Learn how President Obama passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and ended the Iraq War
Learn how President Obama passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and ended the Iraq War
An overview of Barack Obama.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Transcript
[NARRATOR] Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States in 2008, becoming the first African American to hold the office. Obama vowed to bring change to the political system. Although his efforts were often hindered by partisan struggles, he was still able to fulfill some of his biggest campaign promises, including an end to the Iraq War and reform of the nation’s health care system.
Barack Hussein Obama was born in Hawaii in 1961 to a white American mother and a black Kenyan father. His parents divorced when he was young, and his mother later married an Indonesian man. When Barack was 6, the family moved to Jakarta. After four years in Indonesia, he returned to Hawaii to attend American schools. Obama considers the “multiplicity of cultures” he experienced during his childhood to be an important part of his identity.
Obama attended Harvard Law School and then moved to Chicago, where he taught constitutional law and organized voter registration drives. In 1992 he married a fellow lawyer, Michelle Robinson. As first lady, Michelle Obama would be active and influential, especially devoted to ending childhood obesity.
In 1996 Obama won a seat in the Illinois Senate, and in 2004 he was elected to represent Illinois in the U.S. Senate. During his 2004 campaign, his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention gained him national attention as a politician to watch.
During his term in the Senate, Obama decided to run for president. His campaign promised hope and change, seeking an end to political dissention. This message, combined with his charismatic presence and inspiring speeches, earned Obama a great deal of support, especially among young and minority voters. In November 2008 Obama won the presidency with more than two-thirds of the electoral vote.
[BARACK OBAMA] This is our time—to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth—that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes We Can.
[NARRATOR] One of Obama’s first acts as president was to tackle the financial crisis that had recently struck the country. He pushed through Congress a massive stimulus package that pumped hundreds of billions of dollars into the struggling economy, including a sizable bailout for the automobile industry. By late 2009 the economy was showing signs of recovery.
Another key issue of Obama’s administration was health care reform.
[BARACK OBAMA] We must also address the crushing cost of health care…In the last eight years, premiums have grown four times faster than wages. And in each of these years, one million more Americans have lost their health insurance.
[NARRATOR] In 2010 President Obama signed a historic bill designed to make health care insurance less costly and more accessible. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – commonly known as Obamacare – also prohibited insurers from denying coverage to those with preexisting medical conditions. In its first enrollment period, from late 2013 to mid-2014, around 8 million Americans obtained health insurance.
In foreign affairs, Obama worked to improve the international image of the United States. Early in his presidency he traveled to Egypt and gave a speech calling for a new relationship between the United States and the Muslim world. He also vowed to work toward the elimination of nuclear weapons and to improve strained relations with Russia. In 2009 Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for what the Nobel committee called his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”
A milestone of Obama’s foreign policy was the end of the Iraq War. The war had begun in 2003 under President George W. Bush and had grown increasingly unpopular with the American public. The United States ended its combat mission in Iraq in August 2010 and withdrew the last of its troops in December 2011.
[BARACK OBAMA] After nearly nine years, America’s war in Iraq will be over.
[NARRATOR] Meanwhile, Obama shifted the focus of U.S. military efforts to the country’s other longstanding war. In Afghanistan, U.S. troops had been fighting the Taliban and its allies in the terrorist group al-Qaeda since shortly after the September 11 attacks of 2001. The United States achieved one of its key objectives of the war when special forces killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a raid in Pakistan in 2011.
Cooperation at home – especially with Congress – proved to be one of the greatest challenges of Obama’s presidency. In the 2004 speech that propelled him to the national stage, Obama spoke of one America, connected beyond political, cultural, and geographical differences. His years in office, however, saw increasing partisanship. By the time President Obama won reelection in 2012, both the country and Congress were deeply divided along party lines, hampering his legislative efforts.
Barack Hussein Obama was born in Hawaii in 1961 to a white American mother and a black Kenyan father. His parents divorced when he was young, and his mother later married an Indonesian man. When Barack was 6, the family moved to Jakarta. After four years in Indonesia, he returned to Hawaii to attend American schools. Obama considers the “multiplicity of cultures” he experienced during his childhood to be an important part of his identity.
Obama attended Harvard Law School and then moved to Chicago, where he taught constitutional law and organized voter registration drives. In 1992 he married a fellow lawyer, Michelle Robinson. As first lady, Michelle Obama would be active and influential, especially devoted to ending childhood obesity.
In 1996 Obama won a seat in the Illinois Senate, and in 2004 he was elected to represent Illinois in the U.S. Senate. During his 2004 campaign, his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention gained him national attention as a politician to watch.
During his term in the Senate, Obama decided to run for president. His campaign promised hope and change, seeking an end to political dissention. This message, combined with his charismatic presence and inspiring speeches, earned Obama a great deal of support, especially among young and minority voters. In November 2008 Obama won the presidency with more than two-thirds of the electoral vote.
[BARACK OBAMA] This is our time—to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth—that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes We Can.
[NARRATOR] One of Obama’s first acts as president was to tackle the financial crisis that had recently struck the country. He pushed through Congress a massive stimulus package that pumped hundreds of billions of dollars into the struggling economy, including a sizable bailout for the automobile industry. By late 2009 the economy was showing signs of recovery.
Another key issue of Obama’s administration was health care reform.
[BARACK OBAMA] We must also address the crushing cost of health care…In the last eight years, premiums have grown four times faster than wages. And in each of these years, one million more Americans have lost their health insurance.
[NARRATOR] In 2010 President Obama signed a historic bill designed to make health care insurance less costly and more accessible. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – commonly known as Obamacare – also prohibited insurers from denying coverage to those with preexisting medical conditions. In its first enrollment period, from late 2013 to mid-2014, around 8 million Americans obtained health insurance.
In foreign affairs, Obama worked to improve the international image of the United States. Early in his presidency he traveled to Egypt and gave a speech calling for a new relationship between the United States and the Muslim world. He also vowed to work toward the elimination of nuclear weapons and to improve strained relations with Russia. In 2009 Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for what the Nobel committee called his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”
A milestone of Obama’s foreign policy was the end of the Iraq War. The war had begun in 2003 under President George W. Bush and had grown increasingly unpopular with the American public. The United States ended its combat mission in Iraq in August 2010 and withdrew the last of its troops in December 2011.
[BARACK OBAMA] After nearly nine years, America’s war in Iraq will be over.
[NARRATOR] Meanwhile, Obama shifted the focus of U.S. military efforts to the country’s other longstanding war. In Afghanistan, U.S. troops had been fighting the Taliban and its allies in the terrorist group al-Qaeda since shortly after the September 11 attacks of 2001. The United States achieved one of its key objectives of the war when special forces killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a raid in Pakistan in 2011.
Cooperation at home – especially with Congress – proved to be one of the greatest challenges of Obama’s presidency. In the 2004 speech that propelled him to the national stage, Obama spoke of one America, connected beyond political, cultural, and geographical differences. His years in office, however, saw increasing partisanship. By the time President Obama won reelection in 2012, both the country and Congress were deeply divided along party lines, hampering his legislative efforts.