Barack obama who is he

Jump to main content. Jump to navigation. Barack Obama is the 44th President of the United States. His story is the American story -- values from the heartland, a middle-class upbringing in a strong family, hard work and education as the means of getting ahead, and the conviction that a life so blessed should be lived in service to others.

His story is the American story — values from the heartland, a middle-class upbringing in a strong family, hard work and education as the means of getting ahead, and the conviction that a life so blessed should be lived in service to others.

Help inform the discussion Support the Miller Center. University of Virginia Miller Center. Barack Obama: Life in Brief. Breadcrumb U. Life Before the Presidency. Domestic Affairs. Foreign Affairs. Family Life. Impact and Legacy. In response, Obama ordered sanctions targeting individuals and businesses considered by the U. The president said the sanctions were taken in close coordination with European allies and gave the U. The following month, the U. Several Arab countries joined the airstrikes against the extremist Islamic militant group.

Obama flexed his presidential power in December by moving to re-establish diplomatic relations with Cuba for the first time in more than 50 years. He and Cuban president Raul Castro announced the normalizing of diplomatic relations for the first time since The policy change came after the exchange of American citizen Alan Gross and another unnamed American intelligence agent for three Cuban spies.

In a speech at the White House, Obama explained that the dramatic shift in Cuban policy would "create more opportunities for the American and Cuban people and begin a new chapter among the nations of the Americas. In renewing diplomatic ties with Cuba, Obama announced plans "to increase travel, commerce and the flow of information to and from Cuba. 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.

Obama made the three-day visit with Michelle and their daughters Malia and Sasha. At the top of the agenda during the milestone meeting between the two leaders were human rights, the U. Following their first conversation at the Palace of the Revolution, Castro and Obama held a joint press conference broadcast on state television during which they fielded questions from the press. While they acknowledged its complexities, both also professed a shared optimism about the road ahead. Travel to Cuba from the United States began to surge, with the U.

In June , President Trump banned ship and commercial airline travel into Cuba. The restrictions effectively banned all tourist travel to Cuba by prohibiting people-to-people educational travel. The Trump administration said the move was in an effort to pressure the Cuban government to stop supporting Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. Experts said it could cripple the economy and might therefore be an attempt to overthrow the regime of President Miguel Diaz-Canel, the hand-picked successor of Fidel Castro who took office in According to several news reports, Obama and Modi had reached a "breakthrough understanding" regarding India's nuclear power efforts.

Obama told the Indian people in a speech given in New Delhi that "we can finally move toward fully implementing our civil nuclear agreement, which will mean more reliable electricity for Indians and cleaner, non-carbon energy that helps fight climate change. Osan was the final destination on his first tour of Asia as President. In spite of opposition from Congressional Republicans and the populist Tea Party movement, Obama signed his health care reform plan, known as the Affordable Care Act, into law in March The new law prohibited the denial of coverage based on pre-existing conditions, allowed citizens under 26 years old to be insured under parental plans, provided for free health screenings for certain citizens and expanded insurance coverage and access to medical care to millions of Americans.

Obama gained a legal victory in June when the U. In October , a dispute over the federal budget and Republican desires to defund or derail the Affordable Care Act caused a day shutdown of the federal government. After a deal had been reached to end the shutdown, Obama used his weekly address to express his frustration over the situation and his desire for political reform: "The way business is done in Washington has to change.

Now that these clouds of crisis and uncertainty have lifted, we need to focus on what the majority of Americans sent us here to do—grow the economy, create good jobs, strengthen the middle class, lay the foundation for broad-based prosperity, and get our fiscal house in order for the long haul.

Extra technical support was brought in to work on the troubled website, which was plagued with glitches for weeks. The health care law was also blamed for some Americans losing their existing insurance policies, despite repeated assurances from Obama that such cancellations would not occur. According to the Chicago Tribune , Obama insisted that the insurance companies—and not his legislation—caused the coverage change.

Under mounting pressure, Obama found himself apologizing regarding some health care changes. In an interview with NBC News, he said of those who lost their insurance plans, "I am sorry that they are finding themselves in this situation based on assurances they got from me.

In , Speaker of the House John Boehner launched an effort to sue Obama for overstepping his executive powers with some of his actions regarding the Affordable Care Act. In the summer of , the U. Supreme Court upheld part of the president's Affordable Care Act regarding health care tax subsidies.

Without these tax credits, buying medical insurance might have become too costly for millions of Americans. Throughout his presidential campaign, candidate Trump repeatedly promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act. In , Congressional Republicans dropped the individual mandate tax penalty, which imposed a tax for not signing up for health insurance, to zero.

Texas and 17 other Republican states quickly sued to strike down the Affordable Care Act, mainly based on their opposition to its individual mandate. A Texas federal judge ruled in favor of the suit, saying that because there was no longer a tax, the law was unconstitutional. The case was sent to an appeals court. Analysts say that the demolition of the law could prove to be detrimental to Republicans in the elections.

Obama worked to steer the country through difficult financial times in the second part of his first term as president. After drawn-out negotiations with Republicans who gained control of the U. House of Representatives in the midterm elections, he signed the Budget Control Act of in an effort to rein in government spending and prevent the government from defaulting on its financial obligations. The act also called for the creation of a bipartisan committee to seek solutions to the country's fiscal issues.

The group failed to reach any agreement on how to solve these problems. In June , Obama had suffered a significant drop in his approval ratings to 45 percent following new revelations about the extent of the U. Obama defended the NSA's email monitoring and telephone wiretapping during a visit to Germany in June Obama saw his approval rating drop to a new low in November Only 37 percent of Americans polled by CBS News approved of the job he was doing as president, while 57 percent disapproved of his handling of the job.

Obama explained that this particular case was a state matter, but he discussed how the federal government could address some of the legislative and racial issues highlighted by the incident. In , Obama signed a repeal of the military policy known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," which prevented openly gay troops from serving in the U.

Armed Forces. In March , he approved U. On June 26, , the U. Supreme Court ruled to overturn an earlier 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that same-sex marriage bans in several states were constitutional. By reversing this earlier decision, the Supreme Court made same-sex marriage legal throughout the country.

Obama, who became the first president to voice support for same-sex marriage in May , praised the court for affirming "that the Constitution guarantees marriage equality. In doing so, they've reaffirmed that all Americans are entitled to the equal protection of the law. That all people should be treated equally, regardless of who they are or who they love.

In his speech, Obama also said that the court's decision "is a consequence of the countless small acts of courage of millions of people across decades who stood up, who came out, who talked to parents—parents who loved their children no matter what. Folks who were willing to endure bullying and taunts, and stayed strong. In August , the Obama administration announced The Clean Power Plan, a major climate change plan aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the first-ever national standards to limit carbon pollution from coal-burning power plants in the United States.

Obama called the plan the "single most important step that America has ever made in the fight against global climate change. Under the regulations, states were allowed to create their own plans to reduce emissions and are required to submit initial plans by and final versions by Critics quickly voiced loud opposition to the plan.

Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican majority leader, sent a letter to every governor in the United States urging them not to comply with the regulations. States and private companies, which rely on coal production for their economic livelihoods, are also expected to legally challenge the plan. Despite the backlash from those sectors, Obama remained steadfast in his bold action to address climate change. He added: "We're the first generation to feel the impact of climate change and the last generation that can do something about it.

Business groups, companies and 27 states continued to fight the legislation in court. The new legislation was much weaker and only proposed to lower power sector emissions by 11 million tons by about 0. Some researchers said that the new plan could increase greenhouse gas emissions, and the EPA estimated it could lead to thousands more deaths from air pollution. The resulting Paris Climate Agreement required all participating nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to limit the rise of global temperatures over the ensuing century and also to allocate resources for the research and development of alternative energy sources.

In September , the United States and China, the two largest emitters of greenhouse gases, announced that their countries would ratify the Paris Agreement. One month later on October 5, , the United Nations announced that the agreement had been ratified by a sufficient number of countries to allow it to take effect starting on November 4, Speaking from the Rose Garden at the White House, Obama said: "Today, the world meets the moment, and if we follow through on the commitments that this Paris Agreement embodies, history may well judge it as a turning point for our planet.

With his decision, the United States joined Syria and Nicaragua as the only three countries to reject the accord. Hayes James A. Garfield Chester A. Roosevelt Harry S.

Truman Dwight D. Eisenhower John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Bush Bill Clinton George W. Help inform the discussion Support the Miller Center. University of Virginia Miller Center. Barack Obama: Life Before the Presidency. Breadcrumb U.