Barack Obama

Office

44th President of the United States^[1]

Term

January 20, 2009 – January 20, 2017^[2]

Party

Democratic Party^[1]

Previous office

United States Senator from Illinois (2005–2008)^[1]

Education

B.A., Columbia University (1983); J.D., Harvard Law School (1991)^[2]

Running mate

Joe Biden (2008, 2012)^[1]

Awards

Nobel Peace Prize (2009)^[1]

Presidential library

Obama Presidential Library, administered by NARA^[4]

Early life and education

Barack Hussein Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to a white American mother and a Black Kenyan father, and he grew up in Hawaii before attending college.^[2]

Obama earned a B.A. from Columbia University in 1983.^[1][2] Before entering Harvard Law School in 1988, he worked as a community organizer in Chicago.^[1] At Harvard he became the first Black person to lead the Harvard Law Review,^[1] and he received his J.D. in 1991.^[2]

Academic and legal career

From 1992 to 2004, Obama taught constitutional law as a lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School.^[1]

Illinois politics

Voters elected Obama to the Illinois Senate from the 13th district in 1996, and he held the seat from 1997 through 2004.^[1] In 2000 he ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in Illinois's 1st congressional district and lost to the incumbent, Bobby Rush.^[1]

In 2004, Obama delivered the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts.^[5]

1:16 C-SPAN: Barack Obama Speech at 2004 DNC Convention C-SPAN's recording of Obama's keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, from the line "Tonight is a particular honor for me because, let's face it, my presence on this stage is pretty unlikely".

13:18 "Not a liberal America and a conservative America" C-SPAN's recording of the 2004 keynote: the passage on one United States of America.

United States Senator

Obama was elected to the U.S. Senate from Illinois in 2004 with a record majority,^[2] and he represented the state in the Senate from 2005 to 2008.^[1]

2008 presidential campaign

Obama announced his candidacy for president in February 2007.^[2] He won the Democratic nomination in 2008 after a primary contest with Hillary Clinton,^[1] and he chose Joe Biden as his running mate.^[1]

On March 18, 2008, Obama gave a speech titled "A More Perfect Union" in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.^[6]

2:35 Barack Obama: 'A More Perfect Union' (Full Speech) The recording of Obama's 'A More Perfect Union' speech posted to his YouTube channel, from "I chose to run for president at this moment in history".

In the 2008 presidential election, Obama defeated the Republican nominee, John McCain, and his running mate, Sarah Palin.^[1]

Presidency

Obama served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017,^[1][2] from his inauguration on January 20, 2009, to the end of his second term on January 20, 2017.^[2]

He was the first African American to hold the office, and he is a member of the Democratic Party.^[1]

Domestic policy

To address the Great Recession, Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 into law.^[1] As president he also signed the Affordable Care Act and the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.^[1]

Obama was the first sitting U.S. president to openly endorse same-sex marriage,^[1] and after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting he supported gun control legislation.^[1]

Foreign policy and military actions

Obama oversaw the end of the Iraq War and began a plan to withdraw the U.S. forces occupying Iraq.^[1][3] After the U.S. departure in 2011 and the gains ISIL made afterward, he later directed U.S. military action in Iraq.^[1] He also directed the 2011 intervention in Libya to carry out United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973.^[1]

Obama directed Operation Neptune Spear, which resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden.^[1] He endorsed the Paris Agreement on climate change and issued an executive order restricting carbon emissions,^[1] negotiated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a nuclear agreement with Iran,^[1] and normalized relations with Cuba.^[1]

He imposed sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine and its subsequent interference in the 2016 U.S. elections.^[1]

Judicial appointments

Obama appointed Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court; Sotomayor was the first Hispanic American to serve on the court.^[1] In 2016 he nominated Merrick Garland to the court.^[4]

Re-election and post-presidency

Obama won re-election in 2012, defeating the Republican ticket of Mitt Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan.^[1] After leaving office he stayed active in politics and supported Joe Biden's successful 2020 campaign for the presidency.^[1]

Nobel Peace Prize

Obama received the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for his international diplomatic efforts.^[1] He had been in office for less than eight months when the prize was awarded.^[3]

The Nobel Committee highlighted his exceptional work in strengthening diplomacy and relations among nations, and it stressed his goal of eliminating nuclear weapons.^[3] The choice to award him the prize drew both approval and criticism.^[1]

Books and writings

Obama has written three books: Dreams from My Father (1995), The Audacity of Hope (2006), and A Promised Land (2020).^[1]

Presidential library

The Obama Presidential Library is administered by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).^[4]

Historical assessments

In retrospective assessments of U.S. presidents, historians and political scientists place Obama near the top.^[1]

1. 1983 Obama graduated from Columbia University with a B.A.^[1][2]
2. 1988 Obama enrolled at Harvard Law School.^[1]
3. 1991 Obama completed his J.D. at Harvard; he had become the first Black president of the Harvard Law Review.^[1][2]
4. 1992-10-03 Obama married Michelle LaVaughn Robinson.^[2]
5. 1992-2004 Obama taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School.^[1]
6. 1996 Obama was elected to the Illinois Senate for the 13th district.^[1]
7. 1997-2004 Obama served as an Illinois state senator.^[1]
8. 2000 Obama lost a U.S. House race in Illinois's 1st congressional district to incumbent Bobby Rush.^[1]
9. 2004 Obama won election to the U.S. Senate from Illinois with a record majority.^[2]
10. 2004-07-27 According to C-SPAN, Obama delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.^[5]
11. 2008-03-18 Obama delivered the 'A More Perfect Union' speech in Philadelphia.^[6]
12. 2009-01-20 Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States.^[2]
13. 2009 Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize; by the Nobel Foundation's account, he had been in office for less than eight months.^[1][3]
14. 2012 Obama defeated Republican nominee Mitt Romney and running mate Paul Ryan to win re-election.^[1]
15. 2017-01-20 Obama's presidency ended.^[2]