🦅Barack Obama

44th President · 2009–2017 · Democratic

Barack Obama became the first Black president of the United States when he took the oath of office on January 20, 2009. He had served in the U.S. Senate for just four years. His two terms were defined by the recovery from the Great Recession, passage of the Affordable Care Act, the killing of Osama bin Laden, the normalization of relations with Cuba, the Iran nuclear deal, and the Paris climate accords.

Hawaii to Chicago

Obama was born in Honolulu to a Kenyan father and a Kansas-born mother. He spent part of his childhood in Indonesia, graduated from Columbia University and Harvard Law School (where he was the first Black president of the Harvard Law Review), and then worked as a community organizer and civil-rights lawyer in Chicago. He taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School and was elected to the Illinois State Senate in 1996.

From Senator to President

A 2004 keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention made Obama a national figure. He won a U.S. Senate seat that November. In 2007 he announced a presidential bid against Hillary Clinton — widely considered the inevitable nominee — and won a long primary fight. He defeated Republican John McCain in November 2008 to become the 44th president.

Affordable Care Act and Recession

Obama took office in the depths of the Great Recession. His administration pushed through the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in February 2009, overhauled and rescued General Motors and Chrysler, and signed the Dodd-Frank financial reform in 2010. The centerpiece of his domestic agenda was the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or "Obamacare"), signed in March 2010 — the biggest overhaul of U.S. health insurance since Medicare. It extended coverage to roughly 20 million previously uninsured Americans.

Foreign Policy

On May 2, 2011, U.S. Navy SEALs killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden at a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan — a strike personally authorized by Obama. His second term produced the Iran nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, 2015), the reopening of diplomatic relations with Cuba (2015), and the Paris climate agreement (2015). He also authorized dramatically expanded use of armed drones in counter-terror operations.

Legacy and Continuation

Obama won re-election in 2012 over Republican Mitt Romney. He left office in January 2017 with approval ratings around 60%. His Vice President Joe Biden was elected the 46th president in 2020 and served one term. Obama's wife Michelle Obama has been an influential public figure in her own right. The Obamas founded a production company that has produced films and podcasts since leaving the White House.

Obama Trivia

• Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize less than a year into his presidency — an award Obama himself said he had not yet earned.
• He was the first U.S. president born in Hawaii and the first born outside the contiguous 48 states.
• His presidential library is in Chicago's Jackson Park on the South Side, where he lived for decades.
• Obama and Theodore Roosevelt are the only two presidents to win the Nobel Peace Prize while in office.

🎩 Related Presidents

Continue exploring the chronology:

→ See all presidents in order