Barack Hussein Obama
44th President of the United States
In Office: January 20th, 2009-2017
Vice President:	Joe Biden
Preceded by:	George W. Bush
Succeeded by:	Hillary Clinton
US Representative to the Coalition Powers
In office: March 19, 2029 - January 20th, 2037
President:	Charles Patrick Edwards
Preceded by:	Office Created
Succeeded by:	Caroline Kennedy
Junior Senator from Illinois
In office: January 3, 2005 - November 16, 2008
Preceded by:	Peter Fitzgerald
Succeeded by:	Roland Burris
Biography
Born:	August 4th, 1961 Honolulu, Hawaii
Nationality:	American
Political party:	Democratic
Spouse:	Michelle Obama
Children:	Sasha and Melia
Alma mater:	Harvard Law
Occupation:	Lawyer, Politician
Religion:	Protestant

Barack Hussein Obama was the 44th President of the United States, serving from 2009 to 2017 upon the expiration of his term by the 22nd Amendment. He is widely remembered with ending the United States's War in Iraq, the ending of the War in Afghanistan, the Pakistan War, ending the Great Recession, and building a larger coalition of support for the US within the world (particularly in the Muslim world). He is criticized for failing to end the war on drugs until after US National Guard forces had been deployed on the US Mexico border for three years, and for his inaction on Marijuana law, and Gay Rights.

Table of Contents 1 Foreign Policy 1.1 Russia 1.2 China 1.3 North Korea 1.4 Mexico 1.5 Somali Pirates 1.6 Cuba 1.7 Haiti 1.8 Pakistan 2 Domestic Policy 2.1 2009 Economic Stimulus 2.2 FY 2010 Budget 2.3 The War on Drugs 2.4 Censorship 2.5 The Torture Memos 2.6 Healthcare 3 Cabinet 4 Supreme Court Nominees 5 Public Perception

Foreign PolicyEdit

President Obama focused most of his first term on building a coalition of support among the world's leading economic superpowers to pull the global economy out of spiral. His first meeting with the G-20 is largely signaled as a symbolic victory in repairing US-Foreign relations, but never truly achieved anything substantive in solving the Great Recession.

RussiaEdit

The London Summit did open the door for future dealings with China, South Korea, and Russia, however; and allowed President Obama and Russian President Meshidev to craft the New START nuclear arms treaty in the summer of 2009. This action was the first in a greater partnership between the US and Russia; New START was followed by the Treaty of Moscow.

ChinaEdit

President Obama's dealings with China were never more than luke warm, as President Hu Jintao largely perceived the resurgence of a dynamic American leader as a threat to the growing Chinese economic superpower. Towards the end of his first term, China began making threats at recalling US debt and seizing control of American owned factories in China. President Obama negotiated a deal that would allow the US to keep its current debt to China, but would have to remove American military bases in Taiwan. The US ownly removed half of the original proposed amount by China.

North KoreaEdit

While many conservatives have criticized the Obama administration's non-militant response to North Korea's failed satilite launch in 2009, the President did manage to negotiate an end to the Korean nuclear build up in 2013, with much greater economic sanctions and pressure from the PRC on the communist state.

MexicoEdit

The 2nd Mexican-American war or the Drug War was considered the greatest failure of the Obama Administration. In October 2009 when Mexican Drug Cartels crossed the border into Arizona and California, over 200 Americans died in the rampage of the Drug Gangs. President Obama quickly responded with the deployment of the National Gaurd into the areas, and the invasion of Mexico in 2010, but never addressed the real cause of the Cartel war until the voice of ending the drug war had become a roar. Many attribute this hesitance to de-criminalize recreational drugs to the President's college days, and a subconscious fear of reprisal from the American public for a former cocaine user being soft on drugs. The Second Mexican-American War eventually came to an end following the US occupation of Northern Mexico, and capture of most of the Cartels.

Somali PiratesEdit

President Obama's first tangible victory in military affairs was his handling of the Somali Pirate kidnapping of one American merchant ship captain. Quietly giving two orders for navy snipers to shoot if necessary, the captain was rescued and returned home within a day of the start of the crisis. The event re-ignited Obama's nickname "No-Drama-Obama."

CubaEdit

In 2009 President Obama began relaxing US-Cuban relations, and passed legislation that made it easier for Cuban Americans to visit family in the communist island nation. Trade tensions were also relaxed, making it easier for American tech-com companies to sell their products in Cuba.

HaitiEdit

President Obama oversaw the largest surge of disaster relief towards Haiti from any nation following the devistating 2010 earthquake. The aid the US sent ultimately culminated in a psuedo protectorate status of Haiti, historiens consider this President obamas greatest acomplishment next to health care

PakistanEdit

On May 1st, 2011, President Obama ordered a mission to kill Osama Bin Laden at a compound in Pakistan. The Navy SEALS were successful in doing so, and this is widely regarded as Obama's signature achievement. Conspiracy theorists complained about the photos of his body not being released and a possible cover-up, but in May 2021, 10 years after Bin Laden was killed, the photos were released, and conspiracy theorists were once again proven wrong.

Domestic PolicyEdit

2009 Economic StimulusEdit

American Economic Recover and Reinvestment Plan, better known as the "Stimulus" was a massive surge in tax cuts for the middle class, and economic stimulus. The plan was met with luke warm reception by economists who argued the plan didn't go far enough to grow the economy and should include more stimulus spending. The plan did show a mark success in recovering the American financial sector, but did little to create more jobs than it saved. The plan really did not begin to show fruitful results until 18 months after it had been implemented, leading to a period of fairly low domestic approval ratings for the president on the economy.

FY 2010 BudgetEdit

The largest growth in government in US history, the FY 2010 Budget created a 3.5 trillion dollar government debt, and was largely focused on reforming healthcare, and funding greater economic stimulus programs.

The War on DrugsEdit

President Obama is largely criticized for his condescending responses towards calls for ending the drug war. Already 75% of Americans believed the war on drugs was not working, and as the Mexican war escalated, the president showed little sign of wanting to end the policy war. Obama received hash criticism on the Blogosphere for his veto of the first piece of legislation that would have decriminalized marijuana for recreational purposes, and did not sign the second bill until after the Cartel War escalated into what some were calling a quagmire.

CensorshipEdit

President Obama did very little to end FCC censorship of radio and television, but was the most active president in promoting net-neutrality, and signed the 2010 On-Line Communication Act into law on January 29th, 2010.

The Torture MemosEdit

Many were angered by President Obama's desire to "move forward," when dealing with the calls to prosecute the Bush administration, even as the White House released scores of documents, now known as the Torture Memos, only intensifying the country's outrage towards the former president and the former Justice Department lawyers. In April 2009, President Obama began to shift his position, and while maintaining that the CIA should not be prosecuted for carrying out orders from the President, he asked Attorney General Holder to begin examining any federal crimes the Bush administration may have committed. The final tally rested at 375, but the former Lawyers John Yoo and Judge Jay Bybee were never prosecuted, only disbarred. In 2010 following the resounding victory for democrats and the first libertarians and populists the President finally called for a special prosecutor, stating, "While I did not want my presidency to be about retribution or a partisan investigation, the evidence of injustice is overwhelming. No one is above the law, and while I still fear partisan politics in this investigation, I am willing to take the risk to uphold our constitutional obligations." The investigation eventually led to the enditment of several Bush administration officials, but most high level cabinet members were aquitted on the grounds that only a few were guilty of malicious intent.

HealthcareEdit

One of President Obama's first acts upon entering office was insuring some 6 million children under federal healthcare programs. Shortly thereafter the FY 2010 budget placed additional funding towards healthcare reform. When the Senator Al Franken was finally seated, giving the Democrats a supermajority, President Obama began to craft his Universal Healthcare Act through congress. The bill (ultimately an algamation of the late Senator Ted Kennedy, Chris Dodd, Max Bacus, and the President's plans) narrowly passed without a public health insurance option in March of 2010 after many delays in the House and Senate. The process of crafing the bill revealed the deep political divide in America as no other policy had in recent years; the most notable examples being the so called, "Town Hall Protests," "Tea Partiers," and "Deathers," where liberal and conservatives often entered into open conflict over the plan. After much negotiation in Washington with Republicans and Conservative Democrats, President Obama began a much more agressive campaign for healthcare reform, turining around some of the lowest polls of his presidency, and gaining support from moderates and liberals alike. The plan, however, was somewhat watered down by Senate Republicans and conservative Democrats and promised to reduce the federal deficit by over a trillion dollars by 2030. By imposing a penalty on those that do not have health insurance. The penalty will be enforced in the tax code. This is why when challenged in the US Supreme court it was found constitutional. Because the US governement is allowed to tax but not to force the cititzens to purchase anything. Once signed the bill let Obama claim victory over his greatest campaign promise from 2008.

CabinetEdit

The Obama Cabinet
Office	Name	Term
President	Barack Hussein Obama	2009–2017
Vice President	Joe Biden	2009–2015
	Brian Schweitzer	2015–2017
Secretary of State	Hillary Clinton	2009–2013
	John Kerry	2013–2017
Secretary of Treasury	Timothy Geithner	2012–2017
	Jack Lew	2012–2017
Secretary of Defense	Robert Gates	2009–2011
	Leon Panetta	2011–2013
	Chuck Hagel	2013–2017
Attorney General	Eric Holder	2009–2014
	Deval Patrick	2014–2017
Secretary of the Interior	Ken Salazar	2009–2017
	Sally Jewel	2013–2017
Secretary of Agriculture	Tom Vilsack	2009–2017
Secretary of Commerce	Gary Locke	2009–2011
	John Bryson	2011–2012
	Penny Pritzker	2013–2015
	Fred Hochberg	2015–2017
Secretary of Labor	Hilda Solis	2009–2013
	Thomas Perez	2013–2017
Secretary of Health and Human Services	Katheleen Sebelius	2009–2017
Secretary of Education	Arne Duncan	2009–2017
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development	Shaun Donovan	2009–2017
Secretary of Transportation	Ray LaHood	2009–2013
	Anthony Foxx	2013–2017
Secretary of Energy	Steven Chu	2009–2013
	Ernest Moniz	2013–2017
Secretary of Veterans Affairs	Eric Shinseki	2009–2014
	Stephen Warren	2014–2017
Secretary of Homeland Security	Janet Napolitano	2009–2017
Chief of Staff	Rahm Emanuel	2009–2010
	William Daley	2011–2012
	Jack Lew	2012–2013
	Denis McDonough	2013–2015

The Obama administration made a controversial move before even taking office by asking then Secretary of Defense under George W. Bush to stay on for at least a year. This is the first time that a high level cabinet official from a previous administration (of an opposing party) has stayed on to serve with a new administration. The Obama administration was also plagued with several withdrawals from ranking nominees due to tax issues in the early days of presidency, however most high level positions were filled at the end of the first 100 days. In 2013 Leon Panetta stepped down from the Defense Department and was replaced by Chuck Hagel. Hagel's confirmation was long and drawn out, and he was almost barely confirmed 54-46. Hillary Clinton's nomination to the State department turned many heads.

Supreme Court NomineesEdit

• Sonia Sotomayor– 2009, replacing David Souter making Obama the first President to appoint a hispanic to the Supreme Court
• Solicitor General Elena Kagan– 2010 replacing John Paul Stephens.
• Leah Ward Sears-- 2013 replacing Ruth Bader Ginsberg
• D.C. Circuit Judge Merrick B. Garland- 2014 replacing Antonin Scalia

President Obama managed to move the Supreme Court to the left with the resignation of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia. Obama also became the first president to appoint almost all women to vaccant seats. Since the structure of the court changed Obama and other liberal presidents have been able to change domestic laws of the land.

Public PerceptionEdit

President Obama is widely considered to be one of America's better presidents, and today is a symbol of cooperation and tolerance in the world. In late 2009 President Obama became the fourth US President to win the Nobel Peace Prize, an honor that actually resulted in general bemusement at the time, but today is looked back on as fondly as much of his presidency. Often called a consumate centrist, and compromiser, President Obama is still heavily criticized by the more radical members of the political right and left for how much he compromised to achieve moderately liberal policies. Many historians have attribute President Obama to the shift to a Center America, and is credited to the resurgence of the US economy and American political power on the world stage. He is seen in the Zeitgeist as the most personable president, and is credited for rebuilding the link from the people to the white house. Obama is ultimately best known in the zeitgeist as "The Great Uniter."