Barack Obama

===Foreign perceptions===
Polls showed strong support for Obama in other countries both before and during his presidency.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/09/2360240.htm |title = World wants Obama as president: poll |agency = Reuters |date = September 9, 2008 |work = [[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Wike|first1=Richard|last2=Poushter|first2=Jacob|last3=Zainulbhai|first3=Hani|title=As Obama Years Draw to Close, President and U.S. Seen Favorably in Europe and Asia|url=http://www.pewglobal.org/2016/06/29/as-obama-years-draw-to-close-president-and-u-s-seen-favorably-in-europe-and-asia/|website=Global Attitudes & Trends|publisher=Pew Research Center|access-date=February 23, 2017|date=June 29, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Wan|first1=William|last2=Clement|first2=Scott|date=November 18, 2016|title=Most of the world doesn't actually see America the way Trump said it did|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/obama-legacy/global-approval-rating.html|access-date=February 8, 2021}}</ref> In a February 2009 poll conducted in Western Europe and the U.S. by [[Harris Insights & Analytics|Harris Interactive]] for [[France 24]] and the ''[[International Herald Tribune]]'', Obama was rated as the most respected world leader, as well as the most powerful.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/06/world/americas/06iht-poll.4.19983290.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090927104642/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/06/world/americas/06iht-poll.4.19983290.html |archive-date=September 27, 2009 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |title = Poll shows Obama atop list of most respected |last = Freed |first = John C. |date = February 6, 2009 |work = The New York Times |access-date = January 22, 2012 }}</ref> In a similar poll conducted by Harris in May 2009, Obama was rated as the most popular world leader, as well as the one figure most people would pin their hopes on for pulling the world out of the economic downturn.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/29/world/europe/29iht-poll.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090601104537/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/29/world/europe/29iht-poll.html |archive-date=June 1, 2009 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |title = Obama Most Popular Leader, Poll Finds |date = May 29, 2009 |work = The New York Times |access-date = January 22, 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title = Obama remains a popular symbol of hope |url=http://www.france24.com/en/20090529-obama-remains-popular-symbol-hope-harris-interactive-poll-world-leaders |date = June 2, 2009 |publisher = [[France 24]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513050036/http://www.france24.com/en/20090529-obama-remains-popular-symbol-hope-harris-interactive-poll-world-leaders |archive-date = May 13, 2011 |access-date = January 22, 2012 }}</ref>

On October 9, 2009—only nine months into his first term—the [[Norwegian Nobel Committee]] announced that Obama had won the [[2009 Nobel Peace Prize]] "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples",<ref name="nobel peace prize2">{{cite web |title=The Nobel Peace Prize 2009 |url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2009/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091010170600/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2009/ |archive-date=October 10, 2009 |access-date=October 9, 2009 |publisher=Nobel Foundation}}</ref> which drew a mixture of praise and criticism from world leaders and media figures.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Philp |first=Catherine |date=October 10, 2009 |title=Barack Obama's peace prize starts a fight |language=en |work=[[The Times]] |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/barack-obamas-peace-prize-starts-a-fight-nltk0qdq65d |access-date=December 15, 2021 |issn=0140-0460}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Otterman |first=Sharon |date=October 9, 2009 |title=World Reaction to a Nobel Surprise |newspaper=The New York Times |url=http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/world-reaction-to-a-nobel-surprise/?hp#bozoanchor |access-date=October 9, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=October 9, 2009 |title=Obama Peace Prize win has Americans asking why? |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-BarackObama/idUKTRE5983AM20091009?virtualBrandChannel=11621&sp=true |access-date=October 9, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=October 9, 2009 |title=Obama: Nobel Peace Prize 'a call to action'—Politics—White House |work=NBC News |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/33237202 |access-date=September 13, 2014}}</ref> He became the fourth U.S. president to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and the third to become a Nobel laureate while in office.<ref>{{cite news |date=October 9, 2009 |title=Obama's win unique among presidents |publisher=CNN |url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/10/09/us.nobel.presidents/}}</ref> He himself called it a "call to action" and remarked: "I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments but rather an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0950532/|title=Obama says Nobel Peace Prize is 'call to action'|publisher=Reuters|date=October 10, 2009|author1=Matt Spetalnick|author2=Wojciech Moskwa
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