Barack Obama

==Legacy and recognition ==
Historian [[Julian E. Zelizer|Julian Zelizer]] credits Obama with "a keen sense of how the institutions of government work and the ways that his team could design policy proposals." Zelizer notes Obama's policy successes included the economic stimulus package which ended the [[Great Recession in the United States|Great Recession]] and the [[Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act|Dodd-Frank]] financial and consumer protection reforms, as well as the [[Affordable Care Act]]. Zelizer also notes the Democratic Party lost power and numbers of elected officials during Obama's term, saying that the consensus among historians is that Obama "turned out to be a very effective policymaker but not a tremendously successful party builder." Zelizer calls this the "defining paradox of Obama's presidency".<ref name="ZelizerObamaBookChap1">{{cite book  |chapter=Policy Revolution without a Political Transformation |last=Zelizer |first=Julian E. |title=The Presidency of Barack Obama: a First Historical Assessment |editor-last=Zelizer |editor-first=Julian |pages=1–10 |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2018 |isbn=978-0-691-16028-3 |author-link=Julian E. Zelizer}}</ref>

The [[Brookings Institution]] noted that Obama passed "only one major legislative achievement (Obamacare)—and a fragile one at that—the legacy of Obama's presidency mainly rests on its tremendous symbolic importance and the fate of a patchwork of executive actions."<ref>{{cite web |last=Kamarck |first=Elaine |date=April 6, 2018 |title=The fragile legacy of Barack Obama |url=https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2018/04/06/the-fragile-legacy-of-barack-obama/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180406205333/https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2018/04/06/the-fragile-legacy-of-barack-obama/ |archive-date=April 6, 2018 |access-date=October 30, 2021 |website=[[Brookings Institution|Brookings]] |language=en-US}}</ref> David W. Wise noted that Obama fell short "in areas many Progressives hold dear", including the continuation of drone strikes, not going after big banks during the Great Recession, and failing to strengthen his coalition before pushing for Obamacare. Wise called Obama's legacy that of "a disappointingly conventional president".<ref>{{Cite web |last=W. Wise |first=David |date=April 30, 2019 |title=Obama's legacy is as a disappointingly conventional president |url=https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/2019/04/30/obamas-legacy-is-as-a-disappointingly-conventional-president/ |access-date=November 4, 2022}}</ref>

Obama's most significant accomplishment is generally considered to be the Affordable Care Act (ACA), provisions of which went into effect from 2010 to 2020. Many attempts by Senate Republicans to repeal the ACA, including a "skinny repeal", have thus far failed.<ref name="legacy">{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/obama-legacy-recovery-recession-affordable-care-act-44927003 |title=Obama Legacy Will Be Recovery from Recession, Affordable Care Act|date=January 20, 2017|work=ABC News|access-date=March 15, 2017}}</ref> However, in 2017, the penalty for violating the individual mandate was repealed effective 2019.<ref name="auto">{{Cite report |title=The Effect of Eliminating the Individual Mandate Penalty and the Role of Behavioral Factors|year=2018|work=[[Commonwealth Fund]]|doi=10.26099/SWQZ-5G92 |doi-access=free |last1=Eibner|first1=Christine|last2=Nowak|first2=Sarah}}</ref> Together with the [[Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act]] amendment, it represents the U.S. healthcare system's most significant regulatory overhaul and expansion of coverage since the passage of [[Medicare (United States)|Medicare]] and Medicaid in 1965.<ref name="Oberlander2010">{{cite journal|last1=Oberlander|first1=Jonathan|title=Long Time Coming: Why Health Reform Finally Passed|journal=Health Affairs|date=June 1, 2010|volume=29|issue=6|pages=1112–1116|doi=10.1377/hlthaff.2010.0447|pmid=20530339|issn=0278-2715|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Blumenthal2015">{{cite journal |last1=Blumenthal|first1=David|last2=Abrams|first2=Melinda|last3=Nuzum|first3=Rachel|s2cid=28486139|title=The Affordable Care Act at 5 Years |journal=New England Journal of Medicine |date=June 18, 2015 | volume=372 |issue=25 |pages=2451–2458|doi=10.1056/NEJMhpr1503614|pmid=25946142| issn=0028-4793|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="CohenEtAl">{{cite book|last1=Cohen|first1=Alan B.|last2=Colby|first2=David C.|last3=Wailoo|first3=Keith A.|last4=Zelizer|first4=Julian E. | title=Medicare and Medicaid at 50: America's Entitlement Programs in the Age of Affordable Care|date=June 1, 2015|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-023156-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H9DGBwAAQBAJ }}</ref><ref name="NYTsigning">{{cite news|last1=Stolberg|first1=Sheryl Gay|last2=Pear|first2=Robert | title=Obama Signs Health Care Overhaul into Law|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/24/health/policy/24health.html| work=The New York Times|date=March 23, 2010}}</ref>

Many commentators credit Obama with averting a threatened [[Depression (economics)|depression]] and pulling the economy back from the Great Recession.<ref name="legacy" /> According to the [[U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics]], the [[Obama administration]] created 11.3&nbsp;million jobs from the month after his first inauguration to the end of his second term.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Long|first1=Heather|title=Final tally: Obama created 11.3 million jobs|url=https://money.cnn.com/2017/01/06/news/economy/obama-over-11-million-jobs/ |work=CNN|date=January 6, 2017}}</ref> In 2010, Obama signed into effect the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Passed as a response to the [[financial crisis of 2007–2008]], it brought the most significant changes to [[financial regulation]] in the United States since the regulatory reform that followed the [[Great Depression]] under Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/barack-obama-legacy/12/ |title=Barack Obama's Legacy: Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform|work=CBS News|access-date=March 15, 2017}}</ref>

In 2009, Obama signed into law the [[National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010]], which contained in it the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, the first addition to existing federal hate crime law in the United States since Democratic President Bill Clinton signed into law the Church Arson Prevention Act of 1996. The act expanded [[Hate crime laws in the United States|existing federal hate crime laws in the United States]], and made it a federal crime to assault people based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bowman |first=Quinn |date=October 28, 2009 |title=Obama Signs Measure to Widen Hate Crimes Law |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/politics-july-dec09-hatecrime_10-28 |access-date=November 8, 2022 |work=PBS NewsHour |language=en-us}}</ref>

As president, Obama advanced LGBT rights.<ref>{{cite news |last=Crary |first=David |date=January 4, 2017 |url=https://apnews.com/b94c8697ab2148199ca3d1b6137a9c20/lgbt-activists-view-obama-staunch-champion-their-cause |title=LGBT activists view Obama as staunch champion of their cause |work=Associated Press }}</ref> In 2010, he signed the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act, which brought an end to "don't ask, don't tell" policy in the U.S. armed forces that banned open service from [[Lesbian, gay and bisexual|LGB]] people; the law went into effect the following year.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bumiller |first=Elisabeth |date=July 22, 2011 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/23/us/23military.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723235727/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/23/us/23military.html |archive-date=July 23, 2011 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |title=Obama Ends 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Policy |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] }}</ref> In 2016, his administration brought an end to the ban on [[transgender]] people serving openly in the U.S. armed forces.<ref>{{cite news|title=Pentagon Says Transgender Troops Can Now Serve Openly|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/30/484192442/pentagon-says-transgender-troops-can-now-serve-openly|date=June 30, 2016|last=Kennedy|first=Kennedy|work=The Two-Way|publisher=[[NPR]]}}</ref><ref name=TransBan1 /> A [[Gallup poll]], taken in the final days of Obama's term, showed that 68 percent of Americans believed the U.S. had made progress on LGBT rights during Obama's eight years in office.<ref>{{cite news |first1=Michael |last1=Smith |first2=Frank |last2=Newport |url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/201683/americans-assess-progress-obama.aspx |title=Americans Assess Progress Under Obama |publisher=The Gallup Organization |date=January 9, 2017 }}</ref>

Obama substantially escalated the use of [[drone strikes]] against suspected militants and terrorists associated with al-Qaeda and the [[Taliban]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Zenko|first=Micah |date=January 12, 2016 |title= Obama's Embrace of Drone Strikes Will Be a Lasting Legacy|url=https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/01/12/reflecting-on-obamas-presidency/obamas-embrace-of-drone-strikes-will-be-a-lasting-legacy|work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date= March 2, 2019}}</ref> In 2016, the last year of his presidency, the U.S. dropped 26,171 bombs on seven different countries.<ref>{{cite news |last=Grandin|first=Greg |date=January 15, 2017 |title= Why Did the US Drop 26,171 Bombs on the World Last Year?|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/why-did-the-us-dropped-26171-bombs-on-the-world-last-year/tnamp/|work=[[The Nation]] |author-link=Greg Grandin|access-date= January 11, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Agerholm|first=Harriet |date=January 19, 2017 |title=Map shows where President Barack Obama dropped his 20,000 bombs|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-president-barack-obama-bomb-map-drone-wars-strikes-20000-pakistan-middle-east-afghanistan-a7534851.html|work=The Independent |access-date=January 11, 2018}}</ref> Obama left about 8,400 U.S. troops in [[Afghanistan]], 5,262 in Iraq, 503 in Syria, 133 in Pakistan, 106 in Somalia, seven in Yemen, and two in Libya at the end of his presidency.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Parsons|first1=Christi|last2=Hennigan|first2=W. J.|title=President Obama, who hoped to sow peace, instead led the nation in war|url=https://www.latimes.com/projects/la-na-pol-obama-at-war/ |work=Los Angeles Times|date=January 13, 2017}}</ref>

According to [[Pew Research Center]] and [[United States Bureau of Justice Statistics]], from December 31, 2009, to December 31, 2015, inmates sentenced in U.S. federal custody declined by five percent. This is the largest decline in sentenced inmates in U.S. federal custody since Democratic President [[Jimmy Carter]]. By contrast, the federal prison population increased significantly under presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Gramlich|first1=John|title=Federal prison population fell during Obama's term, reversing recent trend|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/01/05/federal-prison-population-fell-during-obamas-term-reversing-recent-trend/ |publisher=Pew Research Center|date=January 5, 2017}}</ref>

[[Human Rights Watch]] (HRW) called Obama's human rights record "mixed", adding that "he has often treated human rights as a secondary interest—nice to support when the cost was not too high, but nothing like a top priority he championed."<ref name=":0" />

Obama left office in January 2017 with a 60 percent approval rating.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2017/01/18/Obama-leaving-office-at-60-approval-rating/4481484744398/ |first=Allen |last=Cone |date=January 18, 2017 |title=Obama leaving office at 60 percent approval rating|work=United Press International|access-date=February 26, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2017/01/18/politics/obama-approval-rating-cnn-orc-poll/index.html|title=Obama approval hits 60 percent as end of term approaches|last=Agiesta |date=January 18, 2017 |first=Jennifer |access-date=February 26, 2017|work=CNN}}</ref> He gained 10 spots from the same survey in 2015 from the Brookings Institution that ranked him the 18th-greatest American president.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2015/02/13/measuring-obama-against-the-great-presidents/|title=Measuring Obama against the great presidents|last1= Rottinghaus|first1=Brandon|last2=Vaughn|first2=Justin S.|date=February 13, 2015|publisher=[[Brookings Institution]]}}</ref> In Gallup's 2018 job approval poll for the past 10 U.S. presidents, he received a 63 percent approval rating.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Jones|first=Jeffrey M.|date=February 15, 2018|title=Obama's First Retrospective Job Approval Rating Is 63%|publisher=[[Gallup (company)|Gallup]]|url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/226994/obama-first-retrospective-job-approval-rating.aspx|access-date=March 26, 2022}}</ref>

===Presidential library===
{{Main|Barack Obama Presidential Center}}

The Barack Obama Presidential Center is Obama's planned [[Presidential library system|presidential library]]. It will be hosted by the University of Chicago and located in [[Jackson Park (Chicago)|Jackson Park]] on the South Side of Chicago.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.obama.org/the-center/ |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190824184224/https://www.obama.org/the-center/ |archive-date=August 24, 2019 |title=The Obama Presidential Center |publisher=Barack Obama Foundation |access-date=October 10, 2023 }}</ref>

=== Awards and honors ===
{{Main|List of awards and honors received by Barack Obama}}

Obama received the [[Norwegian Nobel Committee]]'s [[2009 Nobel Peace Prize|Nobel Peace Prize]] in 2009, [[USC Shoah Foundation|The Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education's Ambassador of Humanity Award]] in 2014, the [[John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award]] in 2017, and the [[Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights|Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights Ripple of Hope Award]] in 2018. He was named [[Time (magazine)|''TIME'' Magazine]]'s [[Time Person of the Year|''Time'' Person of the Year]] in 2008 and 2012. He also received two [[Grammy Award for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording|Grammy Awards for Best Spoken Word Album]] for ''[[Dreams from My Father]]'' (2006), and ''[[The Audacity of Hope]]'' (2008) as well as two [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Narrator|Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Narrator]] for ''[[Our Great National Parks]]'' (2022), and ''[[Working: What We Do All Day]]'' (2023). He also won two [[Children's and Family Emmy Awards]].