Presidency of Barack Obama information

Presidency of Barack Obama January 20, 2009 – January 20, 2017
Cabinet	See list
Party	Democratic
Election	2008 2012
Seat	White House
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Seal of the president
Archived website Library website

This article is part of a series about Barack Obama
Pre-presidency Early life and career Illinois State Senator 2004 DNC keynote address U.S. Senator from Illinois 2004 election sponsored bills 44th President of the United States Presidency timeline Transition Inaugurations Trips international Policies Economy Energy Foreign policy Arctic Europe East Asia Middle East South Asia Obama Doctrine Pardons Marine Native Social Space Appointments Cabinet Judiciary Sotomayor Kagan Garland Supreme Court candidates First term First 100 days Recovery Act Russia nuclear treaty Affordable Care Act Dodd–Frank Iraq withdrawal Killing of Osama bin Laden 2011 debt-ceiling crisis Libya intervention Afghanistan withdrawal Benghazi attack Second term 2013 debt-ceiling crisis Anti-ISIL campaign Iraq Syria Iran nuclear deal Cuban thaw Sanctions against Russia Selma 50th anniversary speech Paris Agreement Presidential campaigns 2008 primaries convention debates election 2012 primaries convention debates election Post-presidency Planned presidential library Obama Foundation One America Appeal Publications Dreams from My Father The Audacity of Hope A Promised Land Personal Family Public image Honors Others Nobel Peace Prize Tan suit controversy
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Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. Obama, a Democrat from Illinois, took office following his victory over Republican nominee John McCain in the 2008 presidential election. Four years later, in the 2012 presidential election, he defeated Republican nominee Mitt Romney, to win re-election. Obama is the first African American president, the first multiracial president, the first non-white president,^[a] and the first president born in Hawaii. Obama was limited to two terms and was succeeded by Republican Donald Trump, who won the 2016 presidential election.

Obama's accomplishments during the first 100 days of his presidency included signing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 relaxing the statute of limitations for equal-pay lawsuits;^[2] signing into law the expanded State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP); winning approval of a congressional budget resolution that put Congress on record as dedicated to dealing with major health care reform legislation in 2009; implementing new ethics guidelines designed to significantly curtail the influence of lobbyists on the executive branch; breaking from the Bush administration on a number of policy fronts, except for Iraq, in which he followed through on Bush's Iraq withdrawal of US troops;^[3] supporting the UN declaration on sexual orientation and gender identity; and lifting the 7½-year ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.^[4] Obama also ordered the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, in Cuba, though it remains open. He lifted some travel and money restrictions to the island.^[3]

Obama signed many landmark bills into law during his first two years in office. The main reforms include: the Affordable Care Act, sometimes referred to as "the ACA" or "Obamacare", the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act served as economic stimuli amidst the Great Recession. After a lengthy debate over the national debt limit, he signed the Budget Control Act of 2011 and the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012. In foreign policy, he increased US troop levels in Afghanistan, reduced nuclear weapons with the United States–Russia New START treaty, and ended military involvement in the Iraq War. In 2011, Obama ordered the drone-strike killing in Yemen of al-Qaeda operative Anwar al-Awlaki, who was an American citizen. He ordered military involvement in Libya in order to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1973, contributing to the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi. He gained widespread praise for ordering Operation Neptune Spear, the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, who was responsible for the September 11, 2001 terror attack on the United States.

After winning re-election by defeating Republican opponent Mitt Romney, Obama was sworn in for a second term on January 20, 2013. During this term, he condemned the 2013 Snowden leaks as unpatriotic, but called for more restrictions on the National Security Agency (NSA) to address privacy issues. Obama also promoted inclusion for LGBT Americans. His administration filed briefs that urged the Supreme Court to strike down same-sex marriage bans as unconstitutional (United States v. Windsor and Obergefell v. Hodges); same-sex marriage was legalized nationwide in 2015 after the Court ruled so in Obergefell. He advocated for gun control in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, indicating support for a ban on assault weapons, and issued wide-ranging executive actions concerning global warming and immigration. In foreign policy, he ordered military interventions in Iraq and Syria in response to gains made by ISIL after the 2011 withdrawal from Iraq, promoted discussions that led to the 2015 Paris Agreement on global climate change, drew down US troops in Afghanistan in 2016, initiated sanctions against Russia following its annexation of Crimea and again after interference in the 2016 US elections, brokered the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal with Iran, and normalized US relations with Cuba. Obama nominated three justices to the Supreme Court: Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan were confirmed as justices, while Merrick Garland was denied hearings or a vote from the Republican-majority Senate.

Barack Obama has been featured in presidential rankings since 2010. Scholars and historians place him in the upper tier of American presidents.

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