Biography:Obama served as the 44th President of the United States (2009-2017). Previously he was a Senator from Illinois before a 2004 speech at the Democratic National Convention cast him into the spotlight, leading to a successful 2008 presidential campaign.
His election was a watershed as he was the first African-American President of the United States. His first term was focused on dealing with economic crisis brought about by the Great Recession, signing in a number of important bills as part of an economic stimulus. In his first two years he brought in an overhaul of the healthcare system, known as "Obamacare", and became the first sitting President to support same-sex marriage. In 2009 he won the Nobel Peace Prize.
In foreign policy Obama sought to reset relations with Russia which culminated in the New START Treaty signed in 2011. Relations however reached a low point not seen since the Cold War once Vladimir Putin returned to power in 2012. He ordered military operations in Libya to assist the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi, ended military involvement in Iraq and ordered the operation that killed Osama bin Laden. Once ISIS captured large parts of Iraqi and Syrian territory in 2014, he authorized operations to resume in Iraq and ordered airstrikes in Syria. In other areas of the world he concluded a multilateral nuclear deal with Iran, normalized US relations with Cuba, began a drawdown of forces in Afghanistan and signed the Paris Agreement to combat climate change.
Obama defeated Mitt Romney in 2012 to win a second term. In this he advocated for gun control after the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre and supported legislative and judicial efforts to support LGBT Americans. After Russia invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea in 2014 he initiated sanctions against them, and did the same in response to alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election.
After a lengthy and contentious election campaign, he was succeeded by Donald Trump on January 20, 2017.
1992-10-03 American lawyer and future US President Barack Obama (31) weds fellow American lawyer Michelle Robinson (28) in Chicago, Illinois
Historical Events
1995-07-18 "Dreams from My Father", a memoir by Barack Obama is published by Times Books
2008-08-27 US Senator Barack Obama becomes the first African-American to be nominated by a major political party for President of the United States
2008-11-04 Barack Obama becomes the first African-American to be elected President of the United States, defeating Republican candidate John McCain
2008-12-09 Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, is arrested by federal officials for a number of alleged crimes, including attempting to sell the United States Senate seat being vacated by President-elect Barack Obama
2009-01-20 Barack Obama is inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States of America, becoming the United States' first African-American president
2009-02-06 President Barack Obama announces the Economic Recovery Advisory Board, with Paul Volcker as Chairman and Austan Goolsbee as Staff Director and Chief Economist
2009-11-06 President Barack Obama signs congressional resolution conferring honorary U.S. citizenship to Revolutionary War hero Casimir Pulaski
2009-12-10 US President Barack Obama accepts the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo
2009-12-20 US President Barack Obama receives his vaccine jab against swine flu
2010-01-21 President Barack Obama proposes the "Volcker Rule," a rule proposed by Paul Volcker intended to restrict risky trading by United States banks
2010-03-23 US President Barack Obama signs the Affordable Care Act (ACA), nicknamed 'Obamacare', expanding the availability and affordability of health care insurance
2010-12-22 Repeal of the "Don't Ask Don't Tell policy", a 17-year-old policy banning homosexuals serving openly in the US military, signed into law by President Barack Obama
2011-04-27 U.S. President Barack Obama, coerced by incessant false "birther" accusations, publicly releases a copy of his birth certificate
2012-04-03 US President Barack Obama officially secures Democratic presidential nomination
2012-05-09 United States President Barack Obama officially states his support for same-sex marriage
2012-09-06 Barack Obama accepts the Democratic nomination for US President
2012-11-06 Barack Obama is re-elected as US President, defeating Republican candidate Mitt Romney
2012-11-10 The final US presidential election results are declared after Barack Obama wins Florida to defeat Mitt Romney 332-206 in Electoral College votes
2013-04-23 A 1% flash crash hits the US stock market after a news agency was hacked and claimed injury to President Obama
2013-11-20 US President Barack Obama posthumously awards civil rights activist Bayard Rustin the Presidential Medal of Freedom
2014-02-05 US President Obama and journalists globally call for the release of 3 Al Jazeera journalists detained in Egypt
2014-03-01 US President Barack Obama warns Russian President Vladimir Putin over involvement in Ukraine
2014-05-29 President Obama approves US military training of 'moderate' Syrian rebels to fight the regime of Bashar al-Assad and al Qaeda-linked groups
2014-06-03 US President Barack Obama announces his plan for a $1 billion fund to increase deployment of US troops to Europe
2014-06-30 US Supreme Court rules that family-owned corporations can reject provisions of the Affordable Care Act ('Obamacare') on religious grounds
2014-07-27 Obama reaffirms Israel's "right to defend itself", but condemns civilian casualties in Gaza
2014-07-28Linda Ronstadt receives the National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama in a White House ceremony
2014-08-05 Obama signs The Iron Dome Bill providing $225 million in additional funding for Israel's Iron Dome defense
2014-09-15 President Obama announces the US will send 3,000 troops to help combat spread of the Ebola virus
2014-11-08 US President Obama authorises deployment of 1,500 additional troops to help train and advise Iraqi and Kurdish forces fighting Islamic State militants
2014-11-08 US President Barack Obama nominates Loretta Lynch for the position of US Attorney General
2014-11-20 Nearly 5 million illegal migrants in the US have the threat of deportation deferred, after President Barack Obama announces sweeping immigration changes
2014-11-23 Republicans condemn US President Obama's use of executive powers to force through immigration reform
2014-12-02 Elizabeth Lauten, an aide to a Republican congressman resigns after her online criticism of President Barack Obama's teenage daughters
2015-03-09 US President Barack Obama signs an executive order declaring Venezuela a national security threat to the US
2015-04-11 Barack Obama and Raúl Castro meet in Panama, the first meeting of US and Cuban heads of state since the Cuban Revolution
2015-06-25 The Affordable Care Act ('Obamacare') subsidies preserved by US Supreme Court Ruling in King v Burwell 6-3
2015-06-26 US President Barack Obama sings "Amazing Grace" as part of his eulogy for Reverend Clementa Pinckney and 8 church members killed during a bible study in Charleston, South Carolina
2015-07-24 US President Barack Obama begins an historic 2 day visit to Kenya
2015-08-03 US President Obama unveils his Clean Power Plan to cut greenhouse gases
2015-08-03 Chilean-born author Isabel Allende receives the US Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama
2015-08-31 President Obama officially re-designates Alaska’s Mt. McKinley as Denali, its native American name
2015-08-31 US President Barack Obama arrives in Alaska on a 3 day tour highlighting climate change
2015-09-02 US President Barack Obama becomes the first president to visit the Arctic Circle at Kotzebue, Alaska
2015-09-14 14 yr old Texan Ahmed Mohamed arrested at school when home-made clock assumed to be a bomb - Mark Zuckerberg and US President Barack Obama send supportive tweets
2015-09-22Pope Francis greeted by President Obama and Vice President Biden as he arrives at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, for his 6 day tour of the US
2015-10-07 US President Barack Obama apologises to Doctors without Borders President and the President of Afghanistan for the bombing of a hospital in Kunduz
2015-11-12 Out Magazine names Barack Obama 'Ally of the Year', Obama becomes 1st sitting US President to pose for cover of a gay magazine
2016-02-03 US President Barack Obama visits his first US mosque - the Islamic Society of Baltimore mosque in Maryland
2016-05-22 US President Barack Obama arrives in Vietman for a 3 day tour
2016-06-09 US President Barack Obama officially endorses Hillary Clinton as Democratic Presidential nominee
2016-11-22 US President Barack Obama posthumously awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to pioneering computer scientist and Navy Admiral Grace Hopper
2016-12-29 US President Barack Obama retaliates against Russia for hacking American computer systems and trying to influence the 2016 presidential election by ejecting 35 Russian spies and imposing sanctions
2017-01-12 US President Barack Obama in surprise presentation awards Vice President Joe Biden with the Presidential Medal of Freedom
2017-01-17 US President Barack Obama commutes WikiLeaks discloser Chelsea Manning's prison sentence from 35 to 7 years
2017-02-22 US President Donald Trump overturns Obama directive on Transgender rights to use toilets
2017-03-05 US President Donald Trump in a tweet accuses former President Obama without offering any evidence of wiretapping Trump Towers during the presidential campaign
2017-03-24 US President Donald Trump and Republican party forced to pull their attempt to repeal Affordable Care Act ('Obamacare') after internal opposition
2017-03-28 US President Donald Trump signs Energy Independence executive order undoing Obama climate-control measures
2017-06-16 US President Donald Trump reinstates Cuban travel and business restrictions after they were loosened by President Obama
2017-07-26 US President Donald Trump announces policy to ban transgender people from the military, overturning Obama era changes
2017-08-15 Barack Obama's tweet "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion..." in response to Charlottesville violence becomes most-liked tweet ever
2018-02-12 Portait paintings of Barack Obama by Kehinde Wiley and Michelle Obama by Amy Sherald are unveiled at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery
2018-05-21 Former US president Barack Obama and Michelle Obama sign deal with Netflix to produce films and series
2018-07-03 US Justice and Education Departments rescind Obama affirmative action policies in college admissions
2018-07-17 Barack Obama gives speech honoring Nelson Mandela and warning of "strongman politics" in Johannesburg, South Africa
2018-09-01 Memorial service for Senator John McCain at Washington National Cathedral with his daughter Meghan McCain, Barack Obama and George W. Bush speaking
2018-10-24 Pipe bombs sent to prominent US Democrats including the Obamas, Clintons, John Brennan and CNN, but safely defused
2020-04-14 Former President Barack Obama endorses his former Vice President Joe Biden for president
2020-05-17 Former US President Barack Obama criticizes the US government's handling of the pandemic during an online address to graduates, saying officials "aren't even pretending to be in charge"
2020-06-18 US Supreme Court rules the Obama-era Dreamers Program (DACA), enabling undocumented migrant children ability to study and work, can stay
Calvin Coolidge
Franklin Pierce
Grover Cleveland
Albert B. Fall
Hiram R. Revels
Joseph McCarthy