Elizabeta vidovic biography of barack obama

On becoming President, he found the political environment hostile. However, with considerable modifications, he was able to pass a health care bill which went a considerable way to ensuring greater universal provision. We are the change that we seek. Obama was elected on a liberal platform. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

Compared to other American political figures, he is perceived as less accommodating to Israel and more sympathetic to the Palestinian position. In , the US was the only country to veto a Security Council resolution condemning illegal Israeli settlements. However, one of his last acts as President in Dec was for the US to abstain on a similar motion condemning Israeli settlement building.

A year into his presidency, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his promise to promote world peace. Many thought this somewhat premature for occurring at the start of his presidency. In , he signed with Russia the New START Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty which included a reduction in nuclear arms between the two countries; though in , relations between the two countries soured after the Russian invasion of the Ukraine caused Obama to initiate economic sanctions against Russia.

Obama pledged to end American troops involvement in Iraq and by could announce all troops would be leaving Iraq. Troops have remained in Afghanistan. In , Obama began a process to normalise relationship with Cuba after negotiations with Raul Castro. In , Obama became the first US president to visit Cuba, since Trump and Obama frequently communicated during the transition period , and Trump stated that he sought Obama's advice regarding presidential appointments.

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. As Obama left office, historians expressed various opinions about his effectiveness as president, with many noting that subsequent events would determine his ultimate legacy.

Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read View source View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item. For a chronological guide, see Timeline of the Barack Obama presidency. Seal of the President. This article is part of a series about. Illinois State Senator and U.

Senator from Illinois. Senate tenure election sponsored bills. Presidency timeline Transition Inaugurations first second Trips international Efforts to impeach Presidential library. Presidential campaigns. Major acts and legislation. Main articles: Barack Obama presidential campaign and United States presidential election. Further information: United States elections , Democratic Party presidential primaries , and Democratic National Convention.

Transition period, inauguration, and first days. Main article: First days of Barack Obama's presidency. Problems playing these files? See media help. Vice President Joe Biden stands behind him. Main article: Cabinet of Barack Obama. Notable non-Cabinet positions. Jones — Thomas E. Walter — Mary Jo White — United States Supreme Court nominations.

Main article: Barack Obama Supreme Court candidates. Further information: List of federal judges appointed by Barack Obama and Barack Obama judicial appointment controversies. See also: Social policy of the Barack Obama administration. See also: Health care reform in the United States and Health care reforms proposed during the Obama administration.

See also: Banking in the United States. Climate change and the environment. Main article: Economic policy of the Barack Obama administration. See also: Taxation in the United States. See also: United States federal budget. See also: Immigration to the United States. See also: Energy policy of the Obama administration. Drug policy and criminal justice reform.

See also: Gun politics in the United States. See also: Cyberwarfare in the United States. See also: Race and ethnicity in the United States. Main article: Space policy of the Barack Obama administration. Main article: Foreign policy of the Barack Obama administration. See also: East Asian foreign policy of the Barack Obama administration.

See also: United States free trade agreements. Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Killing of Osama bin Laden. Main article: Killing of Osama bin Laden. President Obama on Osama bin Laden's Death 9 : President Obama's address Full Text. President Obama on Osama bin Laden's Death. Wikisource has original text related to this article: Remarks by the President on Osama bin Laden.

Main article: Cuban thaw. See also: Cuba—United States relations. Iranian nuclear negotiations. Further information: Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Arab Spring and its aftermath. See also: Arab Spring. See also: First Libyan Civil War. See also: Syrian civil war and US intervention in the Syrian civil war. New Statesman. Archived from the original on January 16, See also: Serrano, Richard A.

March 11, Archived from the original on November 8, Archived from the original on December 7, In Dreams from My Father , Obama writes: "Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it. For analysis of the political impact of the quote and Obama's more recent admission that he smoked marijuana as a teenager "When I was a kid, I inhaled.

Archived from the original on May 11, Seelye, Katharine Q. October 24, ABC News. Archived from the original on May 25, Retrieved May 25, Obama , , pp. Maraniss , pages with "choom gang". Retrieved October 29, Romano, Lois January 3, October 9, Archived from the original on October 31, August 17, Archived from the original on April 7, Retrieved May 1, The State Journal-Register.

Archived from the original on November 9, Retrieved August 23, February 8, Retrieved September 7, As a teenager, Obama went to parties and sometimes sought out gatherings on military bases or at the University of Hawaii that were mostly attended by blacks. Archived from the original on May 24, Retrieved May 12, Possley, Maurice March 30, Archived from the original on October 9, Talev, Margaret November 19, The Sacramento Bee.

Archived from the original on March 7, Kovaleski, Serge F. February 9, Rohter, Larry April 10, Archived from the original on April 11, USA Today. Archived from the original on May 28, Jackson, Brooks June 5, Mendell , pp. Remnick , pp. Columbia College Today. Archived from the original on September 5, Retrieved June 9, Retrieved October 1, June 26, Archived from the original on February 16, Retrieved October 15, — via National Archives.

Knopf, Random House, Inc. Who's Who in America, OCLC Retrieved April 13, Archived from the original on December 14, Retrieved February 14, The New Republic. Archived from the original on November 12, Retrieved July 16, Retrieved June 6, The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on October 3, Problems and promise in the inner city".

Illinois Issues. After Alinsky: community organizing in Illinois. Springfield, Ill. He has also been a consultant and instructor for the Gamaliel Foundation, an organizing institute working throughout the Midwest. And then life happens: a memoir. New York: St. Martin's Press. Retrieved January 2, Archived from the original on March 4, Retrieved June 15, Kantor, Jodi January 28, Kodama, Marie C January 19, The Harvard Crimson.

Archived from the original on January 6, Mundy, Liza August 12, Archived from the original on August 14, Heilemann, John October 22, New York. Archived from the original on May 17, Archived from the original on April 10, Ybarra, Michael J February 7, Archived from the original paid archive on February 20, Corr, John February 27, Drummond, Tammerlin March 12, Archived from the original on May 22, Pugh, Allison J.

Associated Press April 18, The Miami Herald. Archived from the original on March 22, Retrieved March 3, Kennedy , remained in effect. On March 20, , Obama became the first sitting American president to visit Cuba since , as part of his larger program to establish greater cooperation between the two countries. Just prior to the trip, on March 10, , Obama met at the White House with newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the first official visit by a Canadian leader in nearly 20 years.

In August , the Obama administration announced the Clean Power Plan, a major climate change policy that included the first national standards to limit carbon pollution from coal-burning power plants and called for more renewable energy from sources like wind and solar power. Ultimately, the plan never took effect after facing backlash and lawsuits from business groups, companies, 27 states, and Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell , who was then the Republican minority leader.

In February , the Supreme Court ruled, , to block the plan by putting a hold on regulations to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, mostly from coal power plants. Obama also worked to respond to climate change on the global level. The agreement requires all participating nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to limit the rise of global temperatures and also to allocate resources for the research and development of alternative energy sources.

Obama pledged that the United States would cut its emissions more than 25 percent by On October 5, , the United Nations announced the Paris Climate Agreement had been ratified by a sufficient number of countries—including China and the United States, the two largest emitters of greenhouse gases—to allow it to take effect starting on November 4, Both justices were confirmed under a Democratic-majority Senate.

In March, the president held a press conference at the White House to present year-old U. They stated their intention to block any nominee put forward by Obama, fearing that such a confirmation would tip the balance toward a more liberal-leaning court. Garland was never granted a Senate confirmation hearing, and the seat sat empty until April when Neil Gorsuch , nominated by President Donald Trump, was confirmed.

The presidents granted a total of 1, clemencies, including commuting the sentence of Chelsea Manning , the U. Army intelligence analyst who was sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking classified information to WikiLeaks. Over the course of his administration, Obama led the country away from financial catastrophe as the Great Recession gave away to market stability and a declining unemployment rate.

Obama also struggled to enact the gun control measures he hoped for, such as universal background checks and the resurrection of the federal ban on sales of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Some of the mass shootings during his time include at Sandy Hook Elementary School 20 children and six adult fatalities in Connecticut; an Aurora, Colorado movie theater 12 fatalities ; a historically Black church in Charleston, South Carolina 9 fatalities ; and a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida 49 fatalities.

Ever the optimist, Obama shared these parting words at his last press conference with the White House press corps:. On January 27, , Obama delivered his first State of the Union speech. Obama also challenged politicians to stop thinking of reelection and start making positive changes. He criticized Republicans for their refusal to support legislation and chastised Democrats for not pushing hard enough to get legislation passed.

In his State of the Union address, Obama declared that the nation was out of recession. He went on to share his vision for ways to improve the nation through free community college programs and middle-class tax breaks. With Democrats outnumbered by Republicans in both the House and the Senate, Obama threatened to use his executive power to prevent any tinkering by the opposition on his existing policies.

On January 12, , Obama delivered what would be his final State of the Union address. On January 10, , Obama returned to his adopted home city of Chicago to deliver his farewell address. In his speech, Obama spoke about his early days in the Windy City and his continued faith in the power of Americans who participate in their democracy. He called on politicians and American citizens to come together despite their differences.

But they knew that democracy does require a basic sense of solidarity—the idea that for all our outward differences, we are all in this together; that we rise or fall as one.

Elizabeta vidovic biography of barack obama

Obama also appealed for tolerance along racial and ethnic lines and curbing discrimination:. I am asking you to believe. Not in my ability to bring about change—but in yours. In May , Barack and Michelle finalized a multi-year deal with Netflix to create exclusive content for the streaming service through their production company, Higher Ground.

The fruits of the collaboration first appeared with the August release of American Factory , an Oscar-winning documentary about the launch of a Chinese-owned automotive glass factory in Dayton, Ohio, and the clash of differing cultures and business interests. The Obamas helped produce the documentary Crip Camp , which was nominated for best documentary feature at the Academy Awards.

Higher Ground has expanded into podcasts, including Renegades: Born in the USA —a series of conversations between Barack and musician Bruce Springsteen about life, music, and their love for America. The complex would be home to a Chicago Public Library branch, a museum, as well as office and activity spaces for the foundation. In July , Jackson Park was selected as the host site.

Construction began in August , and a groundbreaking ceremony was held the following month with Barack, Michelle, Illinois Governor J. Pritzker, and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot all in attendance. The project has been the subject of two lawsuits from volunteer nonprofit Protect Our Parks, which claimed the city and state of Illinois violated their public trust obligations to protect pubic land in approving the project.

They were dismissed by a federal judge in and , respectively. The project is expected to be completed by , according to the Obama Foundation. In September , the Barack Obama Presidential Library announced plans to employ a virtual model with records available online, making it the first fully digital presidential library. The work received high praise from literary figures such as Toni Morrison.

It has since been printed in more than 25 languages, including Chinese, Swedish and Hebrew.