 Official portrait, 2012 | |
| Presidency of Barack Obama January 20, 2009 – January 20, 2017 | |
Vice President | |
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| Cabinet | Full list |
| Party | Democratic |
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| Seat | White House |
Donald Trump (1st) → | |
| Archived website Library website | |
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Personal Illinois State Senator and U.S. Senator from Illinois 44th President of the United States Tenure
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Barack Obama's tenure as the44th president of the United States began withhis first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. Obama, aDemocrat fromIllinois, took office following his victory overRepublican nomineeJohn McCain in the2008 presidential election. Four years later, in the2012 presidential election, he defeated Republican nomineeMitt Romney, to win re-election. Alongside Obama's presidency, the Democratic Party also held their majorities in theHouse of Representatives under SpeakerNancy Pelosi and theSenate under Senate Majority LeaderHarry Reid during the111th U.S. Congress. Obama is the firstAfrican American president, the firstmultiracial president, the first non-white president,[a] and the first president born in Hawaii. Obama was succeeded by RepublicanDonald Trump, who won the2016 presidential election. Historians and political scientists rank him among the upper tier inhistorical rankings of American presidents.
Obama's accomplishments duringthe first 100 days of his presidency included signing theLilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 relaxing thestatute of limitations for equal-pay lawsuits;[2] signing into law theexpandedChildren's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP); winning approval of a congressional budget resolution that put Congress on record as dedicated to dealing with majorhealth 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 theUN declaration on sexual orientation and gender identity; and lifting the 7½-year ban on federal funding forembryonic stem cell research.[4] Obama alsoordered the closure of theGuantanamo Bay detention camp, inCuba, 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: theAffordable Care Act, sometimes referred to as "the ACA" or "Obamacare", theDodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and theDon't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010. TheAmerican Recovery and Reinvestment Act andTax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act served as economic stimuli amidst theGreat Recession. After alengthy debate over the national debt limit, he signed theBudget Control Act of 2011 and theAmerican Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012. In foreign policy, he increased US troop levels inAfghanistan, reduced nuclear weapons with the United States–RussiaNew START treaty, andended military involvement in theIraq War. He gained widespread praise for orderingOperation Neptune Spear, the raid that killedOsama bin Laden, who was responsible for theSeptember 11 attacks. In 2011, Obama ordered the drone-strike killing in Yemen ofal-Qaeda operativeAnwar al-Awlaki, who was an American citizen. He orderedmilitary involvement in Libya in order to implementUN Security Council Resolution 1973, contributing to the overthrow ofMuammar Gaddafi.
After winning re-election by defeating Republican opponent Mitt Romney, Obama wassworn in for a second term on January 20, 2013. During this term, he condemned the2013 Snowden leaks as unpatriotic, but called for more restrictions on theNational Security Agency (NSA) to address privacy issues. Obama also promoted inclusion forLGBT Americans. His administration filed briefs that urged theSupreme Court to strike downsame-sex marriage bans as unconstitutional (United States v. Windsor andObergefell v. Hodges); same-sex marriage waslegalized nationwide in 2015 after the Court ruled so inObergefell. He advocated forgun control in response to theSandy Hook Elementary School shooting, indicating support for a ban onassault weapons, and issued wide-ranging executive actions concerningglobal warming and immigration. In foreign policy, he orderedmilitary interventions in Iraq andSyria in response to gains made byISIL after the 2011 withdrawal from Iraq, promoted discussions that led to the 2015Paris Agreement on global climate change, drew downUS troops in Afghanistan in 2016, initiatedsanctions against Russia following itsannexation of Crimea and again afterinterference in the 2016 US elections, brokered theJoint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal with Iran, andnormalized US relations with Cuba. Obama nominatedthree justices to the Supreme Court:Sonia Sotomayor andElena Kagan were confirmed as justices, whileMerrick Garland wasdenied hearings or a vote from the Republican-majoritySenate.
Economic policy actions
Other domestic policy actions
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Foreign policy actions
Supreme Court nominations
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Barack Obama announcedhis candidacy for theDemocratic nomination in the2008 presidential election on February 10, 2007.[5] Obama faced senator and formerfirst ladyHillary Clinton in the Democratic primary. Several other candidates, including SenatorJoe Biden ofDelaware and former senatorJohn Edwards ofNorth Carolina, also ran for the nomination, but these candidates dropped out after the initial primaries. In June, on the day of the final primaries, Obama clinched the nomination by winning a majority of the delegates, including both pledged delegates andsuperdelegates.[6] Obamaselected Biden as his running mate, and they were officially nominated as the Democratic ticket at the2008 Democratic National Convention.
With Republican presidentGeorge W. Bush term-limited, theRepublicans nominated SenatorJohn McCain of Arizona for president and GovernorSarah Palin of Alaska for vice president. Obama won thepresidential election with 365 of the total 538electoral votes and 52.9% of the popular vote. In the concurrentcongressional elections, Democrats added to their majorities in both theHouse of Representatives and theSenate, andSpeaker of the HouseNancy Pelosi andSenate Majority LeaderHarry Reid both remained in their posts. RepublicansJohn Boehner andMitch McConnell continued to serve as House Minority Leader and Senate Minority Leader, respectively.
Thepresidential transition period began following Obama's victory in the2008 U.S. presidential election, though Obama had chosenChris Lu to begin planning for the transition in May 2008.[7]John Podesta,Valerie Jarrett, andPete Rouse co-chaired the Obama-Biden Transition Project. During the transition period, Obama announced nominations for hiscabinet andadministration. In November 2008, CongressmanRahm Emanuel accepted Obama's offer to serve asWhite House Chief of Staff.[8]
Obama wasinaugurated on January 20, 2009, succeedingGeorge W. Bush. Obama officially assumed the presidency at 12:00 pm,EST,[9] and completed theoath of office at 12:05 pm, EST. He delivered hisinaugural address immediately following his oath.[10] Obama's transition team was highly complimentary of the Bush administration's outgoing transition team, particularly with regards to national security, and some elements of the Bush-Obama transition were later codified into law.[7]
The full text ofBarack Obama's First Inaugural Address at Wikisource.
Within minutes of Obama's taking office, his chief of staff,Rahm Emanuel, issued an order suspending last-minute regulations andexecutive orders signed by his predecessorGeorge W. Bush.[11] Some of the first actions of Obama's presidency focused on reversing measures taken by the Bush administration following theSeptember 11 attacks.[12] In his first week in office, Obama signedExecutive Order 13492 suspending all ongoing proceedings of theGuantanamo military commissions and ordering the Guantanamo detention facility to be shut down within the year.[13] Another order,Executive Order 13491, banned torture and other coercive techniques, such aswaterboarding.[14] Obama also issued an executive order placing tighter restrictions on lobbying in the White House,[15] and rescinded theMexico City Policy, which banned federal grants to international groups that provide abortion services or counseling.[16]
On January 29, Obama signed a bill for the first time in his presidency; theLilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 revised thestatute of limitations for filingpay discrimination lawsuits.[17] On February 3, he signed theChildren's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIP), expanding CHIP's health care coverage from 7 million children to 11 million children.[18] On March 9, 2009, Obama lifted restrictions on federal funding ofembryonic stem cell research.[19] Obama stated that, like Bush, he would employsigning statements if he deems a portion of a bill to be unconstitutional,[20] and he subsequently issued several signing statements.[21] Obama also signed theOmnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, which added 2 million acres (8,100 km2) of land to theNational Wilderness Preservation System,[22] as well as a law raising the cigarette pack tax by 62 cents (equivalent to $0.91 in 2024).[23]
On February 17, 2009, Obama signed theAmerican Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to address theGreat Recession. The ARRA had been passed, after much debate, by both the House and Senate four days earlier. While it was originally intended to be abipartisan bill, Congressional passage of the bill relied largely on Democratic votes, though three Republican senators voted for it.[24] The lack of Republican support for the bill, and the inability of Democrats to win that support, foreshadowed the gridlock and partisanship that continued throughout Obama's presidency.[24][25][26] The $787 billion bill combined tax breaks with spending on infrastructure projects, extension of welfare benefits, and education.[27][28]
Following his inauguration, Obama and the Senate worked to confirm his nominees to theUnited States Cabinet. Three Cabinet-level officers did not require confirmation: Vice PresidentJoe Biden, whom Obama hadchosen as his running mate at the2008 Democratic National Convention, Chief of StaffRahm Emanuel, and Defense SecretaryRobert Gates, whom Obama chose to retain from the previous administration.[29] An early list of suggestions came fromMichael Froman, then an executive atCitigroup.[30] Obama described his Cabinet choices as a "team of rivals", and Obama chose several prominent public officials for Cabinet positions, including defeated rival Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State.[31] Obama nominated several former Clinton administration officials to the Cabinet and to other positions.[32] On April 28, 2009, the Senate confirmed former Kansas governorKathleen Sebelius as Secretary of Health and Human Services, completing Obama's initial Cabinet.[33] During Obama's presidency, four Republicansserved in Obama's Cabinet:Ray LaHood as Secretary of Transportation,Robert McDonald as Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and Gates andChuck Hagel as Secretaries of Defense.
†Appointed by President Bush
‡Originally appointed by President Bush, reappointed by President Obama
There were three vacancies on theSupreme Court of the United States during Obama's tenure, but Obama made only two successful appointments. During the111th Congress, when Democrats held a majority in the Senate, Obama successfully nominated two Supreme Court Justices:
JusticeAntonin Scalia died in February 2016, during the114th Congress, which had a Republican majority in the Senate. In March 2016, Obamanominated Chief JudgeMerrick Garland of theD.C. Circuit to fill Scalia's seat.[34] However, Senate Majority LeaderMitch McConnell,Judiciary Committee ChairChuck Grassley, and other Senate Republicans argued that Supreme Court nominations should not be made during a presidential election year, and that the winner of the2016 presidential election should instead appoint Scalia's replacement.[34][35] Garland's nomination remained before the Senate for longer than any other Supreme Court nomination in history,[36] and the nomination expired with the end of the 114th Congress.[37] President Donald Trump later nominatedNeil Gorsuch to Scalia's former seat on the Supreme Court, andGorsuch was confirmed by the Senate in April 2017.
| Clinton | Bush | Obama | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supreme Court | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Appellate courts | 62 | 61 | 49 |
| District courts | 306 | 263 | 270 |
| Other courts | 9 | 4 | 10 |
Obama's presidency saw the continuation of battles between both parties over the confirmation ofjudicial nominees. Democrats continually accused Republicans of stalling nominees throughout Obama's tenure.[39] After several nomination battles, Senate Democrats in 2013 reformed the use of thefilibuster so that it could no longer be used on executive or judicial nominations (excluding the Supreme Court).[40] Republicans took over the Senate after the2014 elections, giving them the power to block any judicial nominee,[41] and the 114th Congress confirmed just 20 judicial nominees, the lowest number of confirmations since the82nd Congress.[42] Obama's judicial nominees were significantly more diverse than those of previous administrations, with more appointments going to women and minorities.[39]
| Senate | House | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill/Treaty | Dem. | Rep. | Dem. | Rep. |
| ARRA | 58–0 | 3–37 | 244–11 | 0–177 |
| ACA | 60–0 | 0–39 | 219–34 | 0–178 |
| Dodd-Frank | 57–1 | 3–35 | 234–19 | 3–173 |
| ACES | No vote | 211–44 | 8–168 | |
| DADTRA | 57–0 | 8–31 | 235–15 | 15–160 |
| DREAM | 52–5 | 3–36 | 208–38 | 8–160 |
| New START | 58–0 | 13–26 | No vote (treaty) | |
| 2010 TRA | 44–14 | 37–5 | 139–112 | 138–36 |
Once the stimulus bill was enacted in February 2009, health care reform became Obama's top domestic priority, and the 111th Congress passed a major bill that eventually became widely known as "Obamacare".Health care reform had long been a top priority of the Democratic Party, and Democrats were eager to implement a new plan that would lower costs and increase coverage.[44] In contrast toBill Clinton's1993 plan to reform health care, Obama adopted a strategy of letting Congress drive the process, with the House and Senate writing their own bills.[45] In the Senate, a bipartisan group of senators on theFinance Committee known as theGang of Six began meeting with the hope of creating a bipartisan healthcare reform bill,[46] even though the Republican senators involved with the crafting of the bill ultimately came to oppose it.[45] In November 2009, the House passed theAffordable Health Care for America Act on a 220–215 vote, with only one Republican voting for the bill.[47] In December 2009, the Senate passed its own health care reform bill, thePatient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA or ACA), on a party-line, 60–39 vote.[48] Both bills expandedMedicaid and provided health care subsidies; they also established anindividual mandate,health insurance exchanges, and a ban on denying coverage based onpre-existing conditions.[49] However, the House bill included a tax increase on families making more than $1 million per year and apublic health insurance option, while the Senate plan included anexcise tax onhigh-cost health plans.[49]
The2010 Massachusetts Senate special election victory ofScott Brown seriously imperiled the prospects of a health care reform bill, as Democrats lost their60-seat Senate super-majority.[50][51] The White House and House SpeakerNancy Pelosi engaged in an extensive campaign to convince both centrists and liberals in the House to pass the Senate's health care bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.[52] In March 2010, after Obama announced anexecutive order reinforcing the current law against spending federal funds for elective abortion services,[53] the House passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.[54] The bill, which had passed the Senate in December 2009, did not receive a single Republican vote in either house.[54] On March 23, 2010, Obama signed the PPACA into law.[55]The New York Times described the PPACA as "the most expansive social legislation enacted in decades,"[55] while theWashington Post noted that it was the biggest expansion of health insurance coverage since the creation ofMedicare andMedicaid in 1965.[54] Both houses of Congress also passed areconciliation measure to make significant changes and corrections to the PPACA; this second bill was signed into law on March 30, 2010.[56][57] The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act became widely known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or "Obamacare".[58]
The Affordable Care Act faced considerable challenges and opposition after its passage, and Republicans continually attempted to repeal the law.[60] The law also survived two major challenges that went to the Supreme Court.[61] InNational Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, a 5–4 majority upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, even though it made stateMedicaid expansion voluntary. InKing v. Burwell, a 6–3 majority allowed the use oftax credits in state-operated exchanges. The October 2013 launch ofHealthCare.gov, a health insurance exchange website created under the provisions of the ACA, was widely criticized,[62] even though many of the problems were fixed by the end of the year.[63] The number ofuninsured Americans dropped from 20.2% of the population in 2010 to 13.3% of the population in 2015,[64] though Republicans continued to oppose Obamacare as an unwelcome expansion of government.[65] Many liberals continued to push for asingle-payer healthcare system or a public option,[52] and Obama endorsed the latter proposal, as well as an expansion of health insurance tax credits, in 2016.[66]
Risky practices among the major financial institutions onWall Street were widely seen as contributing to thesubprime mortgage crisis, the2008 financial crisis, and the subsequentGreat Recession, so Obama madeWall Street reform a priority in his first term.[67] On July 21, 2010, Obama signed theDodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the largest financial regulatory overhaul since theNew Deal.[68] The act increased regulation and reporting requirements onderivatives (particularlycredit default swaps), and took steps to limitsystemic risks to the US economy with policies such as highercapital requirements, the creation of theOrderly Liquidation Authority to help wind down large, failing financial institutions, and the creation of theFinancial Stability Oversight Council to monitor systemic risks.[69] Dodd-Frank also established theConsumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was charged with protecting consumers against abusive financial practices.[70] On signing the bill, Obama stated that the bill would "empower consumers and investors," "bring the shadowy deals that caused the crisis to the light of day," and "put a stop to taxpayer bailouts once and for all."[71] Some liberals were disappointed that the law did not break up the country's largest banks or reinstate theGlass-Steagall Act, while many conservatives criticized the bill as a government overreach that could make the country less competitive.[71] Under the bill, the Federal Reserve and other regulatory agencies were required to propose and implement several newregulatory rules, and battles over these rules continued throughout Obama's presidency.[72] Obama called for further Wall Street reform after the passage of Dodd-Frank, saying that banks should have a smaller role in the economy and less incentive to make risky trades.[73] Obama also signed theCredit CARD Act of 2009, which created new rules for credit card companies.[74]
During his presidency, Obama describedglobal warming as the greatestlong-term threat facing the world.[75] Obama took several steps to combat global warming, but was unable to pass a major bill addressing the issue, in part because many Republicans and some Democratsquestioned whether global warming is occurring and whether human activity contributes to it.[76] Following his inauguration, Obama asked that Congress pass a bill to put acap on domestic carbon emissions.[77] After the House passed theAmerican Clean Energy and Security Act in 2009, Obama sought to convince the Senate to pass the bill as well.[78] The legislation would have required the US to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent by 2020 and by 83 percent by the middle of the 21st century.[78] However, the bill was strongly opposed by Republicans and neither it nor a separate proposed bipartisan compromise[77] ever came up for a vote in the Senate.[79] In 2013, Obama announced that he would bypass Congress by ordering theEPA to implement new carbon emissions limits.[80] TheClean Power Plan, unveiled in 2015, seeks to reduce US greenhouse gas emissions by 26 to 28 percent by 2025.[81] Obama also imposed regulations on soot, sulfur, and mercury that encouraged a transition away fromcoal as an energy source, but the falling price of wind, solar, andnatural gas energy sources also contributed to coal's decline.[82] Obama encouraged this successful transition away from coal in large part due to the fact that coal emits more carbon than other sources of power, including natural gas.[82]
Obama's campaign to fight global warming found more success at the international level than in Congress. Obama attended the2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference, which drafted the non-bindingCopenhagen Accord as a successor to theKyoto Protocol. The deal provided for themonitoring ofcarbon emissions amongdeveloping countries, but it did not include Obama's proposal to commit to cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2050.[83] In 2014, Obama reached an agreement with China in which China pledged to reach peak carbon emission levels by 2030, while the US pledged to cut its emissions by 26–28 percent compared to its 2005 levels.[84] The deal provided momentum for a potential multilateral global warming agreement among the world's largest carbon emitters.[85] Many Republicans criticized Obama's climate goals as a potential drain on the economy.[85][86] At the2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, nearly every country in the world agreed to a landmark climate deal in which each nation committed lowering their greenhouse gas emissions.[87][88] TheParis Agreement created a universal accounting system for emissions, required each country to monitor its emissions, and required each country to create a plan to reduce its emissions.[87][89] Several climate negotiators noted that the US-China climate deal and the EPA's emission limits helped make the deal possible.[87] In 2016, the international community agreed to the Kigali accord, an amendment to theMontreal Protocol which sought to reduce the use ofHFCs, organic compounds that contribute to global warming.[90]
From the beginning of his presidency, Obama took several actions to raisevehicle fuel efficiency in the United States. In 2009, Obama announced a plan to increase theCorporate Average Fuel Economy to 35 miles per US gallon (6.7 L/100 km)], a 40 percent increase from 2009 levels.[91] Both environmentalists and auto industry officials largely welcomed the move, as the plan raised national emission standards but provided the single national efficiency standard that auto industry officials group had long desired.[91] In 2012, Obama set even higher standards, mandating an average fuel efficiency of 54.5 miles per US gallon (4.32 L/100 km).[92] Obama also signed the"cash-for-clunkers" bill, which provided incentives to consumers to trade in older, less fuel-efficient cars for more efficient cars. TheAmerican Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provided $54 billion in funds to encourage domesticrenewable energy production, make federal buildings more energy-efficient, improve theelectricity grid, repair public housing, and weatherize modest-income homes.[93] Obama also promoted the use ofplug-in electric vehicles, and 400,000 electric cars had been sold by the end of 2015.[94]
According to a report by The American Lung Association, there was a "major improvement" in air quality under Obama.[95]
| Year | Unemploy- ment[96] | Real GDP Growth[97] | US Government[98][99] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Receipts | Outlays | Deficit | Debt | |||
| ending | Dec 31 (Calendar Year) | Sep 30 (Fiscal Year)[c] | ||||
| 2007* | 4.6% | 2.0% | $2.568 | $2.729 | − $0.161 | $5.0 |
| 2008* | 5.8% | 0.1% | $2.524 | $2.983 | − $0.459 | $5.8 |
| 2009 | 9.3% | −2.6% | $2.105 | $3.518 | − $1.413 | $7.5 |
| 2010 | 9.6% | 2.7% | $2.163 | $3.457 | − $1.294 | $9.0 |
| 2011 | 8.9% | 1.5% | $2.303 | $3.603 | − $1.300 | $10.1 |
| 2012 | 8.1% | 2.3% | $2.450 | $3.527 | − $1.077 | $11.3 |
| 2013 | 7.4% | 1.8% | $2.775 | $3.455 | − $0.680 | $12.0 |
| 2014 | 6.2% | 2.3% | $3.021 | $3.506 | − $0.485 | $12.8 |
| 2015 | 5.3% | 2.7% | $3.250 | $3.692 | − $0.442 | $13.1 |
| 2016 | 4.9% | 1.7% | $3.268 | $3.853 | − $0.585 | $14.2 |
Upon entering office, Obama focused on handling the2008 financial crisis and the subsequentGreat Recession that had begun before his election,[100][101] which was generally regarded as the worst economic downturn since theGreat Depression.[102] On February 17, 2009, Obama signed into law a $787 billioneconomic stimulus bill that included spending for health care, infrastructure, education, various tax breaks andincentives, and direct assistance to individuals. The tax provisions of the law, including a $116 billion income tax cut, temporarily reduced taxes for 98% of taxpayers, bringing tax rates to their lowest levels in 60 years.[103][104] The Obama administration would later argue that the stimulus saved the United States from a "double-dip" recession.[105] Obama asked for a second major stimulus package in December 2009,[106] but no major second stimulus bill passed. Obama also launched asecond bailout of US automakers, possibly savingGeneral Motors andChrysler from bankruptcy at the cost of $9.3 billion.[107][108] For homeowners in danger of defaulting on theirmortgage due to thesubprime mortgage crisis, Obama launched several programs, includingHARP andHAMP.[109][110] Obama re-appointedBen Bernanke as Chair of theFederal Reserve Board in 2009,[111] and appointedJanet Yellen to succeed Bernanke in 2013.[112] Short-terminterest rates remainednear zero for much of Obama's presidency, and the Federal Reserve did not raise interest rates during Obama's presidency until December 2015.[113]
There was asustained increase of the US unemployment rate during the early months of the administration,[114] as multi-year economic stimulus efforts continued.[115][116] The unemployment rate reached a peak in October 2009 at 10.0%.[117] However, the economy added non-farm jobs for a record 75 straight months between October 2010 and December 2016, and the unemployment rate fell to 4.7% in December 2016.[118] The recovery from the Great Recession was marked by a lower labor force participation rate, some economists attributing the lower participation rate partially to an aging population and people staying in school longer, as well as long-term structural demographic changes.[119] The recovery also laid bare the growingincome inequality in the United States,[120] which the Obama administration highlighted as a major problem.[121] Thefederal minimum wageincreased during Obama's presidency to $7.25 per hour;[122] in his second term, Obama advocated for another increase to $12 per hour.[123]
GDP growth returned in the third quarter of 2009, expanding at a 1.6% pace, followed by a 5.0% increase in the fourth quarter.[124] Growth continued in 2010, posting an increase of 3.7% in the first quarter, with lesser gains throughout the rest of the year.[124] The country's real GDP grew by about 2% in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014, peaking at 2.9% in 2015.[125][126] In the aftermath of the recession, median household income (adjusted for inflation) declined during Obama's first term, before recovering to a new record high in his final year.[127] Thepoverty rate peaked at 15.1% in 2010 but declined to 12.7% in 2016, which was still higher than the 12.5% pre-recession figure of 2007.[128][129][130] The relatively small GDP growth rates in the United States and otherdeveloped countries following the Great Recession left economists and others wondering whether US growth rates would ever return to the levels seen in the second half of the twentieth century.[131][132]
| Income bracket | Clinton[d] | Bush[e] | Obama[f] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bottom | 15% | 10% | 10% |
| 2nd | 28% | 15% | 15% |
| 3rd | 31% | 25% | 25% |
| 4th | 36% | 28% | 28% |
| 5th | – | 33% | 33% |
| 6th | – | – | 35% |
| Top | 39.6% | 35% | 39.6% |
Obama's presidency saw an extended battle over taxes that ultimately led to the permanent extension of most of theBush tax cuts, which had been enacted between 2001 and 2003. Those tax cuts were set to expire during Obama's presidency since they were originally passed using a Congressional maneuver known asreconciliation, and had to fulfill the long-term deficit requirements of the "Byrd rule". During thelame duck session of the111th Congress, Obama and Republicans wrangled over the ultimate fate of the cuts. Obama wanted to extend the tax cuts for taxpayers making less than $250,000 a year, while Congressional Republicans wanted a total extension of the tax cuts, and refused to support any bill that did not extend tax cuts for top earners.[134][135] Obama and the Republican Congressional leadership reached a deal that included a two-year extension of all the tax cuts, a 13-month extension ofunemployment insurance, a one-year reduction in theFICA payroll tax, and other measures.[136] Obama ultimately persuaded many wary Democrats to support the bill, though many liberals such asBernie Sanders continued to oppose it.[137][138] The $858 billionTax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 passed with bipartisan majorities in both houses of Congress and was signed into law by Obama on December 17, 2010.[137][139]
Shortly after Obama's 2012 re-election, Congressional Republicans and Obama againfaced off over the final fate of the Bush tax cuts. Republicans sought to make all tax cuts permanent, while Obama sought to extend the tax cuts only for those making under $250,000.[140] Obama and Congressional Republicans came to an agreement on theAmerican Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, which made permanent the tax cuts for individuals making less than $400,000 a year (or less than $450,000 for couples).[140] For earnings greater than that amount, the income tax increased from 35% to 39.6%, which was the top rate before the passage of the Bush tax cuts.[141] The deal also permanently indexed thealternative minimum tax for inflation, limiteddeductions for individuals making more than $250,000 ($300,000 for couples), permanently set theestate tax exemption at $5.12 million (indexed to inflation), and increased the top estate tax rate from 35% to 40%.[141] Though many Republicans did not like the deal, the bill passed the Republican House in large part due to the fact that the failure to pass any bill would have resulted in the total expiration of the Bush tax cuts.[140][142]
US government debt grew substantially during theGreat Recession, as government revenues fell. Obama largely rejected the austerity policies followed by many European countries.[143] US government debt grew from 52% of GDP when Obama took office in 2009 to 74% in 2014, with most of the growth in debt coming between 2009 and 2012.[125] In 2010, Obama ordered the creation of theNational Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (also known as the "Simpson-Bowles Commission") in order to find ways to reduce the country's debt.[144] The commission ultimately released a report that called for a mix of spending cuts and tax increases.[144] Notable recommendations of the report include a cut inmilitary spending, a scaling back of tax deductions formortgages and employer-provided health insurance, a raise of theSocial Security retirement age, and reduced spending on Medicare, Medicaid, and federal employees.[144] The proposal never received a vote in Congress, but it served as a template for future plans to reduce the national debt.[145]
After taking control of the House in the2010 elections, Congressional Republicansdemanded spending cuts in return for raising theUnited States debt ceiling, the statutory limit on the total amount of debt that theTreasury Department can issue. The2011 debt-ceiling crisis developed as Obama and Congressional Democrats demanded a "clean" debt-ceiling increase that did not include spending cuts.[146] Though some Democrats argued that Obama could unilaterally raise the debt ceiling under the terms of theFourteenth Amendment,[147] Obama chose to negotiate with Congressional Republicans. Obama and Speaker of the HouseJohn Boehner attempted to negotiate a "grand bargain" to cut the deficit, reformentitlement programs, and re-write the tax code, but the negotiations eventually collapsed due to ideological differences between the Democratic and Republican leaders.[148][149][150] Congress instead passed theBudget Control Act of 2011, which raised the debt ceiling, provided for domestic and military spending cuts, and established the bipartisanJoint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to propose further spending cuts.[151] As the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction failed to reach an agreement on further cuts, domestic and military spending cuts known as the"sequester" took effect starting in 2013.[152]
In October 2013, the governmentshut down for two weeks as Republicans and Democrats were unable to agree on a budget. House Republicans passed abudget that would defundObamacare, but Senate Democrats refused to pass any budget that defunded Obamacare.[153] Meanwhile, the country faced anotherdebt ceiling crisis. Ultimately the two sides agreed to acontinuing resolution that re-opened the government and suspended the debt ceiling.[154] Months after passing the continuing resolution, Congress passed theBipartisan Budget Act of 2013 and anomnibus spending bill to fund the government through 2014.[155] In 2015, after John Boehner announced that he wouldresign as Speaker of the House, Congress passed a bill that set government spending targets and suspended thedebt limit until after Obama left office.[156]
During his presidency, Obama, Congress, and the Supreme Court all contributed to a major expansion ofLGBT rights. In 2009, Obama signed theMatthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which expandedhate crime laws to cover crimes committed because of the victim's sexual orientation.[157] In December 2010, Obama signed theDon't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010, which ended the military'spolicy of disallowing openly gay and lesbian people from openly serving in theUnited States Armed Forces.[158] Obama also supported the passage ofENDA, which would ban discrimination against employees on the basis of gender or sexual identity for all companies with 15 or more employees,[159] and the similar but more comprehensiveEquality Act.[160] Neither bill passed Congress. In May 2012, Obama became the first sitting president to supportsame-sex marriage, shortly after Vice PresidentJoe Biden had also expressed support for the institution.[161] The following year, Obama appointedTodd M. Hughes to theCourt of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, making Hughes the first openly gay federal judge in US history.[162] In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution guarantees same-sex couples the right to marry in the case ofObergefell v. Hodges. The Obama Administration filed an amicus brief in support of gay marriage and Obama personally congratulated the plaintiff.[163] Obama also issued dozens of executive orders intended to help LGBT Americans,[164] including a 2010 order that extended full benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees.[165] A2014 order prohibited discrimination against employees of federal contractors on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.[165] In 2015, Secretary of DefenseAsh Carter ended the ban onwomen in combat roles,[166] and in 2016, he ended the ban ontransgender individuals openly serving in the military.[167] On the international stage, Obama advocated for gay rights, particularly in Africa.[168]
The Great Recession of 2008–09 caused a sharp decline in tax revenues in all cities and states. The response was to cut education budgets. Obama's $800 billion stimulus package included $100 billion for public schools, which every state used to protect its educational budget. However, in terms of sponsoring innovation, Obama and his Education SecretaryArne Duncan pursued K-12 education reform through theRace to the Top grant program. With over $15 billion of grants at stake, 34 states quickly revised their education laws according to the proposals of advanced educational reformers. In the competition points were awarded for allowing charter schools to multiply, for compensating teachers on a merit basis including student test scores, and for adopting higher educational standards. There were incentives for states to establish college and career-ready standards, which in practice meant adopting theCommon Core State Standards Initiative that had been developed on a bipartisan basis by theNational Governors Association, and theCouncil of Chief State School Officers. The criteria were not mandatory, they were incentives to improve opportunities to get a grant. Most states revised their laws accordingly, even though they realized it was unlikely they would when a highly competitive new grant. Race to the Top had strong bipartisan support, with centrist elements from both parties. It was opposed by the left wing of the Democratic Party, and by the right wing of the Republican Party, and criticized for centralizing too much power in Washington. Complaints also came from middle-class families, who were annoyed at the increasing emphasis on teaching to the test, rather than encouraging teachers to show creativity and stimulating students' imagination.[169][170][171]
Obama also advocated for universalpre-kindergarten programs,[172] and two free years of community college for everyone.[173] Through herLet's Move program and advocacy of healthier school lunches, First Lady Michelle Obama focused attention onchildhood obesity, which was three times higher in 2008 than it had been in 1974.[174] In December 2015, Obama signed theEvery Student Succeeds Act, a bipartisan bill that reauthorized federally mandated testing but shrank the federal government's role in education, especially with regard to troubled schools.[175] The law also ended the use of waivers by the Education Secretary.[175] In post-secondary education, Obama signed theHealth Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, which ended the role of private banks in lending out federally insuredstudent loans,[176] created a new income-based loan repayment plan known asPay as You Earn, and increased the amount ofPell Grant awards given each year.[177] He also instituted new regulations onfor-profit colleges, including a "gainful employment" rule that restricted federal funding from colleges that failed to adequately prepare graduates for careers.[178]
From the beginning of his presidency, Obama supported comprehensive immigration reform, including a pathway to citizenship for many immigrants illegally residing in the United States.[179] However, Congress did not pass a comprehensive immigration bill during Obama's tenure, and Obama turned to executive actions. In the 2010 lame-duck session, Obama supported passage of theDREAM Act, which passed the House but failed to overcome a Senate filibuster in a 55–41 vote in favor of the bill.[180] In 2013, the Senate passedan immigration bill with a path to citizenship, but the House did not vote on the bill.[181][182] In 2012, Obama implemented theDACA policy, which protected roughly 700,000 illegal immigrants from deportation; the policy applies only to those who were brought to the United States before their 16th birthday.[183] In 2014, Obama announced anew executive order that would have protected another four million illegal immigrants from deportation,[184] but the order was blocked by the Supreme Court in a4–4 tie vote that upheld a lower court's ruling.[185] Despite executive actions to protect some individuals, deportations of illegal immigrants continued under Obama. A record high of 400,000 deportations occurred in 2012, though the number of deportations fell during Obama's second term.[186] In continuation of a trend that began with the passage of theImmigration and Nationality Act of 1965, the percentage of foreign-born people living in the United States reached 13.7% in 2015, higher than at any point since the early 20th century.[187][188] After having risen since 1990, the number of illegal immigrants living in the United States stabilized at around 11.5 million individuals during Obama's presidency, down from a peak of 12.2 million in 2007.[189][190]
The nation'simmigrant population hit a record 42.2 million in 2014.[191] In November 2015, Obama announced a plan to resettle at least 10,000Syrian refugees in the United States.[192]
Energy production boomed during the Obama administration.[193] An increase in oil production was driven largely by afracking boom spurred by private investment on private land, and the Obama administration played only a small role in this development.[193] The Obama administration promoted the growth ofrenewable energy,[194] andsolar power generation tripled during Obama's presidency.[195] Obama also issued numerous energy efficiency standards, contributing to a flattening of growth of the total US energy demand.[196] In May 2010, Obama extended a moratorium on offshore drilling permits after the 2010Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which was the worst oil spill in US history.[197][198] In December 2016, President Obama invoked the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to ban offshore oil and gas exploration in large parts of theArctic and Atlantic Oceans.[199]
During Obama's tenure, the battle over theKeystone XL Pipeline became a major issue, with advocates arguing that it would contribute to economic growth and environmentalists arguing that its approval would contribute to global warming.[200] The proposed 1,000-mile (1,600 km) pipeline would have connected Canada'soil sands with theGulf of Mexico.[200] Because the pipeline crossed international boundaries, its construction required the approval of the US federal government, and the US State Department engaged in a lengthy review process.[200] President Obama vetoed a bill to construct theKeystone Pipeline in February 2015, arguing that the decision of approval should rest with the executive branch.[201] It was the first major veto of his presidency, and Congress was unable to override it.[202] In November 2015, Obama announced that he would not approve of the construction of the pipeline.[200] On vetoing the bill, he stated that the pipeline played an "overinflated role" in US political discourse and would have had relatively little impact on job creation or climate change.[200]
The Obama administration took a few steps to reform the criminal justice system at a time when many in both parties felt that the US had gone too far in incarcerating drug offenders,[203] and Obama was the first president since the 1960s to preside over a reduction in the federal prison population.[204] Obama's tenure also saw a continued decline of thenational violent crime rate from its peak in 1991, though there was an uptick in the violent crime rate in 2015.[205][206] In October 2009, the US Department of Justice issued a directive to federal prosecutors in states withmedical marijuana laws not to investigate or prosecute cases of marijuana use or production done in compliance with those laws.[207] In 2009, President Obama signed theConsolidated Appropriations Act, 2010, which repealed a 21-year-old ban on federal funding ofneedle exchange programs.[208] In August 2010, Obama signed theFair Sentencing Act, which reduced the sentencing disparity betweencrack cocaine and powdercocaine.[209] In 2012, Colorado and Washington became the first states tolegalize non-medicalmarijuana,[210] and six more states legalized recreational marijuana by the time Obama left office.[211] Though any use of marijuanaremained illegal underfederal law, the Obama administration generally chose not to prosecute those who used marijuana in states that chose to legalize it.[212] In 2016, Obama announced that the federal government would phase out the use ofprivate prisons.[213] Obamacommuted the sentences of over 1,000 individuals, a higher number of commutations than any other president, and most of Obama's commutations went to nonviolent drug offenders.[214][215]
During Obama's presidency, there was asharp rise in opioid mortality. Many of the deaths – then and now – result fromfentanyl consumption where an overdose is more likely than withheroin consumption. And many people died because they were not aware of this difference or thought that they would administer themselves heroin or a drug mixture but actually used pure fentanyl.[216] Health experts criticized the government's response as slow and weak.[217][218]
Upon taking office in 2009, Obama expressed support for reinstating theFederal Assault Weapons Ban; but did not make a strong push to pass it-or any new gun control legislation early on in his presidency.[219] During his first year in office, Obama signed into law two bills containing amendments reducing restrictions on gun owners, one which permitted guns to be transported in checked baggage on Amtrak trains[220] and another allowing the concealed carry of loaded firearms inNational Parks, located in states whereconcealed carry was permitted.[221][222]
Following the December 2012Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Obama outlined a series of sweeping gun control proposals, urging Congress to reintroduce an expired ban on "military-style"assault weapons, impose limits onammunition magazines to 10 rounds, require universalbackground checks for all domestic gun sales, ban the possession and sale ofarmor-piercing bullets and introduce harsher penalties for gun-traffickers.[223]Despite Obama's advocacy and subsequentmass shootings, no major gun control bill passed Congress during Obama's presidency. SenatorsJoe Manchin (D-WV) andPat Toomey (R-PA) attempted to pass a more limited gun control measure that would have expanded background checks, but the bill was blocked in the Senate.[224]
Cybersecurity emerged as an important issue during Obama's presidency. In 2009, the Obama administration establishedUnited States Cyber Command, an armed forces sub-unified command charged with defending the military against cyber attacks.[225]Sony Pictures suffered amajor hack in 2014, which the US government alleges originated fromNorth Korea in retaliation for the release of the filmThe Interview.[226] China also developed sophisticated cyber-warfare forces.[227] In 2015, Obama declared cyber-attacks on the US a national emergency.[226] Later that year, Obama signed theCybersecurity Information Sharing Act into law.[228] In 2016, theDemocratic National Committee and other US organizations werehacked,[229] and the FBI and CIA concluded that Russia sponsored the hacking in hopes of helping Donald Trump win the 2016 presidential election.[230] Theemail accounts of other prominent individuals, including former secretary of stateColin Powell and CIA directorJohn O. Brennan, were also hacked, leading to new fears about the confidentiality of emails.[231]
In his speeches as president, Obama did not make more overt references to race relations than his predecessors,[232][233] but according to one study, he implemented stronger policy action on behalf of African-Americans than any president since the Nixon era.[234]
Following Obama's election, many pondered the existence of a "postracial America".[235][236] However, lingering racial tensions quickly became apparent,[235][237] and many African-Americans expressed outrage over what they saw as "racial venom" directed at Obama's presidency.[238] In July 2009, prominent African-AmericanHarvard professorHenry Louis Gates, Jr., was arrested at hisCambridge, Massachusetts home by a local police officer, sparking acontroversy after Obama stated that the police acted "stupidly" in handling the incident. To reduce tensions, Obama invited Gates and the police officer to the White House in what became known as the "Beer Summit".[239] Several other incidents during Obama's presidency sparked outrage in theAfrican-American community or the law enforcement community, and Obama sought to build trust between law enforcement officials and civil rights activists.[240] Theacquittal ofGeorge Zimmerman following thekilling 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."[241] The shooting ofMichael Brown inFerguson, Missourisparked a wave of protests.[242] These and other events led to the birth of theBlack Lives Matter movement, which campaigns against violence andsystemic racism towardblack people.[242] Some in the law enforcement community 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.[240] Though Obama entered office reluctant to talk about race, by 2014 he began openly discussing the disadvantages faced by many members of minority groups.[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 previousGallup poll since 2001.[244]
In July 2009, Obama appointedCharles Bolden, a former astronaut, asNASA Administrator.[245] That same year, Obama set up theAugustine panel to review theConstellation program. In February 2010, Obama announced that he was cutting the program from the2011 United States federal budget, describing it as "over budget, behind schedule, and lacking in innovation."[246][247] After the decision drew criticism in the United States, a new "Flexible path toMars" plan was unveiled at a space conference in April 2010.[248][249] It included new technology programs, increased R&D spending, an increase in NASA's 2011 budget from $18.3 billion to $19 billion, a focus on theInternational Space Station, and plans to contract future transportation toLow Earth orbit to private companies.[248] During Obama's presidency, NASA designed theSpace Launch System and developed theCommercial Crew Development andCommercial Orbital Transportation Services to cooperate with private space flight companies.[250][251] These private companies, includingSpaceX,Virgin Galactic,Blue Origin,Boeing, andBigelow Aerospace, became increasingly active during Obama's presidency.[252] TheSpace Shuttle program ended in 2011, and NASA relied on theRussian space program to launch its astronauts into orbit for the remainder of the Obama administration.[250][253] Obama's presidency also saw the launch of theLunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and theMars Science Laboratory. In 2016, Obama called on the United States toland a human onMars by the 2030s.[252]
Obama promoted various technologies and the technological prowess of the United States. The number of American adults using theinternet grew from 74% in 2008 to 84% in 2013,[254] and Obama pushed programs to extendbroadband internet to lower income Americans.[255] Over the opposition of many Republicans, theFederal Communications Commission began regulatinginternet providers aspublic utilities, with the goal of protecting "net neutrality".[256] Obama launched18F and theUnited States Digital Service, two organizations devoted to modernizing governmentinformation technology.[257][258] The stimulus package included money to buildhigh-speed rail networks such as the proposedFlorida High Speed Corridor, but political resistance and funding problems stymied those efforts.[259] In January 2016, Obama announced a plan to invest $4 billion in the development ofself-driving cars, as well as an initiative by theNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration to develop regulations for self-driving cars.[260] That same month, Obama called for a national effort led by Vice President Biden to develop acure forcancer.[261] On October 19, 2016, Biden spoke at theEdward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate at theUniversity of Massachusetts Boston to speak about the administration's cancer initiative.[262] A 2020 study in theAmerican Economic Review found that the decision by the Obama administration to issue press releases that named and shamed facilities that violated OSHA safety and health regulations led other facilities to increase their compliance and to experience fewer workplace injuries. The study estimated that each press release had the same effect on compliance as 210 inspections.[263][264]
The Obama administration inherited awar in Afghanistan, awar in Iraq, and a global "War on Terror", all launched by Congress during the term of PresidentBush in the aftermath of theSeptember 11 attacks. Upon taking office, Obama called for a "new beginning" in relations between theMuslim world and the United States,[266][267] and he discontinued the use of the term "War on Terror" in favor of the term "Overseas Contingency Operation".[268] Obama pursued a "light footprint" military strategy in the Middle East that emphasizedspecial forces, drone strikes, and diplomacy over largeground troop occupations.[269] However, American forces continued to clash with Islamic militant organizations such asal-Qaeda,ISIL, andal-Shabaab[270] under the terms of theAUMF passed by Congress in 2001.[271] Though the Middle East remained important to American foreign policy, Obama pursued a "pivot" toEast Asia.[272][273] Obama also emphasized closer relations withIndia, and was the first president to visit the country twice.[274] An advocate fornuclear non-proliferation, Obama successfully negotiated arms-reduction deals with Iran and Russia.[275] In 2015, Obama described theObama Doctrine, saying "we willengage, but we preserve all our capabilities."[276] Obama also described himself as aninternationalist who rejectedisolationism and was influenced byrealism andliberal interventionism.[277]
| Year | Iraq | Afghanistan |
|---|---|---|
| 2007* | 137,000[279] | 26,000[279] |
| 2008* | 154,000[279] | 27,500[279] |
| 2009 | 139,500[279] | 34,400[279] |
| 2010 | 107,100[279] | 71,700[279] |
| 2011 | 47,000[279] | 97,000[279] |
| 2012 | 150[280] | 91,000[281] |
| 2013 | ≈150 | 66,000[282] |
| 2014 | ≈150 | 38,000[283] |
| 2015 | 2,100[284] | 12,000[285] |
| 2016 | 4,450[286] | 9,800[287] |
| 2017 | 5,300[288] | 8,400[289] |
During the2008 presidential election, Obama strongly criticized theIraq War,[290] and Obama withdrew the vast majority of US soldiers in Iraq by late 2011. On taking office, Obama announced that US combat forces wouldleave Iraq by August 2010, with 35,000–50,000 American soldiers remaining in Iraq as advisers and trainers,[291] down from the roughly 150,000 American soldiers in Iraq in early 2009.[292] In 2008, President Bush had signed theUS–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement, in which the United States committed to withdrawing all forces by late 2011.[293][294] Obama attempted to convince Iraqi prime ministerNouri al-Maliki to allow US soldiers to stay past 2011, but the large presence of American soldiers was unpopular with most Iraqis.[293] By late-December 2011, only 150 American soldiers remained to serve at theUS embassy.[280] However, in 2014, the US began acampaign againstISIL, an Islamic extremist terrorist group operating in Iraq and Syria that grew dramatically after the withdrawal of US soldiers from Iraq and the start of theSyrian Civil War.[295][296] By June 2015, there were about 3500 American soldiers in Iraq serving as advisers to anti-ISIL forces in theIraqi Civil War,[297] and Obama left office with roughly 5,262 US soldiers in Iraq and 503 of them in Syria.[298]
It is unacceptable that almost seven years after nearly 3,000 Americans were killed on our soil, the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 are still at large. Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahari are recording messages to their followers and plotting more terror. The Taliban controls parts of Afghanistan. Al Qaeda has an expanding base in Pakistan that is probably no farther from their old Afghan sanctuary than a train ride from Washington to Philadelphia. If another attack on our homeland comes, it will likely come from the same region where 9/11 was planned. And yet today, we have five times more troops in Iraq than Afghanistan.[299]
— Obama during his 2008 presidential campaign speech
Obama increased the number of American soldiers in Afghanistan during his first term before withdrawing most military personnel in his second term. On taking office, Obama announced that theUS military presence in Afghanistan would be bolstered by 17,000 new troops by Summer 2009,[300] on top of the roughly 30,000 soldiers already in Afghanistan at the start of 2009.[301] Secretary of DefenseRobert Gates, Secretary of StateHillary Clinton, and Joint Chiefs of Staff ChairMichael Mullen all argued for further troops, and Obama dispatched additional soldiers after a lengthy review process.[302][303] During this time, his administration had used the neologismAfPak to denote Afghanistan andPakistan as a single theater of operations in the war on terror.[304] The number of American soldiers in Afghanistan would peak at 100,000 in 2010.[279] In 2012, the US and Afghanistan signed astrategic partnership agreement in which the US agreed to hand over major combat operation to Afghan forces.[305] That same year, the Obama administration designated Afghanistan as amajor non-NATO ally.[306] In 2014, Obama announced that most troops wouldleave Afghanistan by late 2016, with a small force remaining at theUS embassy.[307] In September 2014,Ashraf Ghani succeededHamid Karzai as thePresident of Afghanistan after the US helped negotiate a power-sharing agreement between Ghani andAbdullah Abdullah.[308] On January 1, 2015, the US military endedOperation Enduring Freedom and beganResolute Support Mission, in which the US shifted to more of a training role, although some combat operations continued.[309] In October 2015, Obama announced that US soldiers would remain in Afghanistan indefinitely in order support the Afghan government in thecivil war against theTaliban, al-Qaeda, andISIL.[310] Joint Chiefs of Staff ChairMartin Dempsey framed the decision to keep soldiers in Afghanistan as part of a long-termcounter-terrorism operation stretching acrossCentral Asia.[311] Obama left office with roughly 8,400 US soldiers remaining in Afghanistan.[289]
Though other areas of the world remained important to American foreign policy, Obama pursued a "pivot" toEast Asia, focusing the US's diplomacy and trade in the region.[272][273] China's continuedemergence as amajor power was a major issue of Obama's presidency; while the two countries worked together on issues such as climate change, theChina-United States relationship also experienced tensions regardingterritorial claims in theSouth China Sea and theEast China Sea.[312] In 2016, the United States hosted a summit with theAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for the first time, reflecting the Obama administration's pursuit of closer relations with ASEAN and other Asian countries.[313] After helping to encourage openly contestedelections inMyanmar, Obama lifted many US sanctions on Myanmar.[314][315] Obama also increased US military ties withVietnam,[316]Australia, and thePhilippines, increased aid toLaos, and contributed to a warming of relations betweenSouth Korea andJapan.[317] Obama designed theTrans-Pacific Partnership as the key economic pillar of the Asian pivot, though the agreement remains unratified.[317] Obama made little progress withrelations withNorth Korea, a long-time adversary of the United States, and North Korea continued to develop itsWMD program.[318]
On taking office, Obama called for a "reset" inrelations withRussia, which had declined following the 2008Russo-Georgian War.[319] While PresidentBush had successfully pushed forNATOexpansion into formerEastern bloc states, the early Obama era saw NATO put more of an emphasis on creating a long-term partnership with Russia.[320] Obama andRussian PresidentDmitry Medvedev worked together on a new treaty to reduce and monitor nuclear weapons, Russian accession to theWorld Trade Organization, and counterterrorism.[319] On April 8, 2010, Obama and Medvedev signed theNew START treaty, a majornuclear arms control agreement that reduced thenuclear weapons stockpiles of both countries and provided for a monitoring regime.[321] In December 2010, the Senate ratified New START in a 71–26 vote, with 13 Republicans and all Democrats voting in favor of the treaty.[322] In 2012, Russia joined theWorld Trade Organization and Obamanormalized trade relations with Russia.[323]
US–Russia relations declined afterVladimir Putin returned to the presidency in 2012.[319] Russia'sinvasion ofUkraine andannexation ofCrimea in response to theEuromaidan movement led to a strongcondemnation by Obama and other Western leaders, who imposedsanctions on Russian leaders.[319][324] The sanctions contributed to theRussian financial crisis (2014–2016).[325] Some members of Congress from both parties also called for the US to arm Ukrainian forces, but Obama resisted becoming closely involved in theWar in Donbas.[326] In 2016, following severalcybersecurity incidents, the Obama administration formally accusedRussia of engaging in acampaign to undermine the 2016 election, and the administration imposed sanctions on some Russian-linked people and organizations.[327][328] In 2017, after Obama left office,Robert Mueller was appointed asspecial counsel to investigate Russian's involvement in the 2016 election, includingallegations of conspiracy or coordination between Trump's presidential campaign and Russia.[329] TheMueller Report, released in 2019, concludes that Russia undertook a sustained social media campaign and cyberhacking operation to bolster the Trump campaign.[330] The report did not reach a conclusion on allegations that the Trump campaign had colluded with Russia, but, according to Mueller, his investigation did not find evidence "sufficient to charge any member of the [Trump] campaign with taking part in a criminal conspiracy."[331]
The relationship between Obama andIsraeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu (who held office for all but two months of Obama's presidency) was notably icy, with many commenting on their mutual distaste for each other.[332][333] On taking office, Obama appointedGeorge J. Mitchell as a special envoy to the Middle East to work towards a settlement of theIsraeli–Palestinian conflict, but Mitchell made little progress before stepping down in 2011.[334] In March 2010, Secretary of State Clinton criticized the Israeli government for approving expansion of settlements in East Jerusalem.[335] Netanyahu strongly opposed Obama's efforts to negotiate with Iran and was seen as favoringMitt Romney in the2012 US presidential election.[332] However, Obama continued the US policy of vetoingUN resolutions calling for aPalestinian state, and the administration continued to advocate for a negotiatedtwo-state solution.[336] Obama also increased aid to Israel, including a $225 million emergency aid package for theIron Dome air defense program.[337]
During Obama's last months in office, his administration chose not to vetoUnited Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, which urged the end ofIsraeli settlement in theterritories that Israel captured in theSix-Day War of 1967. The Obama administration argued that the abstention was consistent with long-standing American opposition to the expansion of settlements, while critics of the abstention argued that it abandoned a close US ally.[338]
Like his predecessor, Obama pursuedfree trade agreements, in part due to the lack of progress at theDoha negotiations in loweringtrade barriers worldwide.[339] In October 2011, the United States entered into free trade agreements withColombia,Panama, andSouth Korea. Congressional Republicans overwhelmingly supported the agreements, while Congressional Democrats cast a mix of votes.[340] The three agreements had originally been negotiated by the Bush administration, but Obama re-opened negotiations with each country and changed some terms of each deal.[340]
Obama promoted two significantly larger, multilateral free trade agreements: theTrans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) with eleven Pacific Rim countries, including Japan, Mexico, and Canada, and the proposedTransatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with theEuropean Union.[341]TPP negotiations began under President Bush, and Obama continued them as part of a long-term strategy that sought to refocus on rapidly growing economies in East Asia.[342] The chief administration goals in the TPP, included: (1) establishing free market capitalism as the main normative platform for economic integration in the region; (2) guaranteeing standards for intellectual property rights, especially regarding copyright, software, and technology; (3) underscore American leadership in shaping the rules and norms of the emerging global order; (4) and blocking China from establishing a rival network.[343]
After years of negotiations, the 12 countries reached a final agreement on the content of the TPP in October 2015,[344] and the full text of the treaty was made public in November 2015.[345] The Obama administration was criticized from the left for a lack of transparency in the negotiations, as well as the presence of corporate representatives who assisted in the drafting process.[346][347][348] In July 2015, Congress passed a bill givingtrade promotion authority to the president until 2021; trade promotion authority requires Congress to vote up or down on trade agreements signed by the president, with no possibility of amendments or filibusters.[349] The TPP became a major campaign issue in the2016 elections, with both major party presidential nominees opposing its ratification.[350] After Obama left office, President Trump pulled the United States out of the TPP negotiations, and the remaining TPP signatories later concluded a separate free trade agreement known as theComprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.[351]
In June 2011, it was reported that the US Embassy aided Levi's, Hanes contractors in their fight against an increase inHaiti's minimum wage.[352]
In 2002, the Bush administration established theGuantanamo Bay detention camp to hold alleged "enemy combatants" in a manner that did not treat the detainees as conventionalprisoners of war.[353] Obama repeatedly stated his desire to close the detention camp, arguing that the camp's extrajudicial nature provided a recruitment tool for terrorist organizations.[353] On his first day in office, Obama instructed all military prosecutors to suspend proceedings so that the incoming administration could review themilitary commission process.[354] On January 22, 2009, Obama signed an executive order restricting interrogators to methods listed and authorized by anArmy Field Manual,[355] ending the use of "enhanced interrogation techniques".[356] In March 2009, the administration announced that it would no longer refer to prisoners at Guantanamo Bay asenemy combatants, but it also asserted that the president had the authority to detain terrorism suspects there without criminal charges.[357] The prisoner population of the detention camp fell from 242 in January 2009 to 91 in January 2016, in part due to thePeriodic Review Boards that Obama established in 2011.[358] Many members of Congress strongly opposed plans to transfer Guantanamo detainees to prisons in US states, and the Obama administration was reluctant to send potentially dangerous prisoners to other countries, especially unstable countries such asYemen.[359] Though Obama continued to advocate for the closure of the detention camp,[359] 41 inmates remained in Guantanamo when Obama left office.[360][361]
The Obama administration launched a successful operation that resulted in thedeath ofOsama bin Laden, the leader ofal-Qaeda, a globalSunniIslamist militant organization responsible for theSeptember 11 attacks and several otherterrorist attacks.[362] Starting with information received in July 2010, the CIA located Osama bin Laden in alarge compound inAbbottabad, Pakistan, a suburban area 35 miles (56 km) fromIslamabad.[363] CIA headLeon Panetta reported this intelligence to Obama in March 2011. 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 StatesNavy SEALs. The operation took place on May 1, 2011, resulting in thedeath of bin Laden and the seizure of papers and computer drives and disks from the compound.[364] Bin Laden's body was identified through DNA testing, and buried at sea several hours later.[365]Reaction to the announcement was positive across party lines, including from his two predecessorsGeorge W. Bush andBill Clinton,[366] and from many countries around the world.[367]
Obama expanded thedrone strike program begun by the Bush administration, and the Obama administration conducted drone strikes against targets inYemen,Somalia, and, most prominently,Pakistan.[368] Though the drone strikes killed high-ranking terrorists, they were also criticized for resulting incivilian casualties.[369] A 2013 Pew research poll showed that the strikes were broadly unpopular in Pakistan,[370] and some former members of the Obama administration have criticized the strikes for causing a backlash against the United States.[369] However, based on 147 interviews conducted in 2015, professor Aqil Shah argued that the strikes were popular inNorth Waziristan, the area in which most of the strikes take place, and that littleblowback occurred.[371] In 2009, theUN special investigator onextrajudicial,summary, or arbitrary executions called the United States' reliance on drones "increasingly common" and "deeply troubling", and called on the US to justify its use of targeted assassinations rather than attempting to capture al Qaeda or Taliban suspects.[372][373]
Starting in 2011, in response to Obama's attempts to avoid civilian casualties, theHellfire R9X "flying Ginsu" missile was developed. It is usually fired from drones. It does not have an explosive warhead that causes a large area of destruction but kills by using six rotating blades that cut the target into shreds. On July 31, 2022,Al-Qaeda leaderAyman al-Zawahiri was killed by an R9X missile.[374] In 2013, Obama appointedJohn Brennan as the new CIA Director and announced a new policy that required CIA operatives to determine with a "near-certainty" that no civilians would be hurt in a drone strike.[368] The number of drone strikes fell substantially after the announcement of the new policy.[368][369]
As of 2015, US drone strikes had killed eight American citizens, one of whom,Anwar al-Aulaqi, was targeted.[369] The targeted killing of a United States citizen raised Constitutional issues, as it is the first known instance of a sitting US president ordering theextrajudicial killing of a US citizen.[375][376] Obama had ordered the targeted killing of al-Aulaqi, a Muslim cleric with ties toal-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, after al-Aulaqi allegedly shifted from encouraging attacks on the United States to directly participating in them.[377][378] The Obama administration continually sought to keep classified the legal opinions justifying drone strikes, but it said that it conducted special legal reviews before targeting Americans in order to purportedly satisfy thedue process requirements of the Constitution.[369][379]
The Obama presidency saw a major thaw in relations with Cuba, which the United Statesembargoed following theCuban Revolution and the 1962Cuban Missile Crisis. Starting in the spring of 2013 secret meetings were conducted between the United States andCuba, with the meetings taking place in the neutral locations of Canada andVatican City.[380] The Vatican was consulted initially in 2013 asPope Francis advised the US and Cuba toexchange prisoners as a gesture of goodwill.[381] On December 10, 2013, Cuban PresidentRaúl Castro, in a significant public moment, shook hands with and greeted Obama atNelson Mandela's memorial service inJohannesburg.[citation needed] In December 2014, Cuba releasedAlan Gross in exchange for the remaining members of theCuban Five.[381] That same month, President Obama ordered the restoration of diplomatic ties with Cuba.[382] Obama stated that he was normalizing relationships because the economic embargo had been ineffective in persuading Cuba to develop a democratic society.[383] In May 2015, Cuba was taken off the United States's list ofState Sponsors of Terrorism.[384] In August 2015, following the restoration of official diplomatic relations, the United States and Cuba reopened their respective embassies.[385] In March 2016, Obama visited Cuba, making him the first American president to set foot on the island sinceCalvin Coolidge.[386] In 2017, Obama ended the "wet feet, dry feet policy", which had given special rights to Cuban immigrants to the United States.[387] The restored ties between Cuba and the US were seen as a boon to broaderLatin America–United States relations, as Latin American leaders unanimously approved of the move.[388][389] Presidential candidate Donald Trump promised to reverse the Obama policies and return to a hard line on Cuba.[390]
Iran and the United States have had a poorrelationship since theIranian Revolution and theIran hostage crisis, and tensions continued during the Obama administration due to issues such as theIranian nuclear program andIran's alleged sponsorship of terrorism. On taking office, Obama focused onnegotiations with Iran over the status of its nuclear program, working with the otherP5+1 powers to adopt a multilateral agreement.[391] Obama's stance differed dramatically from the more hawkish position of his predecessor,George W. Bush,[392] as well as the stated positions of most of Obama's rivals in the 2008 presidential campaign.[393] In June 2013,Hasan Rouhani wonelection as the newPresident of Iran, and Rouhani called for a continuation of talks on Iran's nuclear program.[394] In November 2013, Iran and the P5 announced an interim agreement,[394] and in April 2015, negotiators announced that a framework agreement had been reached.[395] Congressional Republicans, who along with Israeli prime ministerBenjamin Netanyahu had strongly opposed the negotiations,[396] attempted but failed to pass a Congressional resolution rejecting the six-nation accord.[397] Under the agreement, Iran promised to limit its nuclear program and to provide access toInternational Atomic Energy Agency inspectors, while the US and other countries agreed to reduce sanctions on Iran.[398] The partisan fight over the Iran nuclear deal exemplified a broader ideological disagreement regarding American foreign policy in the Middle East and how to handle adversarial regimes, as many opponents of the deal considered Iran to be an implacably hostile adversary who would inevitably break any agreement.[399]
After a sudden revolution in Tunisia in 2011,[400] protests occurred in almost everyArab state. The wave of demonstrations became known as theArab Spring, and the handling of the Arab Spring played a major role in Obama's foreign policy.[401] After three weeks ofunrest, Egyptian presidentHosni Mubarak resigned at the urging of President Obama.[402] GeneralAbdel Fattah el-Sisi eventually took power from Egyptian presidentMohammed Morsi in a2013 coup d'état, prompting the US to cut off arms shipments to its long-time ally.[403] However, Obama resumed the shipments in 2015.[403] Yemen experienced arevolution and thencivil war, leading to aSaudi military campaign that received logistical and intelligence assistance from the United States.[404] The Obama administration announced its intention to review US military assistance toSaudi Arabia after Saudi warplanestargeted a funeral in Yemen's capital Sanaa, killing more than 140 people.[405] The UN accused the Saudi-led coalition of "complete disregard for human life".[406][407][408]
Libya was strongly affected by the Arab Spring. Anti-government protests broke out inBenghazi, Libya, in February 2011,[409] and theGaddafi government responded with military force.[410] The Obama administration initially resisted calls to take strong action[411] but relented after the Arab League requested Western intervention in Libya.[412] In March 2011, international reaction to Gaddafi's military crackdown culminated in aUnited Nations resolution to enforce ano fly zone in Libya. Obama authorized US forces to participate ininternational air attacks on Libyan air defenses usingTomahawk cruise missiles to establish the protective zone.[413][414] The intervention was led byNATO, butSweden and threeArab nations also participated in the mission.[415] With coalition support, the rebels took Tripoli the following August.[416] The Libyan campaign culminated in the toppling of the Gaddafi regime, but Libya experiencedturmoil in the aftermath of thecivil war.[417] Obama's intervention in Libyaprovoked criticism from members of Congress and ignited a debate over the applicability of theWar Powers Resolution.[418] In September 2012, Islamic militantsattacked the American consulate in Benghazi, killingAmbassadorJ. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.[419] Republicans strongly criticized the Obama administration's handling of the Benghazi attack, and established aselect committee in the House to investigate the attack.[420] After his presidency, Obama acknowledged his "worst mistake" of his presidency was being unable to anticipate the aftermath of ousting Gaddafi.[421]
Syria was one of the states most heavily affected by the Arab Spring, and by the second half of March 2011, major anti-government protests were being held in Syria.[422] Though Syria had long been an adversary of the United States, Obama argued that unilateral military action to topple theBashar al-Assad regime would be a mistake.[423] As the protests continued, Syria fell into a protractedcivil war,[424] and the United States supported theSyrian opposition against the Assad regime.[425] US criticism of Assad intensified after theGhouta chemical attack, eventually resulting in a Russian-backed deal that saw the Syrian government relinquish its chemical weapons.[426] In the chaos of the Syrian Civil War, an Islamist group known asIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) took control of large portions of Syria and Iraq.[427] ISIL, which had originated asal-Qaeda in Iraq under the leadership ofAbu Musab al-Zarqawi,[296] eventually challengedal-Qaeda as the most prominent globalterrorist group during Obama's second term.[428] Starting in 2014, the Obama administration launchedair strikes against ISIL and trained anti-ISIL soldiers, while continuing to oppose Assad's regime.[425][426] The Obama administration also cooperated withSyrian Kurds in opposing the ISIL, straining relations withTurkey, which accused the Syrian Kurds of working with theKurdish terrorist groupsinside Turkey.[429] Russia launched its ownmilitary intervention to aid Assad's regime, creating a complicated multi-partyproxy war, though the United States and Russia sometimes cooperated to fight ISIL.[430] In November 2015, Obama announced a plan to resettle at least 10,000Syrian refugees in the United States.[192] Obama's "light-footprint" approach to the Syrian conflict was criticized by many as the Syrian Civil War became a major humanitarian catastrophe, but supporters of Obama argued that he deserved credit for keeping the United States out of another costly ground war in the Middle East.[431][432][298]
The Obama administration inherited several government surveillance programs from the Bush administration, and Obama attempted to strike a balance between protecting civil liberties and tracking terrorist threats, but Obama's continuation of many programs disappointed many civil libertarians.[433]The New York Times reported in 2009 that the NSA had been intercepting communications of American citizens including a congressman, although theJustice Department believed that the NSA had corrected its errors.[434] In 2011, Obama signed a four-year extension of some provisions of thePatriot Act.[435] In June 2013 the existence ofPRISM, aclandestinemasselectronic surveillancedata mining program operated by the United StatesNational Security Agency (NSA) since 2007, wasleaked by NSA contractorEdward Snowden, who warned that the extent of mass data collection was far greater than the public knew.[436] In the face of international outrage, US government officials defended the PRISM surveillance program by asserting it could not be used on domestic targets without awarrant, that it helped to prevent acts of terrorism, and that it received independent oversight from the federal government'sexecutive,judicial andlegislative branches.[437] In June 2013, Obama stated that the NSA's data gathering practices constitute "a circumscribed, narrow system directed at us being able to protect our people."[438] In 2015, Obama signed theUSA Freedom Act, which extended several provisions of the Patriot Act but ended the collection of bulk telephone records by the NSA.[433][439]
Early inhis presidential campaign, Obama stated that lobbyists "won't find a job in my White House", but softened his stance after taking office.[440] On January 21, 2009, Obama issued an executive order for all future appointees to his administration, which ordered that no appointee who was a registered lobbyist within the two years before his appointment could participate on matters in which he lobbied for a period of two years after the date of appointment.[15] Three formal waivers were initially issued in early 2009, out of 800 executive appointments:[441] TheCitizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington criticized the administration, claiming that Obama retreated from his own ethics rules barring lobbyists from working on the issues about which they lobbied during the previous two years by issuing waivers.[442] A 2015 Politico investigation found that, while Obama had instituted incremental reforms and the number of lobbyists fell during Obama's presidency, Obama had failed to close the "revolving door" of officials moving between government and business.[443] However, the Obama administration avoided "conflict of interest" scandals that previous administrations had experienced, in part due to the administration's lobbyist rules.[444]
Obama promised that he would run the "most transparent" administration in US history, with mixed results.[445] On taking office, the Obama administration said that all executive orders, non-emergency legislation, and proclamations would be posted to the officialWhite House website,whitehouse.gov, allowing the public to review and comment for five days before the president signs the legislation,[446] but this pledge was twice broken during Obama's first month in office.[447][448] On January 21, 2009, by executive order, Obama revokedExecutive Order 13233, which had limited access to the records of former United States presidents.[449] Obama issued instructions to all agencies and departments in his administration to "adopt a presumption in favor" ofFreedom of Information Act requests.[450] These actions helped the rate of classification fall to record lows during the Obama administration.[445] In April 2009, theUnited States Department of Justice released four legal memos from the Bush administration describing in detailcontroversial interrogation methods the CIA had used on prisoners suspected of terrorism.[451][452] The Obama administration also introduced the Open Government Directive, which encouraged government agencies to publish data and collaborate with the public, and the Open Government Partnership, which advocated open government norms.[445] However, Obama continued to make use of secret memos and thestate secrets privilege, and he continued to prosecute whistleblowers.[445]
The Obama administration was much more aggressive than the Bush and other previous administrations in their response towhistleblowing and leaks to the press,[453] prompting critics to describe the Obama administration's crackdown as a "war on whistleblowers".[454][455] Several people were charged under the previously rarely used leak-related provisions of theEspionage Act of 1917, includingThomas Andrews Drake, a formerNational Security Agency employee,[456][457]Stephen Jin-Woo Kim, aState Department contractor,[458] andJeffrey Sterling. Others prosecuted for leaking information includeShamai Leibowitz, a contract linguist for theFederal Bureau of Investigation,[459]John Kiriakou, a former CIA analyst,[460] andChelsea Manning, an intelligence analyst for theUS Army whosetrial received wide coverage.[461] Most notably,Edward Snowden, a technical contractor for theNSA, was charged with theft and the unauthorizeddisclosure of classified information to columnistGlenn Greenwald.[462] Snowden's disclosures provokedwide array of reactions; many called for Snowden to be pardoned, while others called him a traitor.[463][464]
| Senate leaders | House leaders | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Congress | Year | Majority | Minority | Speaker | Minority |
| 111th | 2009–2010 | Reid | McConnell | Pelosi | Boehner |
| 112th | 2011–2012 | Reid | McConnell | Boehner | Pelosi |
| 113th | 2013–2014 | Reid | McConnell | Boehner | Pelosi |
| 114th | 2015 | McConnell | Reid | Boehner | Pelosi |
| 2015–2016 | McConnell | Reid | Ryan[g] | Pelosi | |
| 115th[b] | 2017 | McConnell | Schumer | Ryan | Pelosi |
| Congress | Senate | House |
|---|---|---|
| 111th[b] | 59[i] | 257 |
| 112th | 53 | 193 |
| 113th | 55 | 201 |
| 114th | 46 | 188 |
| 115th[b] | 48 | 194 |
Attacking Obama relentlessly, emphasizing the stalled economy, and enjoying the anger of theTea Party Movement, Republicans scored a landslide in the2010 midterm elections,winning control of the House and gaining seats in the Senate. After the election, John Boehner replaced Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House, and Pelosi became the new House Minority Leader. Boehner pledged to repeal Obamacare and cut federal spending.[465]
Obama called the elections "humbling" and a "shellacking", arguing that the defeat came because not enough Americans had felt the effects of the economic recovery.[466] The newly empowered House Republicans quickly confronted Obama on issues such as Obamacare and the debt ceiling.[148] The Republican victory in the election also gave Republicans the upper hand in theredistricting that occurred after the2010 United States census.[467]
On April 4, 2011, Obama announced that he would seekre-election in 2012. He did not face any significant rivals for the Democratic nomination. His Republican opponent wasMitt Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts. Romney called for lower taxes, spending cuts, an increase in defense spending, and a repeal ofObamacare (even though it was based on aMassachusetts healthcare plan developed under Romney).[468] Obama's campaign was based in Chicago and run by many former members of the White House staff and members of the successful2008 campaign.[469] Obama won re-election with 332 (out of a total of 538) electoral votes and 51.1% of the popular vote, making him the first person sinceDwight Eisenhower to twice win 51 percent of the vote.[470] According to exit polls, Obama won a majority of the vote from women, blacks, Hispanics, Asians, people under 45, people making less than $50,000 per year, people inhabiting large or mid-sized cities, liberals, moderates, the unmarried, gays, and people with no college education, some college education, or graduate degrees.[471] In the concurrentcongressional elections, the Democrats also picked up seats in both houses of Congress, but Republicans retained control of the House.
Obama's second mid-term election turned into anotherwave election, as Republicanswon control of the Senate and picked up several governorships.[472] Mitch McConnell replaced Harry Reid as Senate Majority Leader, while Reid became the Senate Minority Leader. Republican control of the Senate gave the party the power to block Obama's executive and judicial nominees.[41] The Republican waves in 2010 and 2014 defeated many young Democratic candidates, weakening the farm team of several state Democratic parties.[473]
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The 2016 elections took place on November 8. Obama was term-limited in 2016 due to the22nd Amendment, though Obama's approval ratings may have impacted his party's ability to win the race.[474] In June 2016, with theDemocratic primaries nearly complete, Obama endorsed former secretary of stateHillary Clinton as his successor.[475] However, according to Glenn Thrush ofPolitico, Obama had long supported Clinton as his preferred successor, and Obama dissuaded Vice President Biden from running against Clinton.[476] Obama spoke in favor of Clinton at the2016 Democratic National Convention, and he continued to campaign for Clinton and other Democrats in the months leading up to Election Day.[477] However, in the general election, Clinton was defeated by Republican nomineeDonald Trump, who prominentlyquestioned Obama's place of birth during Obama's first term.[478] In the concurrentcongressional elections, Republicans also retained control of their majorities in theHouse of Representatives and theSenate. During the eight years of Obama's presidency, the Democratic Party experienced a net loss of 1,041 governorships and state and federal legislative seats.[479] Ronald Brownstein ofThe Atlantic noted that these losses were similar to those of other post-World War II two-term presidents.[480][481]
Trump and Obama frequently communicated during thetransition period, and Trump stated that he sought Obama's advice regarding presidential appointments.[482] However, President-elect Trump also criticized some of Obama's actions, including Obama's refusal to veto a UN Resolution condemning Israel settlements.[483] In hisfarewell address, Obama expressed concerns about a divisive political environment, economic inequality, and racism, but remained optimistic about the future.[484][485]
| Date | Approve | Disapprove |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 2009 | 67 | 13 |
| July 2009 | 58 | 34 |
| Jan 2010 | 51 | 43 |
| July 2010 | 46 | 47 |
| Jan 2011 | 48 | 45 |
| July 2011 | 46 | 45 |
| Jan 2012 | 46 | 47 |
| July 2012 | 45 | 46 |
| Jan 2013 | 53 | 40 |
| July 2013 | 46 | 46 |
| Jan 2014 | 41 | 53 |
| July 2014 | 42 | 53 |
| Jan 2015 | 46 | 48 |
| July 2015 | 46 | 49 |
| Jan 2016 | 47 | 49 |
| Jul 2016 | 51 | 45 |
| Jan 2017 | 55 | 42 |
After his transition period, Obama entered office with an approval rating of 82% according toGallup,[487] Obama's approval rating fell to 69% after he took office and announced his first policy decisions.[488] Obama received the support of 90% of Democrats, 60% of independents, and 40% of Republicans in January 2009 polls.[488] By December 2009, Obama's approval rating had fallen to 51%, with Obama receiving approval from roughly 85% of Democrats, 45% of independents, and just 18% of Republicans.[488] In July 2010, after the passage of the Dodd-Frank and Obamacare, Obama's approval rating stood at 45%, with 47% disapproving.[488] Obama's approval rating would remain stable until the 2010 elections,[488] when Republicans won major gains in both houses of Congress and took control of the House.[465] Obama's approval ratings climbed back to 50% in January 2011, but fell to 40% in August 2011 following the2011 debt-ceiling crisis.[488] Obama's approval ratings slowly increased during 2012, and they rose above 50% shortly before the 2012 election, in which Obama defeatedMitt Romney.[488] After his re-election, Obama's approval ratings reached 57%, but that number fell into the low 40s after thefederal government shutdown in October 2013.[488] Obama's approval ratings remained in the mid-to-low 40s until the2014 elections, when Republicans won gains in both houses of Congress and took control of the Senate.[488] In 2015, Obama's approval ratings climbed to the mid-to-high 40s, with his approval and disapproval ratings roughly matching each other.[488] His approval ratings rose into the 50s during the 2016 presidential campaign, and Obama registered a 57% approval rating in November 2016.[488] In a Gallup poll taken in the final week of his presidency, Obama registered a 95% approval rating with Democrats, a 61% approval rating with independents, and a 14% approval rating with Republicans.[488]
Obama's election also provoked a reaction to his race, birthplace, and religion. As president, Obama faced numerous taunts and racial innuendos, though most overt racist comments were limited to a small fringe.[489]Donald Trump theorized that Obama hadbeen born inKenya; an April 2011 CNN poll taken shortly before Obama released his long-form birth certificate found that 40% of Republicans believed that Obama had been born in Kenya.[478] Many of these "birthers" argued that because Obama was (allegedly) not a citizen, he was not eligible to serve as president under thenatural-born-citizen requirements of the Constitution. Despite Obama's release of his long-form birth certificate, which affirmed that Obama was born in Hawaii, a 2015CNN poll found that 20% of Americans believed that Obama was born outside of the country.[490] Many alsoclaimed that Obama practicedIslam, and a 2015 CNN poll found that 29% of Americans and 43% of Republicans believed Obama to be a Muslim.[490] Even prior to his election as president, Obama had clarified that he was a long-time member of a church affiliated with theUnited Church of Christ, amainline Protestant denomination.[491]
In a January 2010 survey by theSiena Research Institute atSiena College inLoudonville, New York—one year into the Obama presidency—238 US history and political science professors ranked Obama 15th of 43 US presidents.[492] In a September 2010 survey by the United States Presidency Centre of theInstitute for the Study of the Americas at theUniversity of LondonSchool of Advanced Study—one year and eight months into the Obama presidency—47 unnamed respondents who were UK academic specialists on American history and politics ranked 40 of 42 US presidents from 1789 to 2009, not including Obama; if Obama had been included he would have ranked 8th, behind Harry S. Truman but ahead of Ronald Reagan and all other post-World War II US presidents.[493][494][495] In a June 2012 survey byNewsweek magazine—three years and five months into the Obama presidency—ten selected American historians and biographers ranked Obama 10th of 20 US presidents since 1900.[496][497] In an April 2013 survey byHistory News Network (HNN) website in Seattle—four years and three months into the Obama presidency—203 scholars from 69 top US colleges and universities gave Obama a B− grade on an A–F scale.[498] A February 2015Brookings Institution survey of members of theAmerican Political Science Association put Obama in 18th place out of the 43 presidents.[499] Additionally, a 2011 Gallup poll found that 5% of Americans saw Obama as the country's greatest president.[500]
As Obama left office, historians expressed various opinions about his effectiveness as president, with many noting that subsequent events would determine his ultimate legacy.[501][502] There was universal agreement that Obama would long be remembered as the first African-American president.[501][502][503] Many noted that Obama presided over an economic recovery and passed major domestic legislation, but failed to bridge a partisan divide and left office with his party in a weakened state.[501]
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{{cite book}}:|website= ignored (help)Officially, there are now 3,650 U.S. troops in Iraq, there primarily to help train the Iraqi national army. But in reality, there are already about 4,450 U.S. troops in Iraq, plus another nearly 7,000 contractors supporting the American government's operations.
The R9X was developed starting in 2011 in response to then-President Barack Obama's emphasis on avoiding civilian deaths in drone strikes against terrorist targets in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and other conflict zones.
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