President monson biography video of barack obama

In King v. Burwell , a 6—3 majority allowed the use of tax credits in state-operated exchanges. The October launch of HealthCare. Risky practices among the major financial institutions on Wall Street were widely seen as contributing to the subprime mortgage crisis , the financial crisis of —08 , and the subsequent Great Recession , so Obama made Wall Street reform a priority in his first term.

During his presidency, Obama described global warming as the greatest long-term threat facing the world. Obama's campaign to fight global warming found more success at the international level than in Congress. The deal provided for the monitoring of carbon emissions among developing countries , but it did not include Obama's proposal to commit to cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by From the beginning of his presidency, Obama took several actions to raise vehicle fuel efficiency in the United States.

According to a report by The American Lung Association, there was a "major improvement" in air quality under Obama. Upon entering office, Obama focused on handling the global financial crisis and the subsequent Great Recession that had begun before his election, [ ] [ ] which was generally regarded as the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

There was a sustained increase of the US unemployment rate during the early months of the administration, [ ] as multi-year economic stimulus efforts continued. GDP growth returned in the third quarter of , expanding at a 1. Obama's presidency saw an extended battle over taxes that ultimately led to the permanent extension of most of the Bush tax cuts , which had been enacted between and Those tax cuts were set to expire during Obama's presidency since they were originally passed using a Congressional maneuver known as reconciliation , and had to fulfill the long-term deficit requirements of the "Byrd rule".

During the lame duck session of the th Congress , Obama and Republicans wrangled over the ultimate fate of the cuts. Shortly after Obama's re-election, Congressional Republicans and Obama again faced off over the final fate of the Bush tax cuts. US government debt grew substantially during the Great Recession , as government revenues fell. Obama largely rejected the austerity policies followed by many European countries.

After taking control of the House in the elections , Congressional Republicans demanded spending cuts in return for raising the United States debt ceiling , the statutory limit on the total amount of debt that the Treasury Department can issue. The debt-ceiling crisis developed as Obama and Congressional Democrats demanded a "clean" debt-ceiling increase that did not include spending cuts.

Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner attempted to negotiate a "grand bargain" to cut the deficit, reform entitlement programs , and re-write the tax code, but the negotiations eventually collapsed due to ideological differences between the Democratic and Republican leaders. In October , the government shut down for two weeks as Republicans and Democrats were unable to agree on a budget.

House Republicans passed a budget that would defund Obamacare , but Senate Democrats refused to pass any budget that defunded Obamacare. Ultimately the two sides agreed to a continuing resolution that re-opened the government and suspended the debt ceiling. Hate Crimes Prevention Act , which expanded hate crime laws to cover crimes committed because of the victim's sexual orientation.

In May , Obama became the first sitting president to support same-sex marriage , shortly after Vice President Joe Biden had also expressed support for the institution. The Obama Administration filed an amicus brief in support of gay marriage and Obama personally congratulated the plaintiff. The Great Recession of —09 caused a sharp decline in tax revenues in all cities and states.

The response was to cut education budgets. However, in terms of sponsoring innovation, Obama and his Education Secretary Arne Duncan pursued K education reform through the Race to the Top grant program. In the competition points were awarded for allowing charter schools to multiply, for compensating teachers on a merit basis including student test scores, and for adopting higher educational standards.

There were incentives for states to establish college and career-ready standards, which in practice meant adopting the Common Core State Standards Initiative that had been developed on a bipartisan basis by the National Governors Association , and the Council of Chief State School Officers. The criteria were not mandatory, they were incentives to improve opportunities to get a grant.

Most states revised their laws accordingly, even though they realized it was unlikely they would when a highly competitive new grant. Race to the Top had strong bipartisan support, with centrist elements from both parties. It was opposed by the left wing of the Democratic Party, and by the right wing of the Republican Party, and criticized for centralizing too much power in Washington.

Complaints also came from middle-class families, who were annoyed at the increasing emphasis on teaching to the test, rather than encouraging teachers to show creativity and stimulating students' imagination. Obama also advocated for universal pre-kindergarten programs, [ ] and two free years of community college for everyone. From the beginning of his presidency, Obama supported comprehensive immigration reform, including a pathway to citizenship for many immigrants illegally residing in the United States.

In the lame-duck session, Obama supported passage of the DREAM Act , which passed the House but failed to overcome a Senate filibuster in a 55—41 vote in favor of the bill. A record high of , deportations occurred in , though the number of deportations fell during Obama's second term. The nation's immigrant population hit a record Energy production boomed during the Obama administration.

During Obama's tenure, the battle over the Keystone XL Pipeline became a major issue, with advocates arguing that it would contribute to economic growth and environmentalists arguing that its approval would contribute to global warming. The Obama administration took a few steps to reform the criminal justice system at a time when many in both parties felt that the US had gone too far in incarcerating drug offenders, [ ] and Obama was the first president since the s to preside over a reduction in the federal prison population.

During Obama's presidency, there was a sharp rise in opioid mortality. Many of the deaths — then and now — result from fentanyl consumption where an overdose is more likely than with heroin consumption. And many people died because they were not aware of this difference or thought that they would administer themselves heroin or a drug mixture but actually used pure fentanyl.

Upon taking office in , Obama expressed support for reinstating the Federal Assault Weapons Ban ; but did not make a strong push to pass it-or any new gun control legislation early on in his presidency. Following the December Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting , Obama outlined a series of sweeping gun control proposals, urging Congress to reintroduce an expired ban on "military-style" assault weapons , impose limits on ammunition magazines to 10 rounds, require universal background checks for all domestic gun sales, ban the possession and sale of armor-piercing bullets and introduce harsher penalties for gun-traffickers.

Cybersecurity emerged as an important issue during Obama's presidency. In , the Obama administration established United States Cyber Command , an armed forces sub-unified command charged with defending the military against cyber attacks. Brennan , were also hacked, leading to new fears about the confidentiality of emails. In his speeches as president, Obama did not make more overt references to race relations than his predecessors, [ ] [ ] but according to one study, he implemented stronger policy action on behalf of African-Americans than any president since the Nixon era.

Following Obama's election, many pondered the existence of a "postracial America". To reduce tensions, Obama invited Gates and the police officer to the White House in what became known as the "Beer Summit". In February , Obama announced that he was cutting the program from the United States federal budget , describing it as "over budget, behind schedule, and lacking in innovation.

In , Obama called on the United States to land a human on Mars by the s. Obama promoted various technologies and the technological prowess of the United States. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate at the University of Massachusetts Boston to speak about the administration's cancer initiative. The study estimated that each press release had the same effect on compliance as inspections.

The Obama administration inherited a war in Afghanistan , a war in Iraq , and a global " War on Terror ", all launched by Congress during the term of President Bush in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. Upon taking office, Obama called for a " new beginning " in relations between the Muslim world and the United States, [ ] [ ] and he discontinued the use of the term "War on Terror" in favor of the term "Overseas Contingency Operation".

During the presidential election , Obama strongly criticized the Iraq War , [ ] and Obama withdrew the vast majority of US soldiers in Iraq by late On taking office, Obama announced that US combat forces would leave Iraq by August , with 35,—50, American soldiers remaining in Iraq as advisers and trainers, [ ] down from the roughly , American soldiers in Iraq in early Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahari are recording messages to their followers and plotting more terror.

The Taliban controls parts of Afghanistan. Al Qaeda has an expanding base in Pakistan that is probably no farther from their old Afghan sanctuary than a train ride from Washington to Philadelphia. And yet today, we have five times more troops in Iraq than Afghanistan. Obama increased the number of American soldiers in Afghanistan during his first term before withdrawing most military personnel in his second term.

On taking office, Obama announced that the US military presence in Afghanistan would be bolstered by 17, new troops by Summer , [ ] on top of the roughly 30, soldiers already in Afghanistan at the start of Though other areas of the world remained important to American foreign policy, Obama pursued a "pivot" to East Asia , focusing the US's diplomacy and trade in the region.

On taking office, Obama called for a " reset " in relations with Russia , which had declined following the Russo-Georgian War. US—Russia relations declined after Vladimir Putin returned to the presidency in The relationship between Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who held office for all but two months of Obama's presidency was notably icy, with many commenting on their mutual distaste for each other.

Mitchell as a special envoy to the Middle East to work towards a settlement of the Israeli—Palestinian conflict , but Mitchell made little progress before stepping down in During Obama's last months in office, his administration chose not to veto United Nations Security Council Resolution , which urged the end of Israeli settlement in the territories that Israel captured in the Six-Day War of The Obama administration argued that the abstention was consistent with long-standing American opposition to the expansion of settlements, while critics of the abstention argued that it abandoned a close US ally.

Like his predecessor, Obama pursued free trade agreements , in part due to the lack of progress at the Doha negotiations in lowering trade barriers worldwide. Congressional Republicans overwhelmingly supported the agreements, while Congressional Democrats cast a mix of votes. After years of negotiations, the 12 countries reached a final agreement on the content of the TPP in October , [ ] and the full text of the treaty was made public in November In June , it was reported that the US Embassy aided Levi's, Hanes contractors in their fight against an increase in Haiti 's minimum wage.

In , the Bush administration established the Guantanamo Bay detention camp to hold alleged " enemy combatants " in a manner that did not treat the detainees as conventional prisoners of war. The Obama administration launched a successful operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden , the leader of al-Qaeda , a global Sunni Islamist militant organization responsible for the September 11 attacks and several other terrorist attacks.

Meeting with his national security advisers over the course of the next six weeks, Obama rejected a plan to bomb the compound, and authorized a "surgical raid" to be conducted by United States Navy SEALs. The operation took place on May 1, , resulting in the death of bin Laden and the seizure of papers and computer drives and disks from the compound.

Bush and Bill Clinton , [ ] and from many countries around the world. Obama expanded the drone strike program begun by the Bush administration, and the Obama administration conducted drone strikes against targets in Yemen , Somalia , and, most prominently, Pakistan. Starting in , in response to Obama's attempts to avoid civilian casualties, the Hellfire R9X "flying Ginsu" missile was developed.

It is usually fired from drones. It does not have an explosive warhead that causes a large area of destruction but kills by using six rotating blades that cut the target into shreds. As of , US drone strikes had killed eight American citizens, one of whom, Anwar al-Aulaqi , was targeted. Starting in the spring of secret meetings were conducted between the United States and Cuba , with the meetings taking place in the neutral locations of Canada and Vatican City.

Iran and the United States have had a poor relationship since the Iranian Revolution and the Iran hostage crisis , and tensions continued during the Obama administration due to issues such as the Iranian nuclear program and Iran's alleged sponsorship of terrorism. Bush , [ ] as well as the stated positions of most of Obama's rivals in the presidential campaign.

After a sudden revolution in Tunisia in , [ ] protests occurred in almost every Arab state. The wave of demonstrations became known as the Arab Spring , and the handling of the Arab Spring played a major role in Obama's foreign policy. Libya was strongly affected by the Arab Spring. Anti-government protests broke out in Benghazi , Libya, in February , [ ] and the Gaddafi government responded with military force.

Obama authorized US forces to participate in international air attacks on Libyan air defenses using Tomahawk cruise missiles to establish the protective zone. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. Syria was one of the states most heavily affected by the Arab Spring, and by the second half of March , major anti-government protests were being held in Syria.

The Obama administration inherited several government surveillance programs from the Bush administration, and Obama attempted to strike a balance between protecting civil liberties and tracking terrorist threats, but Obama's continuation of many programs disappointed many civil libertarians. Early in his presidential campaign , Obama stated that lobbyists "won't find a job in my White House", but softened his stance after taking office.

Obama promised that he would run the "most transparent" administration in US history, with mixed results. The Obama administration was much more aggressive than the Bush and other previous administrations in their response to whistleblowing and leaks to the press, [ ] prompting critics to describe the Obama administration's crackdown as a "war on whistleblowers".

Others prosecuted for leaking information include Shamai Leibowitz , a contract linguist for the Federal Bureau of Investigation , [ ] John Kiriakou , a former CIA analyst, [ ] and Chelsea Manning , an intelligence analyst for the US Army whose trial received wide coverage. Attacking Obama relentlessly, emphasizing the stalled economy, and enjoying the anger of the Tea Party Movement , Republicans scored a landslide in the midterm elections , winning control of the House and gaining seats in the Senate.

Boehner pledged to repeal Obamacare and cut federal spending. Obama called the elections "humbling" and a "shellacking", arguing that the defeat came because not enough Americans had felt the effects of the economic recovery. On April 4, , Obama announced that he would seek re-election in He did not face any significant rivals for the Democratic nomination.

His Republican opponent was Mitt Romney , a former governor of Massachusetts. Romney called for lower taxes, spending cuts, an increase in defense spending, and a repeal of Obamacare even though it was based on a Massachusetts healthcare plan developed under Romney. Obama's second mid-term election turned into another wave election , as Republicans won control of the Senate and picked up several governorships.

Republican control of the Senate gave the party the power to block Obama's executive and judicial nominees. The elections took place on November 8. Obama was term-limited in due to the 22nd Amendment , though Obama's approval ratings may have impacted his party's ability to win the race. During the eight years of Obama's presidency, the Democratic Party experienced a net loss of 1, governorships and state and federal legislative seats.

Trump and Obama frequently communicated during the transition period , and Trump stated that he sought Obama's advice regarding presidential appointments. Obama's election also provoked a reaction to his race, birthplace, and religion. As president, Obama faced numerous taunts and racial innuendos, though most overt racist comments were limited to a small fringe.

As Obama left office, historians expressed various opinions about his effectiveness as president, with many noting that subsequent events would determine his ultimate legacy. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read View source View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item.

For a chronological guide, see Timeline of the Barack Obama presidency. Seal of the President. This article is part of a series about. In the Democratic primary, he defeated multimillionaire businessman Blair Hull and Illinois Comptroller Daniel Hynes with 52 percent of the vote. That summer, he was invited to deliver the keynote speech in support of John Kerry at the Democratic National Convention in Boston.

Obama emphasized the importance of unity and made veiled jabs at the George W. Bush administration and the diversionary use of wedge issues. After the convention, Obama returned to his U. Senate bid in Illinois. His opponent in the general election was supposed to be Republican primary winner Jack Ryan, a wealthy former investment banker. However, Ryan withdrew from the race in June following public disclosure of unsubstantiated sexual deviancy allegations by his ex-wife, actor Jeri Ryan.

That August, diplomat and former presidential candidate Alan Keyes accepted the Republican nomination to replace Ryan. With his win, Obama became only the third African American elected to the U. Senate since Reconstruction. Sworn into office on January 3, , Obama partnered with Republican Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana on a bill that expanded efforts to destroy weapons of mass destruction in Eastern Europe and Russia.

Then, with Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, he created a website to track all federal spending. In February , Obama made headlines when he announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination. He was locked in a tight battle with then-U. He campaigned on an ambitious agenda of financial reform, alternative energy, and reinventing education and health care—all while bringing down the national debt.

Because these issues were intertwined with the economic well-being of the nation, he believed all would have to be undertaken simultaneously. When he took office at age 47, Obama inherited a global economic recession, two ongoing foreign wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the lowest-ever international favorability rating for the United States.

They are serious, and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America: They will be met. Obama coaxed Congress to expand health care insurance for children and provide legal protection for women seeking equal pay. Housing and credit markets were put on life support, with a market-based plan to buy U.

The government made loans to the auto industry, and new regulations were proposed for Wall Street. Obama cut taxes for working families, small businesses, and first-time home buyers. He reached out to improve relations with Europe, China, and Russia and to open dialogue with Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba. He lobbied allies to support a global economic stimulus package.

He committed an additional 21, troops to Afghanistan and set an August date for withdrawal of nearly all U. Obama was an early opponent of President George W. In more dramatic incidents, Obama ordered an attack on pirates off the coast of Somalia and prepared the nation for a swine flu outbreak. He signed an executive order banning excessive interrogation techniques and ordered the closing of the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba within a year—a deadline that ultimately would not be met.

Obama signed his signature health care reform plan, the Affordable Care Act, into law in March The new law prohibited the denial of coverage based on preexisting 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.

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. The rollout of the reforms were initially bumpy. October saw the failed launch of HealthCare. 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. The legislation has faced numerous challenges in court and wound up at the U. Supreme Court three times. In the summer of , the Supreme Court upheld part of the Act regarding health care tax subsidies.

Without these tax credits, buying medical insurance might have become too costly for millions of people. The latest Supreme Court decision about the Affordable Care Act began in when Congressional Republicans dropped the individual mandate tax penalty 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. A final ruling came in June when the U. Supreme Court voted , , to uphold the Affordable Care Act on the grounds that the objecting states were not required to pay anything under the mandate provision and thus had no standing to bring the challenge to court.

As of January , nearly On May 2, an elite team of U. There were no American casualties, and the team was able to collect invaluable intelligence about the workings of al-Qaeda. Armed Forces. He became the first president to voice support for same-sex marriage in May As he did in , during his campaign for a second presidential term, Obama focused on grassroots initiatives.

Representative Paul Ryan. On November 6, , Obama won a second term as president, capturing more than 60 percent of the Electoral College. Obama officially began his second term on January 21, , when U. Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath of office. In his second inaugural address, Obama called the nation to action on such issues as climate change, health care, the federal deficit, and marriage equality.

President monson biography video of barack obama

Obama stated that the program had helped stop roughly 50 threats. However, the president suffered a significant drop in his approval ratings, to 45 percent, partially due to the revelations. In August , Obama ordered the first airstrikes against the Islamic State on targets in Syria, though the president pledged to keep combat troops out of the conflict.

Several Arab countries joined the airstrikes against the extremist group. However, U. As of December , more than 1, people have died, according to military officials. Outside watchdog organizations, like Airwars, estimate the number of casualties could be as many as several thousand. In September , Obama made diplomatic strides with Iran.

He spoke with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on the phone, which marked the first direct contact between the leaders of the two countries in more than 30 years. This groundbreaking move by Obama was seen by many as a sign of thawing in the relationship between the United States and Iran. In July , Obama announced that, after lengthy negotiations, the United States and five world powers had reached an agreement with Iran.

The deal allowed inspectors entry into Iran to make sure the country kept its pledge to limit its nuclear program and enrich uranium at a much lower level than would be needed for a nuclear weapon. In return, the United States and its partners removed the tough sanctions imposed on Iran and allowed the country to ramp up sales of oil and access frozen bank accounts.

That year, Obama also traveled to India and reached a civilian nuclear agreement with Prime Minister Narendra Modi that opened the door to U. Elsewhere, Obama moved to reestablish diplomatic ties with Cuba in December He and Cuban President Raul Castro announced the normalizing of diplomatic relations between the countries 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.

However, the long-standing U. Kennedy , remained in effect. 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. Just prior to the trip, on March 10, , Obama met at the White House with newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the first official visit by a Canadian leader in nearly 20 years.

In August , the Obama administration announced the Clean Power Plan, a major climate change policy that included the first national standards to limit carbon pollution from coal-burning power plants and called for more renewable energy from sources like wind and solar power. Ultimately, the plan never took effect after facing backlash and lawsuits from business groups, companies, 27 states, and Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell , who was then the Republican minority leader.

In February , the Supreme Court ruled, , to block the plan by putting a hold on regulations to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, mostly from coal power plants. Obama also worked to respond to climate change on the global level. The agreement requires all participating nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to limit the rise of global temperatures and also to allocate resources for the research and development of alternative energy sources.

Obama pledged that the United States would cut its emissions more than 25 percent by On October 5, , the United Nations announced the Paris Climate Agreement had been ratified by a sufficient number of countries—including China and the United States, the two largest emitters of greenhouse gases—to allow it to take effect starting on November 4, Both justices were confirmed under a Democratic-majority Senate.

In March, the president held a press conference at the White House to present year-old U. They stated their intention to block any nominee put forward by Obama, fearing that such a confirmation would tip the balance toward a more liberal-leaning court. Garland was never granted a Senate confirmation hearing, and the seat sat empty until April when Neil Gorsuch , nominated by President Donald Trump, was confirmed.

The presidents granted a total of 1, clemencies, including commuting the sentence of Chelsea Manning , the U. Army intelligence analyst who was sentenced to 35 years in prison for leaking classified information to WikiLeaks. Over the course of his administration, Obama led the country away from financial catastrophe as the Great Recession gave away to market stability and a declining unemployment rate.

Obama also struggled to enact the gun control measures he hoped for, such as universal background checks and the resurrection of the federal ban on sales of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Some of the mass shootings during his time include at Sandy Hook Elementary School 20 children and six adult fatalities in Connecticut; an Aurora, Colorado movie theater 12 fatalities ; a historically Black church in Charleston, South Carolina 9 fatalities ; and a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida 49 fatalities.

Ever the optimist, Obama shared these parting words at his last press conference with the White House press corps:.