight Catholic parishes in Roseland, West Pullman, and Riverdale on Chicago's South Side. He worked there as a community organizer from June 1985 to May 1988.[51][53] He helped set up a job training program, a college preparatory tutoring program, and a tenants' rights organization in Altgeld Gardens.[54] Obama also worked as a consultant and instructor for the Gamaliel Foundation, a community organizing institute.[55] In mid-1988, he traveled for the first time in Europe for three weeks and then for five weeks in Kenya, where he met many of his paternal relatives for the first time.[56][57]

External video
Derrick Bell threatens to leave Harvard, April 24, 1990, 11:34, Boston TV Digital Archive[58] Student Barack Obama introduces Professor Derrick Bell starting at 6:25.

Despite being offered a full scholarship to Northwestern University School of Law, Obama enrolled at Harvard Law School in the fall of 1988, living in nearby Somerville, Massachusetts.[59] He was selected as an editor of the Harvard Law Review at the end of his first year,[60] president of the journal in his second year,[54][61] and research assistant to the constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe while at Harvard for two years.[62] During his summers, he returned to Chicago, where he worked as a summer associate at the law firms of Sidley Austin in 1989 and Hopkins & Sutter in 1990.[63] Obama's election as the first black president of the Harvard Law Review gained national media attention[54][61] and led to a publishing contract and advance for a book about race relations,[64] which evolved into a personal memoir. The manuscript was published in mid-1995 as Dreams from My Father.[64] Obama graduated from Harvard Law in 1991 with a Juris Doctor magna cum laude.[65][60]

In 1991, Obama accepted a two-year position as Visiting Law and Government Fellow at the University of Chicago Law School to work on his first book.[64][66] He then taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School for twelve years, first as a lecturer from 1992 to 1996, and then as a senior lecturer from 1996 to 2004.[67]

From April to October 1992, Obama directed Illinois's Project Vote, a voter registration campaign with ten staffers and seven hundred volunteer registrars; it achieved its goal of registering 150,000 of 400,000 unregistered African Americans in the state, leading Crain's Chicago Business to name Obama to its 1993 list of "40 under Forty" powers to be.[68]

In a 2006 interview, Obama highlighted the diversity of his extended family: "It's like a little mini-United Nations," he said. "I've got relatives who look like Bernie Mac, and I've got relatives who look like Margaret Thatcher."[69] Obama has a half-sister with whom he was raised (Maya Soetoro-Ng) and seven other half-siblings from his Kenyan father's family—six of them living.[70] Obama's mother was survived by her Kansas-born mother, Madelyn Dunham,[71] until her death on November 2, 2008,[72] two days before his election to the presidency. Obama also has roots in Ireland; he met with his Irish cousins in Moneygall in May 2011.[73] In Dreams from My Father, Obama ties his mother's family history to possible Native American ancestors and distant relatives of Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. He also shares distant ancestors in common with George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, among others.[74][75][76]

Obama lived with anthropologist Sheila Miyoshi Jager while he was a community organizer in Chicago in the 1980s.[77] He proposed to her twice, but both Jager and her parents turned him down.[77][78] The relationship was not made public until May 2017, several months after his presidency had ended.[78]

Obama poses in the Green Room of the White House with wife Michelle and daughters Sasha and Malia, 2009

In June 1989, Obama met Michelle Robinson when he was employed as a summer associate at the Chicago law firm of Sidley Austin.[79] Robinson was assigned for three months as Obama's adviser at the firm, and she joined him at several group social functions but declined his initial requests to date.[80] They began dating later that summer, became engaged in 1991, and were married on October 3, 1992.[81] After suffering a miscarriage, Michelle underwent in vitro fertilization to conceive their children.[82] The couple's first daughter, Malia Ann, was born in 1998,[83] followed by a second daughter, Natasha ("Sasha"), in 2001.[84] The Obama daughters attended the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. When they moved to Washington, D.C., in January 2009, the girls started at the Sidwell Friends School.[85] The Obamas had two Portuguese Water Dogs; the first, a male named Bo, was a gift from Senator Ted Kennedy.[86] In 2013, Bo was joined by Sunny, a female.[87] Bo died of cancer on May 8, 2021.[88]

Obama playing in a pickup game on the White House basketball court, 2009

Obama is a supporter of the Chicago White Sox, and he threw out the first pitch at the 2005 ALCS when he was still a senator.[89] In 2009, he threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the All-Star Game while wearing a White Sox jacket.[90] He is also primarily a Chicago Bears football fan in the NFL, but in his childhood and adolescence was a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and rooted for them ahead of their victory in Super Bowl XLIII 12 days after he took office as president.[91] In 2011, Obama invited the 1985 Chicago Bears to the White House; the team had not visited the White House after their Super Bowl win in 1986 due to the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.[92] He plays basketball, a sport he participated in as a member of his high school's varsity team,[93] and he is left-handed.[94]

In 2005, the Obama family applied the proceeds of a book deal and moved from a Hyde Park, Chicago condominium to a $1.6 million house (equivalent to $2.2 million in 2021) in neighboring Kenwood, Chicago.[95] The purchase of an adjacent lot—and sale of part of it to Obama by the wife of developer, campaign donor and friend Tony Rezko—attracted media attention because of Rezko's subsequent indictment and conviction on political corruption charges that were unrelated to Obama.[96]

In December 2007, Money Magazine estimated Obama's net worth at $1.3 million (equivalent to $1.7 million in 2021).[97] Their 2009 tax return showed a household income of $5.5 million—up from about $4.2 million in 2007 and $1.6 million in 2005—mostly from sales of his books.[98][99] On his 2010 income of $1.7 million, he gave 14 percent to non-profit organizations, including $131,000 to Fisher House Foundation, a charity assisting wounded veterans' families, allowing them to reside near where the veteran is receiving medical treatments.[100][101] Per his 2012 financial disclosure, Obama may be worth as much as $10 million.[102]

Obama is a Protestant Christian whose religious views developed in his adult life.[103] He wrote in The Audacity of Hope that he "was not raised in a religious household." He described his mother, raised by non-religious parents, as being detached from religion, yet "in many ways the most spiritually awakened person ... I have ever known", and "a lonely witness for secular humanism." He described his father as a "confirmed atheist" by the time his parents met, and his stepfather as "a man who saw religion as not particularly useful." Obama explained how, through working with black churches as a community organizer while in his twenties, he came to understand "the power of the African-American religious tradition to spur social change."[104]

The Obamas worship at African Methodist Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., January 2013

In January 2008, Obama told Christianity Today: "I am a Christian, and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life."[105] On September 27, 2010, Obama released a statement commenting on his religious views, saying:

I'm a Christian by choice. My family didn't—frankly, they weren't folks who went to church every week. And my mother was one of the most spiritual people I knew, but she didn't raise me in the church. So I came to my Christian faith later in life, and it was because the precepts of Jesus Christ spoke to me in terms of the kind of life that I would want to lead—being my brothers' and sisters' keeper, treating others as they would treat me.[106][107]

Obama met Trinity United Church of Christ pastor Jeremiah Wright in October 1987 and became a member of Trinity in 1992.[108] During Obama's first presidential campaign in May 2008, he resigned from Trinity after some of Wright's statements were criticized.[109] Since moving to Washington, D.C., in 2009, the Obama family has attended several Protestant churches, including Shiloh Baptist Church and St. John's Episcopal Church, as well as Evergreen Chapel at Camp David, but the members of the family do not attend church on a regular basis.[110][111][112]

In 2016, he said that he gets inspiration from a few items that remind him "of all the different people I've met along the way", adding: "I carry these around all the time. I'm not that superstitious, so it's not like I think I necessarily have to have them on me at all times." The items, "a whole bowl full", include rosary beads given to him by Pope Francis, a figurine of the Hindu deity Hanuman, a Coptic cross from Ethiopia, a small Buddha statue given by a monk, and a metal poker chip that used to be the lucky charm of a motorcyclist in Iowa.[113][114]

He joined Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland, a 13-attorney law firm specializing in civil rights litigation and neighborhood economic development, where he was an associate for three years from 1993 to 1996, then of counsel from 1996 to 2004. In 1994, he was listed as one of the lawyers in Buycks-Roberson v. Citibank Fed. Sav. Bank, 94 C 4094 (N.D. Ill.).[115] This class action lawsuit was filed in 1994 with Selma Buycks-Roberson as lead plaintiff and alleged that Citibank Federal Savings Bank had engaged in practices forbidden under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and the Fair Housing Act.[116] The case was settled out of court.[117] Final judgment was issued on May 13, 1998, with Citibank Federal Savings Bank agreeing to pay attorney fees.[118]

From 1994 to 2002, Obama served on the boards of directors of the Woods Fund of Chicago—which in 1985 had been the first foundation to fund the Developing Communities Project—and of the Joyce Foundation.[51] He served on the board of directors of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge from 1995 to 2002, as founding president and chairman of the board of directors from 1995 to 1999.[51] Obama's law license became inactive in 2007.[119][120]

State Senator Obama and others celebrate the naming of a street in Chicago after ShoreBank co-founder Milton Davis in 1998

Obama was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1996, succeeding Democratic State Senator Alice Palmer from Illinois's 13th District, which, at that time, spanned Chicago South Side neighborhoods from Hyde Park–Kenwood south to South Shore and west to Chicago Lawn.[121] Once elected, Obama gained bipartisan support for legislation that reformed ethics and health care laws.[122][123] He sponsored a law that increased tax credits for low-income workers, negotiated welfare reform, and promoted increased subsidies for childcare.[124] In 2001, as co-chairman of the bipartisan Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, Obama supported Republican Governor Ryan's payday loan regulations and predatory mortgage lending regulations aimed at averting home foreclosures.[125][126]

He was reelected to the Illinois Senate in 1998, defeating Republican Yesse Yehudah in the general election, and was re-elected again in 2002.[127][128] In 2000, he lost a Democratic primary race for Illinois's 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives to four-term incumbent Bobby Rush by a margin of two to one.[129]

In January 2003, Obama became chairman of the Illinois Senate's Health and Human Services Committee when Democrats, after a decade in the minority, regained a majority.[130] He sponsored and led unanimous, bipartisan passage of legislation to monitor racial profiling by requiring police to record the race of drivers they detained, and legislation making Illinois the first state to mandate videotaping of homicide interrogations.[124][131][132][133] During his 2004 general election campaign for the U.S. Senate, police representatives credited Obama for his active engagement with police organizations in enacting death penalty reforms.[134] Obama resigned from the Illinois Senate in November 2004 following his election to the U.S. Senate.[135]

Results of the 2004 U.S. Senate race in Illinois; Obama won the counties in blue.

In May 2002, Obama commissioned a poll to assess his prospects in a 2004 U.S. Senate race. He created a campaign committee, began raising funds, and lined up political media consultant David Axelrod by August 2002. Obama formally announced his candidacy in January 2003.[136]

Obama was an early opponent of the George W. Bush administration's 2003 invasion of Iraq.[137] On October 2, 2002, the day President Bush and Congress agreed on the joint resolution authorizing the Iraq War,[138] Obama addressed the first high-profile Chicago anti-Iraq War rally,[139] and spoke out against the war.[140] He addressed another anti-war rally in March 2003 and told the crowd "it's not too late" to stop the war.[141]

Decisions by Republican incumbent Peter Fitzgerald and his Democratic predecessor Carol Moseley Braun to not participate in the election resulted in wide-open Democratic and Republican primary contests involving 15 candidates.[142] In the March 2004 primary election, Obama won in an unexpected landslide—which overnight made him a rising star within the national Democratic Party, started speculation about a presidential future, and led to the reissue of his memoir, Dreams from My Father.[143] In July 2004, Obama delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention,[144] seen by nine million viewers. His speech was well received and elevated his status within the Democratic Party.[145]

Obama's expected opponent in the general election, Republican primary winner Jack Ryan, withdrew from the race in June 2004.[146] Six weeks later, Alan Keyes accepted the Republican nomination to replace Ryan.[147] In the November 2004 general election, Obama won with 70 percent of the vote, the largest margin of victory for a Senate candidate in Illinois history.[148] He took 92 of the state's 102 counties, including several where Democrats traditionally do not do well.

Official portrait of Obama as a member of the United States Senate

Obama was sworn in as a senator on January 3, 2005,[149] becoming the only Senate member of the Congressional Black Caucus.[150] He introduced two initiatives that bore his name: Lugar–Obama, which expanded the Nunn–Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction concept to conventional weapons;[151] and the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, which authorized the establishment of USAspending.gov, a web search engine on federal spending.[152] On June 3, 2008, Senator Obama—along with Senators Tom Carper, Tom Coburn, and John McCain—introduced follow-up legislation: Strengthening Transparency and Accountability in Federal Spending Act of 2008.[153] He also cosponsored the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act.[154]

In December 2006, President Bush signed into law the Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act, marking the first federal legislation to be enacted with Obama as its primary sponsor.[155][156] In January 2007, Obama and Senator Feingold introduced a corporate jet provision to the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, which was signed into law in September 2007.[157][158]

Obama and U.S. Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) visit a Russian facility for dismantling mobile missiles (August 2005)[159]

Later in 2007, Obama sponsored an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act to add safeguards for personality-disorder military discharges.[160] This amendment passed the full Senate in the spring of 2008.[161] He sponsored the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act supporting divestment of state pension funds from Iran's oil and gas industry, which was never enacted but later incorporated in the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010;[162] and co-sponsored legislation to reduce risks of nuclear terrorism.[163] Obama also sponsored a Senate amendment to the State Children's Health Insurance Program, providing one year of job protection for family members caring for soldiers with combat-related injuries.[164]

Obama held assignments on the Senate Committees for Foreign Relations, Environment and Public Works and Veterans' Affairs through December 2006.[165] In January 2007, he left the Environment and Public Works committee and took additional assignments with Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.[166] He also became Chairman of the Senate's subcommittee on European Affairs.[167] As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Obama made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa. He met with Mahmoud Abbas before Abbas became President of the Palestinian National Authority, and gave a speech at the University of Nairobi in which he condemned corruption within the Kenyan government.[168]

Obama resigned his Senate seat on November 16, 2008, to focus on his transition period for the presidency.[169]

Obama on stage with wife and daughters just before announcing presidential candidacy in Springfield, Illinois, February 10, 2007

2008 electoral vote results. Obama won 365–173.

On February 10, 2007, Obama announced his candidacy for President of the United States in front of the Old State Capitol building in Springfield, Illinois.[170][171] The choice of the announcement site was viewed as symbolic, as it was also where Abraham Lincoln delivered his "House Divided" speech in 1858.[170][172] Obama emphasized issues of rapidly ending the Iraq War, increasing energy independence, and reforming the health care system.[173]

Numerous candidates entered the Democratic Party presidential primaries. The field narrowed to Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton after early contests, with the race remaining close throughout the primary process, but with Obama gaining a steady lead in pledged delegates due to better long-range planning, superior fundraising, dominant organizing in caucus states, and better exploitation of delegate allocation rules.[174] On June 2, 2008, Obama had received enough votes to clinch his election. After an initial hesitation to concede, on June 7, Clinton ended her campaign and endorsed Obama.[175]

On August 23, 2008, Obama announced his selection of Delaware Senator Joe Biden as his vice presidential running mate.[176] Obama selected Biden from a field speculated to include former Indiana Governor and Senator Evan Bayh and Virginia Governor Tim Kaine.[176] At the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, Hillary Clinton called for her supporters to endorse Obama, and she and Bill Clinton gave convention speeches in his support.[177][178] Obama delivered his acceptance speech at Invesco Field at Mile High stadium to a crowd of about eighty-four thousand; the speech was viewed by over three million people worldwide.[179][180][181] During both the primary process and the general election, Obama's campaign set numerous fundraising records, particularly in the quantity of small donations.[182] On June 19, 2008, Obama became the first major-party presidential candidate to turn down public financing in the general election since the system was created in 1976.[183]

John McCain was nominated as the Republican candidate, and he selected Sarah Palin as his running mate. Obama and McCain engaged in three presidential debates in September and October 2008.[184] On November 4, Obama won the presidency with 365 electoral votes to 173 received by McCain.[185] Obama won 52.9 percent of the popular vote to McCain's 45.7 percent.[186] He became the first African-American to be elected president.[2] Obama delivered his victory speech before hundreds of thousands of supporters in Chicago's Grant Park.[187] He is one of the three United States senators moved directly from the U.S. Senate to the White House, the others are Warren G. Harding and John F. Kennedy.[188]

2012 electoral vote results. Obama won 332–206.

On April 4, 2011, Obama filed election papers with the Federal Election Commission and then announced his reelection campaign for 2012 in a video titled "It Begins with Us" that he posted on his website.[189][190][191] As the incumbent president, he ran virtually unopposed in the Democratic Party presidential primaries,[192] and on April 3, 2012, Obama secured the 2778 convention delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination.[193] At the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, Obama and Joe Biden were formally nominated by former President Bill Clinton as the Democratic Party candidates for president and vice president in the general election. Their main opponents were Republicans Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, and Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.[194]

On November 6, 2012, Obama won 332 electoral votes, exceeding the 270 required for him to be reelected as president.[195][196][197] With 51.1 percent of the popular vote,[198] Obama became the first Democratic president since Franklin D. Roosevelt to win the majority of the popular vote twice.[199][200] Obama addressed supporters and volunteers at Chicago's McCormick Place after his reelection and said: "Tonight you voted for action, not politics as usual. You elected us to focus on your jobs, not ours. And in the coming weeks and months, I am looking forward to reaching out and working with leaders of both parties."[201][202]

Obama takes the oath of office administered by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. at the Capitol, January 20, 2009

The inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president took place on January 20, 2009. In his first few days in office, Obama issued executive orders and presidential memoranda directing the U.S. military to develop plans to withdraw troops from Iraq.[203] He ordered the closing of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp,[204] but Congress prevented the closure by refusing to appropriate the required funds[205][206][207] and preventing moving any Guantanamo detainee.[208] Obama reduced the secrecy given to presidential records.[209] He also revoked President George W. Bush's restoration of President Ronald Reagan's Mexico City policy which prohibited federal aid to international family planning organizations that perform or provide counseling about abortion.[210]

The first bill signed into law by Obama was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, relaxing the statute of limitations for equal-pay lawsuits.[211] Five days later, he signed the reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program to cover an additional four million uninsured children.[212] In March 2009, Obama reversed a Bush-era policy that had limited funding of embryonic stem cell research and pledged to develop "strict guidelines" on the research.[213]

Obama delivers a speech at joint session of Congress with Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on February 24, 2009.

Obama appointed two women to serve on the Supreme Court in the first two years of his presidency. He nominated Sonia Sotomayor on May 26, 2009, to replace retiring Associate Justice David Souter; she was confirmed on August 6, 2009,[214] becoming the first Supreme Court Justice of Hispanic descent.[215] Obama nominated Elena Kagan on May 10, 2010, to replace retiring Associate Justice John Paul Stevens. She was confirmed on August 5, 2010, bringing the number of women sitting simultaneously on the Court to three for the first time in American history.[216]

On March 11, 2009, Obama created the White House Council on Women and Girls, which formed part of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, having been established by Executive Order 13506 with a broad mandate to advise him on issues relating to the welfare of American women and girls.[217] The council was chaired by Senior Advisor to the President Valerie Jarrett.[218] Obama also established the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault through a government memorandum on January 22, 2014, with a broad mandate to advise him on issues relating to sexual assault on college and university campuses throughout the United States.[218][219][220] The co-chairs of the Task Force were Vice President Joe Biden and Jarrett.[219] The Task Force was a development out of the White House Council on Women and Girls and Office of the Vice President of the United States, and prior to that the 1994 Violence Against Women Act first drafted by Biden.[221]

In a major space policy speech in April 2010, Obama announced a planned change in direction at NASA, the U.S. space agency. He ended plans for a return of human spaceflight to the moon and development of the Ares I rocket, Ares V rocket and Constellation program, in favor of funding Earth science projects, a new rocket type, research and development for an eventual crewed mission to Mars, and ongoing missions to the International Space Station.[222]

Obama visits an Aurora shooting victim at University of Colorado Hospital, 2012.

On January 16, 2013, one month after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Obama signed 23 executive orders and outlined a series of sweeping proposals regarding gun control.[223] He urged Congress to reintroduce an expired ban on military-style assault weapons, such as those used in several recent mass shootings, impose limits on ammunition magazines to 10 rounds, introduce background checks on all gun sales, pass a ban on possession and sale of armor-piercing bullets, introduce harsher penalties for gun-traffickers, especially unlicensed dealers who buy arms for criminals and approving the appointment of the head of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for the first time since 2006.[224] On January 5, 2016, Obama announced new executive actions extending background check requirements to more gun sellers.[225] In a 2016 editorial in The New York Times, Obama compared the struggle for what he termed "common-sense gun reform" to women's suffrage and other civil rights movements in American history.[226] On January 5, 2016, Obama announced new executive actions extending background check requirements to more gun sellers.[227]

In 2011, Obama signed a four-year renewal of the Patriot Act.[228] Following the 2013 global surveillance disclosures by whistleblower Edward Snowden, Obama condemned the leak as unpatriotic,[229] but called for increased restrictions on the National Security Agency (NSA) to address violations of privacy.[230][231] Obama continued and expanded surveillance programs set up by George W. Bush, while implementing some reforms.[232] He supported legislation that would have limited the NSA's ability to collect phone records in bulk under a single program and supported bringing more transparency to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC).[232]

In his speeches as president, Obama did not make more overt references to race relations than his predecessors,[233][234] but according to one study, he implemented stronger policy action on behalf of African-Americans than any president since the Nixon era.[235]

Following Obama's election, many pondered the existence of a "postracial America."[236][237] However, lingering racial tensions quickly became apparent,[236][238] and many African-Americans expressed outrage over what they saw as an intense racial animosity directed at Obama.[239] The acquittal of George Zimmerman following the killing of Trayvon Martin sparked national outrage, leading to Obama giving a speech in which he noted that "Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago."[240] The shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri sparked a wave of protests.[241] These and other events led to the birth of the Black Lives Matter movement, which campaigns against violence and systemic racism toward black people.[241] Though Obama entered office reluctant to talk about race, by 2014 he began openly discussing the disadvantages faced by many members of minority groups.[242]

Several incidents during Obama's presidency generated disapproval from the African-American community and/or with law enforcement, and Obama sought to build trust between law enforcement officials and civil rights activists, with mixed results. Some in law enforcement criticized Obama's condemnation of racial bias after incidents in which police action led to the death of African-American men, while some racial justice activists criticized Obama's expressions of empathy for the police.[243] In a March 2016 Gallup poll, nearly one third of Americans said they worried "a great deal" about race relations, a higher figure than in any previous Gallup poll since 2001.[244]

On October 8, 2009, Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, a measure that expanded the 1969 United States federal hate-crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.[245] On October 30, 2009, Obama lifted the ban on travel to the United States by those infected with HIV. The lifting of the ban was celebrated by Immigration Equality.[246] On December 22, 2010, Obama signed the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010, which fulfilled a promise made in the 2008 presidential campaign[247][248] to end the don't ask, don't tell policy of 1993 that had prevented gay and lesbian people from serving openly in the United States Armed Forces.[249] In 2016, the Pentagon ended the policy that barred transgender people from serving openly in the military.[250]

The White House was illuminated in rainbow colors on the evening of the Supreme Court same-sex marriage ruling, June 26, 2015.

As a candidate for the Illinois state senate in 1996, Obama stated he favored legalizing same-sex marriage.[251] During his Senate run in 2004, he said he supported civil unions and domestic partnerships for same-sex partners but opposed same-sex marriages.[252] In 2008, he reaffirmed this position by stating "I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I am not in favor of gay marriage."[253] On May 9, 2012, shortly after the official launch of his campaign for re-election as president, Obama said his views had evolved, and he publicly affirmed his personal support for the legalization of same-sex marriage, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to do so.[254][255] During his second inaugural address on January 21, 2013,[202] Obama became the first U.S. president in office to call for full equality for gay Americans, and the first to mention gay rights or the word "gay" in an inaugural address.[256][257] In 2013, the Obama administration filed briefs that urged the Supreme Court to rule in favor of same-sex couples in the cases of Hollingsworth v. Perry (regarding same-sex marriage)[258] and United States v. Windsor (regarding the Defense of Marriage Act).[259]

On February 17, 2009, Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, a $787 billion (equivalent to $994 billion in 2021) economic stimulus package aimed at helping the economy recover from the deepening worldwide recession.[260] The act includes increased federal spending for health care, infrastructure, education, various tax breaks and incentives, and direct assistance to individuals.[261] In March 2009, Obama's Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, took further steps to manage the financial crisis, including introducing the Public–Private Investment Program for Legacy Assets, which contains provisions for buying up to $2 trillion in depreciated real estate assets.[262]

Deficit and debt increases, 2001–2016

Obama intervened in the troubled automotive industry[263] in March 2009, renewing loans for General Motors (GM) and Chrysler to continue operations while reorganizing. Over the following months the White House set terms for both firms' bankruptcies, including the sale of Chrysler to Italian automaker Fiat[264] and a reorganization of GM giving the U.S. government a temporary 60 percent equity stake in the company.[265] In June 2009, dissatisfied with the pace of economic stimulus, Obama called on his cabinet to accelerate the investment.[266] He signed into law the Car Allowance Rebate System, known colloquially as "Cash for Clunkers", which temporarily boosted the economy.[267][268][269]

The Bush and Obama administrations authorized spending and loan guarantees from the Federal Reserve and the Department of the Treasury. These guarantees totaled about $11.5 trillion, but only $3 trillion had been spent by the end of November 2009.[270] On August 2, 2011, after a lengthy congressional debate over whether to raise the nation's debt limit, Obama signed the bipartisan Budget Control Act of 2011. The legislation enforced limits on discretionary spending until 2021, established a procedure to increase the debt limit, created a Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to propose further deficit reduction with a stated goal of achieving at least $1.5 trillion in budgetary savings over 10 years, and established automatic procedures for reducing spending by as much as $1.2 trillion if legislation originating with the new joint select committee did not achieve such savings.[271] By passing the legislation, Congress was able to prevent a U.S. government default on its obligations.[272]

The unemployment rate rose in 2009, reaching a peak in October at 10.0 percent and averaging 10.0 percent in the fourth quarter. Following a decrease to 9.7 percent in the first quarter of 2010, the unemployment rate fell to 9.6 percent in the second quarter, where it remained for the rest of the year.[273] Between February and December 2010, employment rose by 0.8 percent, which was less than the average of 1.9 percent experienced during comparable periods in the past four employment recoveries.[274] By November 2012, the unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent,[275] decreasing to 6.7 percent in the last month of 2013.[276] During 2014, the unemployment rate continued to decline, falling to 6.3 percent in the first quarter.[277] GDP growth returned in the third quarter of 2009, expanding at a rate of 1.6 percent, followed by a 5.0 percent increase in the fourth quarter.[278] Growth continued in 2010, posting an increase of 3.7 percent in the first quarter, with lesser gains throughout the rest of the year.[278] In July 2010, the Federal Reserve noted that economic activity continued to increase, but its pace had slowed, and chairman Ben Bernanke said the economic outlook was "unusually uncertain."[279] Overall, the economy expanded at a rate of 2.9 percent in 2010.[280]

U.S. unemployment rate and monthly changes in net employment during Obama's tenure as president.[281][282]

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and a broad range of economists credit Obama's stimulus plan for economic growth.[283][284] The CBO released a report stating that the stimulus bill increased employment by 1–2.1 million,[284][285][286] while conceding that "it is impossible to determine how many of the reported jobs would have existed in the absence of the stimulus package."[283] Although an April 2010, survey of members of the National Association for Business Economics showed an increase in job creation (over a similar January survey) for the first time in two years, 73 percent of 68 respondents believed the stimulus bill has had no impact on employment.[287] The economy of the United States has grown faster than the other original NATO members by a wider margin under President Obama than it has anytime since the end of World War II.[288] The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development credits the much faster growth in the United States to the stimulus plan of the U.S. and the austerity measures in the European Union.[289]

Within a month of the 2010 midterm elections, Obama announced a compromise deal with the Congressional Republican leadership that included a temporary, two-year extension of the 2001 and 2003 income tax rates, a one-year payroll tax reduction, continuation of unemployment benefits, and a new rate and exemption amount for estate taxes.[290] The compromise overcame opposition from some in both parties, and the resulting $858 billion (equivalent to $1.1 trillion in 2021) Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 passed with bipartisan majorities in both houses of Congress before Obama signed it on December 17, 2010.[291]

In December 2013, Obama declared that growing income inequality is a "defining challenge of our time" and called on Congress to bolster the safety net and raise wages. This came on the heels of the nationwide strikes of fast-food workers and Pope Francis' criticism of inequality and trickle-down economics.[292] Obama urged Congress to ratify a 12-nation free trade pact called the Trans-Pacific Partnership.[293]

Obama at a 2010 briefing on the BP oil spill at the Coast Guard Station Venice in Venice, Louisiana

On April 20, 2010, an explosion destroyed an offshore drilling rig at the Macondo Prospect in the Gulf of Mexico, causing a major sustained oil leak. Obama visited the Gulf, announced a federal investigation, and formed a bipartisan commission to recommend new safety standards, after a review by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and concurrent Congressional hearings. He then announced a six-month moratorium on new deepwater drilling permits and leases, pending regulatory review.[294] As multiple efforts by BP failed, some in the media and public expressed confusion and criticism over various aspects of the incident, and stated a desire for more involvement by Obama and the federal government.[295] Prior to the oil spill, on March 31, 2010, Obama ended a ban on oil and gas drilling along the majority of the East Coast of the United States and along the coast of northern Alaska in an effort to win support for an energy and climate bill and to reduce foreign imports of oil and gas.[296]

In July 2013, Obama expressed reservations and said he "would reject the Keystone XL pipeline if it increased carbon pollution [or] greenhouse emissions."[297][298] On February 24, 2015, Obama vetoed a bill that would have authorized the pipeline.[299] It was the third veto of Obama's presidency and his first major veto.[300]

In December 2016, Obama permanently banned new offshore oil and gas drilling in most United States-owned waters in the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans using the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Act.[301][302][303]

Obama emphasized the conservation of federal lands during his term in office. He used his power under the Antiquities Act to create 25 new national monuments during his presidency and expand four others, protecting a total of 553,000,000 acres (224,000,000 ha) of federal lands and waters, more than any other U.S. president.[304][305][306]

Obama signs the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act at the White House, March 23, 2010.

Obama called for Congress to pass legislation reforming health care in the United States, a key campaign promise and a top legislative goal.[307] He proposed an expansion of health insurance coverage to cover the uninsured, cap premium increases, and allow people to retain their coverage when they leave or change jobs. His proposal was to spend $900 billion over ten years and include a government insurance plan, also known as the public option, to compete with the corporate insurance sector as a main component to lowering costs and improving quality of health care. It would also make it illegal for insurers to drop sick people or deny them coverage for pre-existing conditions, and require every American to carry health coverage. The plan also includes medical spending cuts and taxes on insurance companies that offer expensive plans.[308][309]

Maximum Out-of-Pocket Premium as Percentage of Family Income and federal poverty level, under Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, starting in 2014 (Source: CRS)[310]

On July 14, 2009, House Democratic leaders introduced a 1,017-page plan for overhauling the U.S. health care system, which Obama wanted Congress to approve by the end of 2009.[307] After public debate during the Congressional summer recess of 2009, Obama delivered a speech to a joint session of Congress on September 9 where he addressed concerns over the proposals.[311] In March 2009, Obama lifted a ban on using federal funds for stem cell research.[312]

On November 7, 2009, a health care bill featuring the public option was passed in the House.[313][314] On December 24, 2009, the Senate passed its own bill—without a public option—on a party-line vote of 60–39.[315] On March 21, 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) passed by the Senate in December was passed in the House by a vote of 219 to 212. Obama signed the bill into law on March 23, 2010.[316]

The ACA includes health-related provisions, most of which took effect in 2014, including expanding Medicaid eligibility for people making up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) starting in 2014,[317] subsidizing insurance premiums for people making up to 400 percent of the FPL ($88,000 for family of four in 2010) so their maximum "out-of-pocket" payment for annual premiums will be from 2 percent to 9.5 percent of income,[318][319] providing incentives for businesses to provide health care benefits, prohibiting denial of coverage and denial of claims based on pre-existing conditions, establishing health insurance exchanges, prohibiting annual coverage caps, and support for medical research. According to White House and CBO figures, the maximum share of income that enrollees would have to pay would vary depending on their income relative to the federal poverty level.[318][320]

Percentage of Individuals in the United States without Health Insurance, 1963–2015 (Source: JAMA)[321]

The costs of these provisions are offset by taxes, fees, and cost-saving measures, such as new Medicare taxes for those in high-income brackets, taxes on indoor tanning, cuts to the Medicare Advantage program in favor of traditional Medicare, and fees on medical devices and pharmaceutical companies;[322] there is also a tax penalty for those who do not obtain health insurance, unless they are exempt due to low income or other reasons.[323] In March 2010, the CBO estimated that the net effect of both laws will be a reduction in the federal deficit by $143 billion over the first decade.[324]

The law faced several legal challenges, primarily based on the argument that an individual mandate requiring Americans to buy health insurance was unconstitutional. On June 28, 2012, the Supreme Court ruled by a 5–4 vote in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius that the mandate was constitutional under the U.S. Congress's taxing authority.[325] In Burwell v. Hobby Lobby the Court ruled that "closely-held" for-profit corporations could be exempt on religious grounds under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act from regulations adopted under the ACA that would have required them to pay for insurance that covered certain contraceptives. In June 2015, the Court ruled 6–3 in King v. Burwell that subsidies to help individuals and families purchase health insurance were authorized for those doing so on both the federal exchange and state exchanges, not only those purchasing plans "established by the State", as the statute reads.[326]

June 4, 2009 − after his speech A New Beginning at Cairo University, U.S. President Obama participates in a roundtable interview in 2009 with among others Jamal Khashoggi, Bambang Harymurti and Nahum Barnea.

Obama meets with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Ottawa, February 19, 2009.

In February and March 2009, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made separate overseas trips to announce a "new era" in U.S. foreign relations with Russia and Europe, using the terms "break" and "reset" to signal major changes from the policies of the preceding administration.[327] Obama attempted to reach out to Arab leaders by granting his first interview to an Arab satellite TV network, Al Arabiya.[328] On March 19, Obama continued his outreach to the Muslim world, releasing a New Year's video message to the people and government of Iran.[329][330] On June 4, 2009, Obama delivered a speech at Cairo University in Egypt calling for "A New Beginning" in relations between the Islamic world and the United States and promoting Middle East peace.[331] On June 26, 2009, Obama condemned the Iranian government's actions towards protesters following Iran's 2009 presidential election.[332]

In 2011, Obama ordered a drone strike in Yemen which targeted and killed Anwar al-Awlaki. Awlaki was an American imam suspected of being an Al-Qaeda organizer and supporter. Awlaki became the first U.S. citizen to be targeted and killed by a U.S. drone strike without the rights of due process being afforded. The killing led to significant controversy.[333] His teenage son and young daughter, also Americans, were later killed in separate US military actions, although they were not targeted specifically.[334][335]

Obama meets with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi at the White House, October 2016.

In March 2015, Obama declared that he had authorized U.S. forces to provide logistical and intelligence support to the Saudis in their military intervention in Yemen, establishing a "Joint Planning Cell" with Saudi Arabia.[336][337] In 2016, the Obama administration proposed a series of arms deals with Saudi Arabia worth $115 billion.[338] Obama halted the sale of guided munition technology to Saudi Arabia after Saudi warplanes targeted a funeral in Yemen's capital Sanaa, killing more than 140 people.[339]

On February 27, 2009, Obama announced that combat operations in Iraq would end within 18 months.[340] The Obama administration scheduled the withdrawal of combat troops to be completed by August 2010, decreasing troop's levels from 142,000 while leaving a transitional force of about 50,000 in Iraq until the end of 2011. On August 19, 2010, the last U.S. combat brigade exited Iraq. Remaining troops transitioned from combat operations to counter-terrorism and the training, equipping, and advising of Iraqi security forces.[341][342] On August 31, 2010, Obama announced that the United States combat mission in Iraq was over.[343] On October 21, 2011, President Obama announced that all U.S. troops would leave Iraq in time to be "home for the holidays."[344]

Meeting with UK Prime Minister David Cameron during the 2010 G20 Toronto summit

In June 2014, following the capture of Mosul by ISIL, Obama sent 275 troops to provide support and security for U.S. personnel and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. ISIS continued to gain ground and to commit widespread massacres and ethnic cleansing.[345][346] In August 2014, during the Sinjar massacre, Obama ordered a campaign of U.S. airstrikes against ISIL.[347] By the end of 2014, 3,100 American ground troops were committed to the conflict[348] and 16,000 sorties were flown over the battlefield, primarily by U.S. Air Force and Navy pilots.[349] In early 2015, with the addition of the "Panther Brigade" of the 82nd Airborne Division the number of U.S. ground troops in Iraq increased to 4,400,[350] and by July American-led coalition air forces counted 44,000 sorties over the battlefield.[351]

Obama after a trilateral meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai (left) and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari (right), White House Cabinet Room, May 2009

In his election campaign, Obama called the war in Iraq a "dangerous distraction" and that emphasis should instead be put on the war in Afghanistan,[352] the region he cites as being most likely where an attack against the United States could be launched again.[353] Early in his presidency, Obama moved to bolster U.S. troop strength in Afghanistan.[354] He announced an increase in U.S. troop levels to 17,000 military personnel in February 2009 to "stabilize a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan", an area he said had not received the "strategic attention, direction and resources it urgently requires."[355] He replaced the military commander in Afghanistan, General David D. McKiernan, with former Special Forces commander Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal in May 2009, indicating that McChrystal's Special Forces experience would facilitate the use of counterinsurgency tactics in the war.[356] On December 1, 2009, Obama announced the deployment of an additional 30,000 military personnel to Afghanistan and proposed to begin troop withdrawals 18 months from that date;[357] this took place in July 2011. David Petraeus replaced McChrystal in June 2010, after McChrystal's staff criticized White House personnel in a magazine article.[358] In February 2013, Obama said the U.S. military would reduce the troop level in Afghanistan from 68,000 to 34,000 U.S. troops by February 2014.[359] In October 2015, the White House announced a plan to keep U.S. Forces in Afghanistan indefinitely in light of the deteriorating security situation.[360]

Regarding neighboring Pakistan, Obama called its tribal border region the "greatest threat" to the security of Afghanistan and Americans, saying that he "cannot tolerate a terrorist sanctuary." In the same speech, Obama claimed that the U.S. "cannot succeed in Afghanistan or secure our homeland unless we change our Pakistan policy."[361]

President Obama's address (9:28)
Also available: Audio only; Full text 

Obama and members of the national security team receive an update on Operation Neptune's Spear in the White House Situation Room, May 1, 2011. See also: Situation Room

Starting with information received from Central Intelligence Agency operatives in July 2010, the CIA developed intelligence over the next several months that determined what they believed to be the hideout of Osama bin Laden. He was living in seclusion in a large compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, a suburban area 35 miles (56 km) from Islamabad.[362] CIA head Leon Panetta reported this intelligence to President Obama in March 2011.[362] Meeting with his national security advisers over the course of the next six weeks, Obama rejected a plan to bomb the compound, and authorized a "surgical raid" to be conducted by United States Navy SEALs.[362] The operation took place on May 1, 2011, and resulted in the shooting death of bin Laden and the seizure of papers, computer drives and disks from the compound.[363][364] DNA testing was one of five methods used to positively identify bin Laden's corpse,[365] which was buried at sea several hours later.[366] Within minutes of the President's announcement from Washington, DC, late in the evening on May 1, there were spontaneous celebrations around the country as crowds gathered outside the White House, and at New York City's Ground Zero and Times Square.[363][367] Reaction to the announcement was positive across party lines, including from former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.[368]

President Obama meeting with Cuban President Raúl Castro in Panama, April 2015

Since the spring of 2013, secret meetings were conducted between the United States and Cuba in the neutral locations of Canada and Vatican City.[369] The Vatican first became involved in 2013 when Pope Francis advised the U.S. and Cuba to exchange prisoners as a gesture of goodwill.[370] On December 10, 2013, Cuban President Raúl Castro, in a significant public moment, greeted and shook hands with Obama at the Nelson Mandela memorial service in Johannesburg.[371]

In December 2014, after the secret meetings, it was announced that Obama, with Pope Francis as an intermediary, had negotiated a restoration of relations with Cuba, after nearly sixty years of détente.[372] Popularly dubbed the Cuban Thaw, The New Republic deemed the Cuban Thaw to be "Obama's finest foreign policy achievement."[373] On July 1, 2015, President Obama announced that formal diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States would resume, and embassies would be opened in Washington and Havana.[374] The countries' respective "interests sections" in one another's capitals were upgraded to embassies on July 20 and August 13, 2015, respectively.[375] Obama visited Havana, Cuba for two days in March 2016, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to arrive since Calvin Coolidge in 1928.[376]

Obama meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres in the Oval Office, May 2009

During the initial years of the Obama administration, the U.S. increased military cooperation with Israel, including increased military aid, re-establishment of the U.S.-Israeli Joint Political Military Group and the Defense Policy Advisory Group, and an increase in visits among high-level military officials of both countries.[377] The Obama administration asked Congress to allocate money toward funding the Iron Dome program in response to the waves of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel.[378] In March 2010, Obama took a public stance against plans by the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to continue building Jewish housing projects in predominantly Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem.[379][380] In 2011, the United States vetoed a Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements, with the United States being the only nation to do so.[381] Obama supports the two-state solution to the Arab–Israeli conflict based on the 1967 borders with land swaps.[382]

In 2013, Jeffrey Goldberg reported that, in Obama's view, "with each new settlement announcement, Netanyahu is moving his country down a path toward near-total isolation."[383] In 2014, Obama likened the Zionist movement to the civil rights movement in the United States. He said both movements seek to bring justice and equal rights to historically persecuted peoples, explaining: "To me, being pro-Israel and pro-Jewish is part and parcel with the values that I've been fighting for since I was politically conscious and started getting involved in politics."[384] Obama expressed support for Israel's right to defend itself during the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict.[385] In 2015, Obama was harshly criticized by Israel for advocating and signing the Iran Nuclear Deal; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had advocated the U.S. congress to oppose it, said the deal was "dangerous" and "bad."[386]

On December 23, 2016, under the Obama Administration, the United States abstained from United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, which condemned Israeli settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territories as a violation of international law, effectively allowing it to pass.[387] Netanyahu strongly criticized the Obama administration's actions,[388][389] and the Israeli government withdrew its annual dues from the organization, which totaled $6 million, on January 6, 2017.[390] On January 5, 2017, the United States House of Representatives voted 342–80 to condemn the UN Resolution.[391][392]

President Obama meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss Syria and ISIS, September 29, 2015.

In February 2011, protests in Libya began against long-time dictator Muammar Gaddafi as part of the Arab Spring. They soon turned violent. In March, as forces loyal to Gaddafi advanced on rebels across Libya, calls for a no-fly zone came from around the world, including Europe, the Arab League, and a resolution[393] passed unanimously by the U.S. Senate.[394] In response to the unanimous passage of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 on March 17, Gaddafi—who had previously vowed to "show no mercy" to the rebels of Benghazi[395]—announced an immediate cessation of military activities.[396]

The next day, on Obama's orders, the U.S. military took part in air strikes to destroy the Libyan government's air defense capabilities to protect civilians and enforce a no-fly-zone,[397] including the use of Tomahawk missiles, B-2 Spirits, and fighter jets.[398][399][400] Six days later, on March 25, by unanimous vote of all its 28 members, NATO took over leadership of the effort, dubbed Operation Unified Protector.[401] Some Representatives[402] questioned whether Obama had the constitutional authority to order military action in addition to questioning its cost, structure and aftermath.[403][404] Obama later expressed regret for playing a leading role in the destabilization of Libya, calling the certain situation there "a mess."[405] He has stated that the lack of preparation surrounding the days following the government's overthrow was the "worst mistake" of his presidency.[406]

On August 18, 2011, several months after the start of the Syrian civil war, Obama issued a written statement that said: "The time has come for President Assad to step aside."[407][408] This stance was reaffirmed in November 2015.[409] In 2012, Obama authorized multiple programs run by the CIA and the Pentagon to train anti-Assad rebels.[410] The Pentagon-run program was later found to have failed and was formally abandoned in October 2015.[411][412]

In the wake of a chemical weapons attack in Syria, formally blamed by the Obama administration on the Assad government, Obama chose not to enforce the "red line" he had pledged[413] and, rather than authorize the promised military action against Assad, went along with the Russia-brokered deal that led to Assad giving up chemical weapons; however attacks with chlorine gas continued.[414][415] In 2014, Obama authorized an air campaign aimed primarily at ISIL.[416]

Obama talks with Benjamin Netanyahu, March 2013.

On October 1, 2009, the Obama administration went ahead with a Bush administration program, increasing nuclear weapons production. The "Complex Modernization" initiative expanded two existing nuclear sites to produce new bomb parts. The administration built new plutonium pits at the Los Alamos lab in New Mexico and expanded enriched uranium processing at the Y-12 facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.[417] In November 2013, the Obama administration opened negotiations with Iran to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons, which included an interim agreement. Negotiations took two years with numerous delays, with a deal being announced on July 14, 2015. The deal titled the "Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action" saw sanctions removed in exchange for measures that would prevent Iran from producing nuclear weapons. While Obama hailed the agreement as being a step towards a more hopeful world, the deal drew strong criticism from Republican and conservative quarters, and from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.[418][419][420] In addition, the transfer of $1.7 billion in cash to Iran shortly after the deal was announced was criticized by the Republican party. The Obama administration said that the payment in cash was because of the "effectiveness of U.S. and international sanctions."[421] In order to advance the deal, the Obama administration shielded Hezbollah from the Drug Enforcement Administration's Project Cassandra investigation regarding drug smuggling and from the Central Intelligence Agency.[422][423] On a side note, the very same year, in December 2015, Obama started a $348 billion worth program to back the biggest U.S. buildup of nuclear arms since Ronald Reagan left the White House.[424]

Obama meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in September 2015.

In March 2010, an agreement was reached with the administration of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with a new pact reducing the number of long-range nuclear weapons in the arsenals of both countries by about a third.[425] Obama and Medvedev signed the New START treaty in April 2010, and the U.S. Senate ratified it in December 2010.[426] In December 2011, Obama instructed agencies to consider LGBT rights when issuing financial aid to foreign countries.[427] In August 2013, he criticized Russia's law that discriminates against gays,[428] but he stopped short of advocating a boycott of the upcoming 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.[429]

After Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014, military intervention in Syria in 2015, and the interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election,[430] George Robertson, a former UK defense secretary and NATO secretary-general, said Obama had "allowed Putin to jump back on the world stage and test the resolve of the West", adding that the legacy of this disaster would last.[431]

Obama's election was also met with hostile reactions connected to his race, birthplace, and religion, and as president, he faced numerous taunts, racist remarks and generally racialized criticisms by some conservative pundits.[456][457][458][459] Some also falsely claimed that Obama practiced Islam – at a time when anti-Muslim sentiments were prevalent in the United States[460][461] – with a 2015 CNN poll finding that 29% of Americans believed Obama to be a Muslim.[462] Starting in 2011, Donald Trump – who would later directly succeed Obama as president – would regularly promote conspiracy theories that Obama had been born in Kenya, and therefore, was not an American citizen.[463][464] Trump winning the presidency right after Obama was described by some commentators as the culmination of decades of white backlash against Black Americans achieving social mobility in the face of racist policies against them.[465][466] Carol Anderson, author of the book White Rage and a professor of African-American studies, said that Obama was caught off guard by the backlash, and "was surprised by how racist this country is."[239]

On September 2009, former President Jimmy Carter stated that “I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man.”[467] Though Obama publicly disagreed with Carter's assessment at the time,[468] in a 2015 interview with NPR, he also said, when asked about critics who believed he was making their country worse:

"If you are referring to specific strains in the Republican Party that suggest that somehow I'm different, I'm Muslim, I'm disloyal to the country, etc., which unfortunately is pretty far out there and gets some traction in certain pockets [...] what I'd say there is that that's probably pretty specific to me and who I am and my background, and that in some ways I may represent change that worries them."

In the same interview, however, he also stated that, despite the existence of racially motivated criticism against him, others who criticize his policies may still have "perfectly good reasons" for doing so.[469][470]

The Barack Obama Presidential Center is Obama's planned presidential library. It will be hosted by the University of Chicago and located in Jackson Park on the South Side of Chicago.[539]

• DREAM Act
• Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009
• Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986
• IRS targeting controversy
• Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012
• National Broadband Plan (United States)
• Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
• Social policy of the Barack Obama administration
• SPEECH Act
• Stay with It
• White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy

• Roberts Court
• Speeches of Barack Obama

• Assassination threats against Barack Obama
• List of African-American United States senators
• List of Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign endorsements
• List of Barack Obama 2012 presidential campaign endorsements
• List of federal political scandals, 2009–17
• List of people granted executive clemency by Barack Obama
• List of things named after Barack Obama