Barack Hussein Obama

 

Barack Hussein Obama 

Barack Obama was an important American leader. He was the 44th President of the United States from 2009 to 2017, and he was part of the Democratic Party. He was the first African-American to become President.

Before becoming President, Obama did many different jobs. He was a lawyer who fought for civil rights, and he taught at a university. He also worked in the government as a senator for Illinois.

He was born in Hawaii, and after going to college, he worked in a community helping people in Chicago. Later, he went to Harvard Law School and became the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. After finishing law school, he became a lawyer and taught law at the University of Chicago.

In 2004, he became a senator, and in 2008, he ran for President. He won and became President in 2009. He did many important things during his time as President. He helped the country during a big financial crisis, made changes to the healthcare system, and worked on laws to regulate the financial industry. He also made some changes in the military, like ending the Iraq War and capturing Osama bin Laden.

After winning re-election in 2012, he worked on issues like climate change and made agreements with other countries. He also made a law called the Affordable Care Act, and he improved relations with countries like Iran and Cuba.

During his time as President, America became more respected around the world, and the economy got better. He finished his presidency in 2017 and still lives in Washington, D.C. They are also building a library to remember his time as President in Chicago.

Since leaving his job as President, Barack Obama has been active in politics, supporting other Democratic candidates. He's also written some popular books. Many experts think he did a good job as President and rank him as one of the better Presidents in American history.

 

Early Life and Family

Barack Obama was born on August 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii. He's a bit special because he's the only U.S. president born outside the mainland 48 states. His mom, Ann Dunham, came from Kansas and had a mix of different European backgrounds. In 2007, they found out that her great-great-grandpa came from Ireland to the U.S. in 1850. There's also a chance she had some African ancestry way back in her family.

Barack's dad, Barack Obama Sr., was from Kenya, and his last name comes from his Kenyan family. Barack's parents met at the University of Hawaii, where his dad was studying on a scholarship, and they got married before Barack was born.

When Barack was just a few weeks old, he and his mom moved to Seattle for a year. During that time, his dad finished college in Hawaii and then went to Harvard for grad school. But, his parents' marriage didn't last, and they got divorced in 1964. Barack Sr. went back to Kenya, got married again, and worked for the Kenyan government. He didn't get to see his son much after that and tragically died in a car accident when Barack was 21.

 

Growing Up

Barack had a unique childhood. He noticed that his dad looked different from most people around him because his dad was black, and his mom was white. But that didn't bother him much when he was little. However, as he got older, he struggled a bit with how others saw him because of his mixed-race heritage.

 

New Family

In 1963, Barack's mom met another man named Lolo Soetoro while studying in Hawaii. Lolo was from Indonesia and was studying geography. They got married in 1965, and Barack and his mom moved to Indonesia to be with Lolo in 1967. They lived in different parts of Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, while Lolo was studying and working.

When Obama was six years old, he and his mom moved to Indonesia to be with his stepdad. From the age of six to ten, he went to local Indonesian schools, like St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Elementary School and State Elementary School Menteng 01. He also had some homeschooling in English from his mom. Because he spent four years in Jakarta, he learned to speak Indonesian fluently as a kid. His stepdad taught him to be tough and understand how the world works.

In 1971, Obama came back to Honolulu and stayed with his grandparents, Madelyn and Stanley Dunham. He went to Punahou School, a private school, with a scholarship. He went there from fifth grade until he graduated high school in 1979. When he was young, he went by the name "Barry." He lived in Hawaii with his mom and half-sister, Maya Soetoro, for three years from 1972 to 1975. During this time, his mom was studying anthropology at the University of Hawaii. When his mom and half-sister went back to Indonesia in 1975, Obama chose to stay in Hawaii. His mom spent most of the next 20 years in Indonesia, got divorced in 1980, earned a PhD in 1992, and sadly passed away in 1995 because of cancer.

Obama said that his time in Hawaii was important because he got to experience many cultures and learn to respect others. This shaped his values. He also admitted to using alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine when he was a teenager to cope with questions about his identity. He was part of a group of friends called the "choom gang" who smoked marijuana together.

After he finished high school in 1979, Obama got a full scholarship to go to Occidental College in Los Angeles. In 1981, he gave his first public speech, asking the college to stop investing in South Africa because of apartheid. In the same year, he visited his family in Indonesia and friends in Pakistan. Then, he transferred to Columbia University in New York City as a junior. He studied political science and English literature and graduated in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts degree and a good GPA. After college, he worked as a financial researcher and writer at the Business International Corporation for about a year, and then he worked as a project coordinator for the New York Public Interest Research Group at City College of New York for three months in 1985.

After finishing college at Columbia University, Obama moved to Chicago. He got a job as the leader of a group called the Developing Communities Project. This group was connected to some Catholic churches in Chicago. He worked there from 1985 to 1988.

While he was there, he helped create programs to teach people new job skills, prepare for college, and protect renters' rights. He also worked with a group called the Gamaliel Foundation, where he taught people about community organizing.

In 1988, Obama went to Europe and Kenya for a few weeks. It was his first-time meeting many of his relatives in Kenya.

Even though he got a full scholarship to Northwestern University School of Law, Obama chose to go to Harvard Law School in 1988. He lived in Somerville, Massachusetts, and did really well in his studies. He became an editor for the Harvard Law Review in his first year, then became the president of the journal in his second year. He also helped a famous law scholar named Laurence Tribe with his research.

During his summers, he worked at law firms in Chicago. His election as the first Black president of the Harvard Law Review got a lot of attention in the media. This led to a book deal to write about his experiences with race, which became the book "Dreams from My Father," published in 1995.

Obama graduated from Harvard Law School in 1991 with top honors.

 

In 1991, Barack Obama got a job at the University of Chicago Law School. He worked there for two years as a Law and Government Fellow while writing his first book. After that, he taught constitutional law at the same university for twelve years. First, he was a lecturer from 1992 to 1996, and then he became a senior lecturer from 1996 to 2004.

In 1992, for about six months, Obama was in charge of a campaign in Illinois called Project Vote. The goal of this campaign was to help people register to vote. He had a team of ten workers and seven hundred volunteers. They managed to register 150,000 African Americans out of 400,000 who were not registered to vote in the state. Because of this, Crain's Chicago Business recognized Obama as one of the influential people under the age of forty in 1993. 

Family and Personal Life

In 2006, Obama talked about his big, diverse family. He said it's like a small United Nations because he has relatives who look very different from each other. He grew up with his half-sister, Maya, and has seven other half-siblings from his dad's side, six of them are alive. His mom's mom, Madelyn, lived until 2008.

Obama also has ties to Ireland and met his Irish relatives in 2011. In his book "Dreams from My Father," he talked about his mom's family possibly having Native American ancestors and being related to Jefferson Davis, who was the President of the Confederate States during the Civil War. He also has distant ancestors in common with George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.

Before he became famous, Obama lived with an anthropologist named Sheila Miyoshi Jager in the 1980s. He even proposed to her twice, but she and her parents said no. People only found out about this relationship in 2017, after his presidency.

In 1989, Obama met Michelle Robinson when they both worked at a law firm. They started dating in the summer of 1989, got engaged in 1991, and got married in 1992. They had two daughters, Malia and Sasha, through in vitro fertilization after a miscarriage.

Their first dog, Bo, was a gift from Senator Ted Kennedy, and in 2013, they got another dog named Sunny. Sadly, Bo passed away in 2021.

Obama is a big sports fan. He supports the Chicago White Sox and threw the first pitch at their 2005 ALCS game. He's also a Chicago Bears fan in the NFL. He used to be a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers when he was young.

He played basketball in high school and is left-handed.

In 2005, the Obama family moved to a bigger house in Chicago, thanks to the money from a book deal. This move got some attention because of a person named Tony Rezko, who was involved in the sale and later got in trouble for corruption.

In 2007, Money Magazine estimated Obama's net worth at $1.3 million, but by 2009, their income had grown to $5.5 million, mostly from selling books. They gave a good chunk of their income to charity, including helping wounded veterans' families. According to his 2012 financial disclosure, Obama might be worth as much as $10 million.

 

Religious Beliefs

Obama's religious beliefs are based on his personal journey. He wasn't raised in a very religious family. His mom wasn't religious, but he thought she was a deeply spiritual person. His dad and stepdad didn't really care much about religion.

As he grew up, he worked with black churches in his twenties, and that's when he saw how powerful religion can be in making positive changes in society. It made him appreciate the African-American religious tradition.

Later in life, he chose to become a Christian. He believes in Jesus Christ and thinks that faith can help him become a better person and have eternal life. He didn't go to church regularly as a kid, but he came to embrace Christianity because it aligns with his values, like looking out for others and treating people well.

Obama joined the Trinity United Church of Christ in the early 1990s, but he left it during his first run for president in 2008 because some of the things his pastor said caused controversy.

After moving to Washington, D.C., in 2009, he and his family attended various Protestant churches on occasion, but they didn't go regularly.

In 2016, Obama mentioned that he carries around a few special items that remind him of the people he's met throughout his life. These items include rosary beads from Pope Francis, a figurine of the Hindu god Hanuman, a Coptic cross from Ethiopia, a small Buddha statue from a monk, and a poker chip that was a good luck charm for a motorcyclist in Iowa. These items have personal meaning to him.

 

Legal career

Civil rights attorney

He started his career as a lawyer, working for a small law firm called Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland. They focused on cases related to civil rights and helping neighborhoods grow economically. He worked there for three years as an associate from 1993 to 1996 and then continued as a legal advisor from 1996 to 2004. In 1994, he was part of a legal team in a case called Buycks-Roberson v. Citibank Fed. Sav. Bank, where they argued that Citibank had broken laws about fair credit and housing. The case was resolved without going to court, and Citibank agreed to pay for the lawyers' fees.

From 1994 to 2002, he also had roles on the boards of two foundations in Chicago: the Woods Fund of Chicago and the Joyce Foundation. He was involved with another organization called the Chicago Annenberg Challenge from 1995 to 2002 and even served as its first president and chairman from 1995 to 1999. In 2007, he stopped practicing law.

 

Obama's Early Political Career

Back in 1996, Barack Obama got elected to a job called the Illinois Senate. He took over from another person named Alice Palmer in an area called the 13th District, which covered neighborhoods on the south side of Chicago.

Once he became a senator, Obama did a few things. He made some new rules to make sure politicians were honest and to improve healthcare. He also made a law that helped people with low incomes by giving them more money back in taxes. He worked on changing the welfare system, and he tried to make it easier for parents to get help with taking care of their kids.

In 2001, he worked with people from both political parties to support some new rules about payday loans and mortgages. These rules were meant to stop people from losing their homes because of bad loans.

He got re-elected in 1998 and then again in 2002. But in 2000, he tried to become a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and he lost to someone else.

In 2003, he became the head of a committee in the Illinois Senate that dealt with health and human services. He helped pass a law that made police officers keep records of the race of drivers they stopped, to make sure they weren't unfairly targeting people based on their race. He also made it a rule to videotape interrogations when someone was accused of a serious crime like murder.

 

Campaign for U.S. Senate

Obama wanted to do even bigger things in politics, so he started preparing to run for the U.S. Senate in 2004. He got his campaign going, raised money, and hired a media consultant named David Axelrod. He officially said he was running in 2003.

Around that time, the U.S. was thinking about going to war with Iraq. Obama was one of the first to say he didn't think it was a good idea. He spoke at rallies against the war in Chicago.

There were some changes in the people running for the U.S. Senate from Illinois, and it turned into a big race. In the primary election in March 2004, Obama won by a lot, which surprised many people. This made him famous in the Democratic Party and even got people talking about him running for president someday. He also re-released his book "Dreams from My Father."

In July 2004, he gave a big speech at the Democratic National Convention that many people watched and liked. This made him more popular in the Democratic Party.

His main opponent for the Senate race, a guy named Jack Ryan, dropped out, and another guy named Alan Keyes took his place. In the general election in November 2004, Obama won by a huge margin and made history in Illinois by winning in many counties where Democrats usually don't do well.

From 2005 to 2008, Barack Obama was a member of the U.S. Senate. Here are some things he did during that time:

Ø He became a senator on January 3, 2005, and he was the only African American member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Ø He worked on two important projects: Lugar-Obama, which aimed to reduce the threat from dangerous weapons, and the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, which created a website to show how the government spends money.

Ø In 2008, he, along with other senators, introduced a law called the Strengthening Transparency and Accountability in Federal Spending Act, which aimed to make government spending more transparent.

Ø He also supported the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act.

Ø In 2006, President Bush signed a law that Obama had sponsored, called the Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act.

Ø In 2007, Obama and another senator added a rule about corporate jets to a law called the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act.

Ø He worked to protect military personnel who were being discharged for personality disorders.

Ø He supported sanctions against Iran's oil and gas industry and measures to reduce the risk of nuclear terrorism.

Ø He sponsored a law to help family members who were taking care of soldiers with combat-related injuries.

Ø Obama was part of different Senate committees, including Foreign Relations, Environment and Public Works, and Veterans' Affairs. He later joined other committees like Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Ø He became the chairman of the Senate's subcommittee on European Affairs.

Ø He traveled to various countries as part of his work on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Ø Finally, on November 16, 2008, he resigned from the Senate to focus on preparing for his presidency.

 

In 2008, Barack Obama wanted to become the President of the United States. He announced this in front of a special building in Illinois. This place was important because Abraham Lincoln, a famous president from the past, had also spoken there.

Obama talked about important things like ending the war in Iraq, using more clean energy, and making healthcare better for everyone.

There were many other people from his political party who also wanted to be president. But as time went on, it became clear that it was mostly between Obama and Hillary Clinton. Obama was good at planning for the long term, raising money, and organizing his supporters, so he got more votes from the people in his party.

Finally, in June 2008, he had enough votes to be the winner. Hillary Clinton, who was also running, said she supported him and stopped trying to be president.

Later, Obama picked Joe Biden to be his vice president. They both gave speeches at a big meeting where their party's members agreed to support them.

Then, there was an important event where Obama gave a speech in front of a lot of people. Millions of people watched it on TV. During his campaign, he got lots of money from regular people, not just big companies. He also decided not to use public money for his campaign, which was something new.

The other major political party chose John McCain to be their candidate, and he picked Sarah Palin to help him. Obama and McCain had three big debates on TV in September and October.

On November 4, 2008, the people voted, and Obama won with a lot of votes. He became the first African-American president in the history of the United States. He gave a happy speech in Chicago in front of a big crowd.

Before him, only two other people had gone straight from being senators to becoming the president: Warren G. Harding and John F. Kennedy.

In 2012, Barack Obama decided to run for president again. He made this announcement after filing the necessary election paperwork and releasing a video called "It Begins with Us" on his website in April 2011.

Since he was already the president, he didn't face much competition within his own Democratic Party. On April 3, 2012, he gathered enough support from delegates to secure the Democratic Party's nomination for president. This happened at the Democratic National Convention in North Carolina.

In the general election, his main opponents were Mitt Romney, a Republican who used to be the governor of Massachusetts, and Paul Ryan, a Representative from Wisconsin.

On November 6, 2012, Barack Obama won the election with 332 electoral votes, which was more than the 270 needed to become president again. He also received 51.1 percent of the total votes from the people, making him the first Democratic president since Franklin D. Roosevelt to win the popular vote twice.

After his victory, President Obama thanked his supporters and promised to focus on their needs and not just politics as usual. He also expressed his willingness to work with leaders from both political parties in the coming months. He made this speech in Chicago's McCormick Place.

 

Presidency (2009–2017)

Barack Obama became the 44th president on January 20, 2009. In his first days, he made some important decisions:

Ø He told the military to make plans to bring our troops back from Iraq.

Ø He wanted to close the Guantanamo Bay prison, but Congress didn't give him the money to do it, so it stayed open.

Ø He made government records less secret.

Ø He changed a policy that stopped funding for certain types of medical research.

Ø He picked two women to be judges on the Supreme Court, which had never happened before.

Ø He made a group called the White House Council on Women and Girls to help with women's issues.

Ø He also started a group called the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault, which was led by Vice President Joe Biden.

These were some of the important things he did in his first 100 days in office.

In July 2009, Obama started a program to enforce immigration rules. This program was first introduced by George W. Bush. He also began a program where they check fingerprints and share information about immigration status.

In April 2010, Obama made a big speech about space. He said NASA, the space agency, would change its plans. They would not go back to the moon with people and would not build certain rockets and programs. Instead, they would spend money on studying the Earth, creating new types of rockets, doing research for a mission to Mars, and going to the International Space Station.

After the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December 2012, Obama took action on gun control in January 2013. He signed 23 orders and had ideas to change gun laws. He wanted to ban certain military-style guns, limit how much ammo people could have, and make background checks for all gun buyers. He also wanted to ban some bullets and make tougher rules for people who sell guns illegally. He also appointed someone to lead the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. In 2016, he made more rules about background checks for gun sellers.

In 2011, Obama signed a law that extended the Patriot Act for four more years. After Edward Snowden revealed secret government spying in 2013, Obama said it was wrong to leak these secrets. But he also said the National Security Agency (NSA) needed more rules to protect people's privacy. He kept some spying programs from George W. Bush but made some changes. He wanted a law that would stop the NSA from collecting lots of phone records in one big program, and he wanted to make the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court more open. 

Racial Issues During Obama's Presidency

When President Obama gave speeches, he didn't talk about race more than the presidents before him. However, one study found that he took stronger actions to help African-Americans than any president since Nixon.

After Obama became president, some people wondered if racism was over in America. But problems related to race still existed, and many Black people were upset about the racism they saw directed at Obama. When George Zimmerman was found not guilty after killing Trayvon Martin, it made many people angry. Obama even said that Trayvon Martin could have been him when he was young. The shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri caused protests, and that's when the Black Lives Matter movement started. They want to stop violence and racism against Black people. At first, Obama didn't talk much about race, but by 2014, he started talking more about the problems faced by minority groups.

During Obama's time as president, there were events that made African-Americans and the police upset. Obama tried to make the police and civil rights activists trust each other more, but it didn't always work. Some police didn't like when Obama criticized racism in police actions that led to the deaths of Black men. On the other hand, some people fighting for racial justice didn't like when Obama showed empathy for the police.

In a poll in March 2016, almost one third of Americans said they were very worried about race relations. This was more than in any other poll since 2001.

 

LGBT Rights and Same-Sex Marriage

In 2009, Obama made some important changes to support LGBT people. He signed a law that said if someone commits a crime against you because of your gender, sexual orientation, identity, or disability, it's a hate crime. Before that, only certain types of hate crimes were covered by the law.

He also let people with HIV travel to the United States. This was a good thing because before that, they weren't allowed to come here.

In 2010, Obama signed a law to end the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" rule. This rule said that gay and lesbian people couldn't openly serve in the military. Obama said it was time to change that, and in 2016, transgender people could openly serve too.

Back when Obama was running for a job in Illinois, he said he wanted to make same-sex marriage legal. But later, when he ran for the Senate, he said he only supported civil unions and partnerships for gay couples, not marriage. In 2008, he said he thought marriage should only be between a man and a woman.

But in 2012, after he started running for president again, he said he had changed his mind. He said he believed in same-sex marriage and became the first sitting president to say so. During his second inauguration speech in 2013, he talked about gay rights and said that gay Americans should have the same rights as everyone else.

In 2013, Obama's government told the Supreme Court to support same-sex couples in two important cases about marriage.

 

Economic policy

On February 17, 2009, Obama signed a big law called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. It was worth a lot of money, around $787 billion, and was meant to help the country when it was going through a really tough time with money.

This law had a few parts to it. First, it meant the government would spend more money on things like healthcare, roads, schools, and also give people some tax breaks to help them. They even gave direct help to some people.

In March 2009, Obama's Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, did some things to try to fix the money problems. They started a program to buy bad real estate stuff, which could be worth up to $2 trillion.

Also, in March 2009, the car companies GM and Chrysler were in big trouble. Obama helped them by giving them more money and making them change the way they do things. Chrysler was even sold to a company from Italy called Fiat. GM got help too, but the government got a part of the company in return.

In June 2009, because the money problems weren't getting better fast enough, Obama asked his team to spend money more quickly. They made a law called "Cash for Clunkers," which helped the economy for a little while.

Both Bush and Obama's governments said they'd spend a lot of money, around $11.5 trillion, but by the end of 2009, they had only spent about $3 trillion.

On August 2, 2011, after a long talk in Congress about the country's money, Obama signed a law called the Budget Control Act of 2011. This law made rules about how much money the government could spend until 2021. It also made a group in Congress to find ways to save money, and if they couldn't, the law made automatic cuts in spending. This law stopped the government from not being able to pay its bills.

In 2009, many people didn't have jobs. The highest number of people without jobs was in October when it reached 10 percent. It stayed at that level for the rest of the year. In 2010, it got a bit better, going down to 9.6 percent by the middle of the year. By November 2012, the rate was 7.7 percent, and by the end of 2013, it was 6.7 percent. During 2014, it kept going down and was 6.3 percent in the first part of the year.

The country's money started to grow again in 2009, especially at the end of the year. In 2010, it grew even more, but not as fast. By 2010, things were looking better, but the leader of the bank, Ben Bernanke, said he wasn't sure what would happen next.

In the end, in 2010, the country's money grew by 2.9 percent.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and many economists say that Obama's plan to boost the economy worked. They say it helped create jobs. The CBO even reported that the plan might have added 1 to 2.1 million jobs. However, they admit it's hard to know for sure how many of these jobs would have happened without the plan.

But not everyone agreed. In a survey in April 2010, most business economists didn't think the plan had any impact on jobs. The U.S. economy grew faster under Obama than it had in a long time, and experts think this happened partly because of the plan he put in place. They also think that the strict money-saving rules in Europe helped the U.S. grow even more.

Right after the 2010 elections, Obama made a deal with the Republican leaders in Congress. This deal kept the tax rates from 2001 and 2003 in place for two more years. It also lowered payroll taxes for a year, kept giving unemployment benefits, and changed how estate taxes worked. This plan, which cost $858 billion, passed in Congress with support from both parties.

In December 2013, Obama said that the big gap between rich and poor was a major problem. He asked Congress to make the safety net stronger and increase wages. This happened after fast-food workers across the country went on strike, and Pope Francis talked about inequality and how giving money to the rich doesn't help everyone. Obama also wanted Congress to approve a big trade deal called the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which involved 12 countries.

 

Environmental policy

On April 20, 2010, there was a big explosion on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. This caused a lot of oil to leak into the ocean. The President at the time, Obama, went to the Gulf to see what happened. He also started an investigation and made a group to suggest safer rules. They stopped giving permission for new deepwater drilling for six months until they could make better rules.

People were not happy with how the oil company, BP, was handling things. They wanted Obama and the government to do more. Before the oil spill, Obama had allowed drilling for oil and gas in some places to get support for a law about energy and the environment.

In July 2013, Obama said he would not let the Keystone XL pipeline be built if it caused too much pollution. In 2015, he stopped a bill that would have allowed the pipeline. This was his first big decision to say no to a law.

In December 2016, Obama made a rule that said no new drilling for oil and gas in most of the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. He used a law from 1953 to do this.

During his time as President, Obama wanted to protect nature. He used a law called the Antiquities Act to make 25 new national parks and make four others bigger. In total, he saved a lot of land and water, more than any other President.

Health care reform

Obama wanted Congress to change how healthcare works in the United States. This was something he talked about a lot when he was running for president, and it was one of the most important things he wanted to get done in the government.

He had a plan to make health insurance better. He wanted to make sure that more people could get insurance, stop insurance companies from charging too much, and let people keep their insurance even if they changed jobs. He also wanted to make a rule that says insurance companies can't refuse to cover sick people or people with health problems. He wanted everyone in the country to have health insurance, and he had a plan that would cost a lot of money, about $900 billion over ten years.

One big part of his plan was to have a government insurance plan that could compete with the regular insurance companies. This would help make insurance cheaper and better.

In July 2009, the people in Congress started talking about a big plan to change healthcare. Obama wanted them to finish this plan by the end of the year. There was a lot of talking and arguing about it during the summer, and then in September, Obama gave a big speech to Congress to explain why he thought the plan was a good idea.

In November 2009, the plan with the government insurance option passed in the House of Representatives. But in December, the Senate passed a different plan without the government insurance option.

Finally, in March 2010, a healthcare law called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed. This law had many important parts. It made it so more people could get Medicaid, which helps pay for healthcare if you don't have much money. It also gave help to people to pay for their insurance if they didn't have a lot of money. Businesses were encouraged to give their employees health insurance, and insurance companies couldn't say no to people because they were sick or had health problems.

The law also created special places where people could buy health insurance, and it stopped insurance companies from saying there's a limit to how much they would pay for someone's healthcare. It also supported medical research to find better treatments and cures for diseases.

To pay for all these changes, there were new taxes on things like high-income people's Medicare, tanning salons, and medical devices. There was also a rule that said people had to have health insurance, or they would have to pay a fine, unless they didn't have enough money to buy insurance.

The law was challenged in court, mainly because some people thought it was not okay for the government to make people buy insurance. In 2012, the Supreme Court said it was okay because it was like a tax. Later, the Supreme Court said that some businesses could choose not to cover certain kinds of birth control because of their religious beliefs. And in 2015, the Court said that the government could help people buy insurance, no matter if they were using a state insurance marketplace or a federal one.

 

Foreign policy

In 2009, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton went on separate trips to other countries in February and March. They talked about a "new era" in how the United States deals with Russia and Europe. They used the words "break" and "reset" to show that things were changing from the previous government's policies.

President Obama also tried to connect with leaders in Arab countries. He gave his first interview to a TV network called Al Arabiya. On March 19, he sent a video message to the people and government of Iran for the New Year. On June 4, 2009, he gave a speech at a university in Egypt. He talked about starting a fresh relationship between the United States and the Islamic world and working towards peace in the Middle East. On June 26, 2009, Obama criticized the Iranian government for how they treated protesters after Iran's presidential election in 2009.

In 2011, Obama ordered a drone attack in Yemen. It targeted and killed Anwar al-Awlaki, who was an American imam and suspected of being a leader in Al-Qaeda. He was the first American citizen to be killed in a U.S. drone attack. The Department of Justice said it was legal because it was an act of war, but some people who fight for civil rights said it violated his right to a fair legal process. This caused a lot of controversy. Later, his teenage son and young daughter, who were also American citizens, were killed in different U.S. military actions, even though they were not the main targets.

In March 2015, Obama said he allowed U.S. forces to help Saudi Arabia with their military actions in Yemen. They formed a "Joint Planning Cell" to work together. In 2016, the Obama government suggested selling a lot of weapons to Saudi Arabia, worth $115 billion. But Obama stopped them from getting certain kinds of technology for guided munitions after Saudi planes attacked a funeral in Yemen's capital city, Sanaa, and more than 140 people died.

 

War in Iraq

On February 27, 2009, Obama said that the fighting in Iraq would stop in 18 months. The plan was to bring most of the soldiers back home by August 2010, reducing the number of troops from 142,000 to around 50,000 who would stay in Iraq until the end of 2011. On August 19, 2010, the last group of U.S. soldiers that fought in Iraq left the country. The remaining soldiers shifted their focus from fighting to helping the Iraqi security forces and fighting terrorism. On August 31, 2010, Obama declared that the U.S. combat mission in Iraq was finished. On October 21, 2011, President Obama announced that all U.S. troops would leave Iraq in time for the holidays.

In June 2014, after the extremist group ISIL captured Mosul, Obama sent 275 troops to protect U.S. personnel and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. ISIL continued to take over more territory and carry out violent acts, including killing many people and forcing some groups to leave their homes. In August 2014, during a terrible event called the Sinjar massacre, Obama ordered U.S. airstrikes against ISIL. By the end of 2014, 3,100 American soldiers were involved in the conflict, and U.S. Air Force and Navy pilots flew 16,000 missions over the battleground. In early 2015, more American soldiers, called the "Panther Brigade" of the 82nd Airborne Division, were sent to Iraq, raising the number of U.S. troops there to 4,400. By July, the U.S.-led coalition's air forces had flown 44,000 missions over the area.

 

Afghanistan and Pakistan

During his campaign, Obama said that the war in Iraq was a bad idea and we should focus on Afghanistan. He believed that Afghanistan was the place where terrorists might try to attack the United States again.

When he became president, Obama sent more American soldiers to Afghanistan to make the situation better. He increased the number of soldiers to 17,000 in February 2009. He thought that Afghanistan needed more attention and help.

He also changed the leader of the military in Afghanistan. He put Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal in charge because he had experience in Special Forces and knew how to fight against insurgents.

In December 2009, Obama said he would send 30,000 more soldiers to Afghanistan and that some soldiers would start coming back home in 18 months. This happened in July 2011. Later, in February 2013, Obama said he would reduce the number of American soldiers in Afghanistan from 68,000 to 34,000 by February 2014.

Obama made it clear that the area in Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan was a big problem. He said it was a dangerous place for Afghanistan and the United States. He didn't want terrorists to have a safe place there. He also said that to succeed in Afghanistan and keep America safe, we needed to change our policy towards Pakistan.

 

Death of Osama bin Laden

In July 2010, the CIA got some information from its agents. They spent several months gathering more information and believed they found where Osama bin Laden was hiding. He was living secretly in a big house in Abbottabad, Pakistan, which is about 35 miles away from Islamabad.

The head of the CIA, Leon Panetta, told President Obama about this in March 2011. Over the next six weeks, Obama talked to his security advisers. They decided not to bomb the house but instead send a special team of Navy SEALs to capture bin Laden.

On May 1, 2011, this operation happened. They killed bin Laden and took papers, computers, and disks from the house. They used DNA testing to confirm that the dead person was indeed bin Laden. They buried his body in the sea a few hours later.

After President Obama announced this news in Washington, D.C., on the evening of May 1, 2011, people all over the country celebrated. They gathered outside the White House, at Ground Zero in New York City, and in Times Square. People from different political parties, like former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, reacted positively to the news.

 

Relations with Cuba

Since the spring of 2013, the United States and Cuba started having secret meetings in places like Canada and Vatican City. This all began when Pope Francis suggested that they exchange prisoners as a friendly gesture in 2013.

Then, on December 10, 2013, something important happened. Cuban President Raúl Castro and Obama met and shook hands at Nelson Mandela's memorial service in Johannesburg.

In December 2014, after these secret meetings, it was announced that Obama, with the help of Pope Francis, had worked out a deal to improve relations with Cuba. This was a big deal because the two countries hadn't been getting along for almost sixty years. People started calling this improvement the "Cuban Thaw," and some thought it was one of Obama's best foreign policy accomplishments.

On July 1, 2015, President Obama said that they would start having normal diplomatic relations with Cuba again. This meant that they would open embassies in Washington and Havana. They also upgraded their "interests’ sections" in each other's capitals to embassies on July 20 and August 13, 2015.

In March 2016, Obama did something historic. He visited Havana, Cuba, and this was the first time a sitting U.S. president had done that since Calvin Coolidge in 1928.

 

Israel

In the beginning of President Obama's time in charge, the United States and Israel started working together more closely in the military. They gave more military aid to Israel, started groups for political and military discussions, and had important military officials from both countries visiting each other more often.

President Obama also wanted money from Congress to help Israel's Iron Dome program because of rocket attacks from Palestinians.

In 2010, President Obama disagreed publicly with Israel's plan to build Jewish homes in parts of East Jerusalem where mostly Arab people live.

In 2011, the United States was the only country to say no to a Security Council resolution that criticized Israel's settlements. President Obama wanted a solution to the Arab-Israeli problem where there are two separate countries, and he thought the borders should be like they were in 1967.

In 2013, President Obama said that with every new announcement about building settlements, Israel's leader, Netanyahu, was making Israel more alone in the world.

In 2014, President Obama compared the movement to create a Jewish homeland to the fight for civil rights in the United States. He said both movements were about bringing fairness and equal rights to people who were treated unfairly in the past.

In 2014, during the conflict between Israel and Gaza, President Obama supported Israel's right to protect itself.

In 2015, President Obama faced a lot of criticism from Israel for signing a deal with Iran about nuclear weapons. Israel's leader, Netanyahu, said the deal was dangerous and bad.

In 2016, the United States, under President Obama, didn't vote either way on a United Nations resolution that said building settlements in Palestinian areas was against international rules. This allowed the resolution to pass. Netanyahu didn't like this, and Israel stopped paying its yearly dues to the United Nations. In 2017, the United States House of Representatives voted to criticize the UN Resolution.

 

Libya

In February 2011, people in Libya started protesting against their leader, Muammar Gaddafi, who had been in power for a very long time. These protests became violent. In March, as Gaddafi's forces were moving closer to fight the rebels all over Libya, many countries, like those in Europe, the Arab League, and even the U.S. Senate, asked for a "no-fly zone." They wanted to stop Gaddafi's planes from flying over Libya.

On March 17, after the United Nations made a decision called Resolution 1973, Gaddafi, who had earlier said he wouldn't be merciful to the rebels in Benghazi, suddenly stopped fighting.

The next day, on the orders of the U.S. President at that time, Barack Obama, the U.S. military joined in. They launched air attacks to destroy Libya's air defense systems, so they could keep people safe and stop planes from flying (the no-fly zone). They used things like Tomahawk missiles, B-2 Spirits, and fighter jets.

Six days later, on March 25, all 28 countries in NATO (a group of countries that work together for security) agreed to take over the operation. They called it "Operation Unified Protector."

Some members of the U.S. Congress questioned if it was okay for Obama to order this military action. They also wondered about the cost, how it was organized, and what would happen after. Later on, Obama said he was sorry for being a big part of making Libya unstable. He said it was a mess. He even said that not being prepared for what would happen after Gaddafi was removed from power was the biggest mistake he made during his time as president.

 

Syrian civil war

On August 18, 2011, a few months after the Syrian civil war started, President Obama wrote a statement. In it, he said that it's time for President Assad to leave his position. He repeated this stance in November 2015.

In 2012, President Obama allowed the CIA and the Pentagon to run programs to train rebels who were against Assad. However, the program run by the Pentagon didn't work well and was officially stopped in October 2015.

There was a chemical weapons attack in Syria, and the Obama administration blamed it on President Assad's government. Despite promising to take military action, President Obama decided not to when the "red line" was crossed. Instead, he agreed to a deal with Russia. This deal made President Assad get rid of chemical weapons, but there were still attacks using chlorine gas.

In 2014, President Obama approved an air campaign mainly against ISIL, a terrorist group.

 

Iran nuclear talks

On October 1, 2009, during the time when Barack Obama was the President of the United States, his government continued a plan that had been started by the previous President, George W. Bush. This plan was about making more nuclear weapons. They did this by making changes to two places where they work on nuclear weapons: one in New Mexico and the other in Tennessee.

Then, in November 2013, the Obama government began talking with Iran to stop them from getting nuclear weapons. They had many discussions and it took them two years to agree on a plan. They finally announced the plan on July 14, 2015. This plan was called the "Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action." The idea was that if Iran followed certain rules, they would get rid of the sanctions (punishments) placed on them, and in exchange, they wouldn't make nuclear weapons.

Some people, especially those from the Republican and conservative groups, as well as the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, didn't like this deal. They thought it was a bad idea. Also, some people didn't like that the U.S. government gave Iran $1.7 billion in cash right after they announced the deal. The government said they did this because the sanctions were working.

Around the same time, in December 2015, President Obama started a program to spend $348 billion on building more nuclear weapons. This was the biggest effort to make more nuclear weapons in the United States since Ronald Reagan was the President.

 

Russia

In March 2010, the leaders of Russia and the United States, Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama, made an agreement. They decided to replace an old treaty from 1991 that reduced the number of very long-distance nuclear weapons. The new pact would decrease the number of these weapons by about one-third for both countries. They signed this new treaty in April 2010, and the U.S. Senate approved it in December 2010.

In December 2011, President Obama told government agencies to think about the rights of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) people when they give money to other countries. In August 2013, he criticized Russia for making laws that treat gay people unfairly. However, he didn't suggest boycotting the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

After Russia took over Crimea in 2014, got involved in the conflict in Syria in 2015, and interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, George Robertson, who used to be the UK's defense secretary and the leader of NATO, said that President Obama had let Russian leader Putin become more important in world affairs. Robertson said this was a problem for the Western countries, and it would have a lasting effect.

 

Cultural and political image

Obama's family background, how he grew up, and the colleges he went to are very different from African-American leaders who started their careers in the 1960s by fighting for civil rights. Some people wondered if he was "black enough," which puzzled him. He said this at a meeting of journalists in August 2007. He also mentioned in a campaign speech in October 2007 that he's here because the younger generation kept taking up the cause. People often say that Obama is a great speaker. Before he became president, he gave weekly video talks on the internet during his transition period and throughout his presidency.

 

Job approval

According to the Gallup Organization, when Barack Obama started being the President, many people liked what he was doing, and 68 percent of them approved of his work. But as time went on, this approval slowly went down, hitting the lowest point at 41 percent in August 2010. This drop in popularity was similar to what happened to Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton during their first years in office.

However, after the news of Osama bin Laden's death in May 2011, his approval ratings went up a bit and stayed between 49 and 53 percent for about a month. Then, they dropped back down to the low 40s. His approval ratings improved again when he got re-elected in 2012, with an average approval rating of 52 percent shortly after he started his second term.

In December 2013, Obama's approval rating fell to 39 percent, probably because of problems with the Affordable Care Act. Before the 2014 midterm elections, the number of people who didn't like what he was doing reached a high point at 55 percent.

Throughout most of 2015, people still didn't like his work much, but by the end of the year, his approval rating started going up again and reached the high 40s. According to Gallup, in March 2016, 50 percent of people approved of his work, which was the highest it had been since May 2013. In a poll in January 2017, right before he left office, 59 percent of people approved of how he did his job. This put him in the same league as George H. W. Bush and Dwight D. Eisenhower, who also had high approval ratings when they left office.

Even after he finished being President, many people still had a positive view of Obama. In Gallup's polls that asked about former presidents, 63 percent of people approved of his work in 2018 and again in 2023. This made him the fourth most popular president since World War II.

 

Foreign perceptions

People in other countries really liked Barack Obama. They liked him even before he became the president and when he was the president.

In a survey in February 2009 in Western Europe and the U.S., people said Obama was the most respected leader in the world. They also said he was the most powerful leader.

In another survey in May 2009, people said Obama was the most popular leader in the world. They believed he could help the world get better after an economic crisis.

On October 9, 2009, a group called the Norwegian Nobel Committee gave Obama a special prize called the Nobel Peace Prize. They gave it to him because he did a lot to make countries work together better. Some people liked this decision, but some didn't.

Obama was the fourth U.S. president to get this prize, and the third to get it while he was still the president

 

Post-presidency (2017–present)

Barack Obama's time as President ended on January 20, 2017, when Donald Trump became the new President. After leaving the White House, the Obama family moved to a rented house in Washington, D.C.

On March 2, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum gave Obama an award called the Profile in Courage Award. They gave him this award because he always believed in democratic ideas and acted bravely in politics.

He came back to public life on April 24 when he spoke at the University of Chicago. He encouraged young people to get involved in politics.

On September 7, Obama worked with other former presidents to help the victims of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma.

From October 31 to November 1, Obama hosted the first summit of the Obama Foundation. He wanted this foundation to be a big part of what he did after being President.

In 2018, Barack and Michelle Obama made a deal with Netflix. They would make shows and movies through their own production company, Higher Ground Productions. Their first film, American Factory, won an Oscar in 2020.

In October 2018, a bomb meant for Obama was found by the Secret Service. Other bombs were sent to other Democratic leaders.

In 2019, the Obamas bought a house on Martha's Vineyard.

On October 29, 2019, Obama spoke out against "wokeness" and "call-out culture" at the Obama Foundation's annual summit.

In 2020, Obama didn't endorse any of the Democratic candidates early in the race. He wanted to support whoever won the nomination to unite the party. Eventually, he endorsed Joe Biden, who became the Democratic nominee for President.

In May 2020, Obama criticized President Trump for how he handled the COVID-19 pandemic.

In November 2020, Obama released his presidential memoir, A Promised Land.

In February 2021, Obama and Bruce Springsteen started a podcast called Renegades: Born in the USA, where they talked about their lives and love for America.

Later that year, they made a deal with Netflix to create comedy shows.

In March 2022, Obama won an award for narrating his book A Promised Land.

In April 2022, he visited the White House for an event about healthcare.

In June 2022, the Obamas made a deal with Audible for their podcast company.

In September 2022, Obama visited the White House again for the unveiling of his and Michelle's official portraits. He also won an Emmy Award for narrating a Netflix show about national parks.

In March 2023, Obama went to Australia for a speaking tour. He met with the Australian Prime Minister and visited Melbourne for the first time. He was paid over $1 million for two speeches. He also said he doesn't want to change the number of Justices on the Supreme Court.

Some people think he did well in some areas, while others have criticisms.

One historian, Julian Zelizer, said Obama was good at understanding how the government works and making policies. He mentioned some of Obama's successes, like helping the economy during the Great Recession, making financial rules with Dodd-Frank, and the Affordable Care Act. However, Zelizer also said that Obama couldn't keep his party strong and lost some power.

The Brookings Institution, which studies politics, said that Obama only had one big achievement with Obamacare, and his legacy depends on many executive actions.

Some people are disappointed that Obama didn't do more in areas like stopping drone strikes, punishing big banks, and building a strong group of supporters before passing Obamacare. They see him as a regular president, not a very different one.

Obama's biggest achievement is considered to be the Affordable Care Act, which changed healthcare from 2010 to 2020. Some Republicans tried to cancel it, but they didn't succeed. The Act is the most important change to healthcare since Medicare and Medicaid in 1965.

Many people think Obama saved the country from a big depression during the Great Recession and helped create 11.3 million jobs. In 2010, he signed a law called Dodd-Frank to make financial rules. It's the biggest change to finance rules since Franklin D. Roosevelt's time.

In 2009, Obama signed a law called the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. It made it a federal crime to hurt people because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.

Obama also did things for LGBT rights. He ended the "don't ask, don't tell" policy in the military in 2010, and in 2016, he allowed transgender people to serve openly in the military. A lot of Americans thought there was progress in LGBT rights during his time.

Obama used drone strikes more than before against people linked to al-Qaeda and the Taliban. In 2016, the U.S. dropped a lot of bombs in different countries. He also had troops in several countries when he left office.

The number of people in federal prisons went down while Obama was president. This was the first time it happened since Jimmy Carter. In the past, it usually went up under other presidents.

Human Rights Watch had mixed thoughts about Obama's human rights record. They said he didn't always make it a top priority.

When Obama left office in 2017, many people approved of his work, and he had a good approval rating. In a ranking of presidents, he went up 10 spots from 2015 and was seen as one of the better presidents.

 

Presidential library

The Barack Obama Presidential Center is a special place that will have important things about Barack Obama's time as the president. It will be at the University of Chicago and will be in Jackson Park on the South Side of Chicago.