Simple barack obama biography

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.

Simple barack obama biography

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.

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. His campaign generated a flood of popular grassroots support, making use of social media and internet networking. Against the much older Republican candidate Senator John McCain, Obama won a hard-fought contest taking the presidential election. His victory was greeted with an unusual degree of enthusiasm and excitement — not just in America, but around the world.

After decades of racism and segregation blighting American society, the election of the first black American president was hugely symbolic. On becoming President, he found the political environment hostile. However, with considerable modifications, he was able to pass a health care bill which went a considerable way to ensuring greater universal provision.

We are the change that we seek. Obama was elected on a liberal platform. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist. Compared to other American political figures, he is perceived as less accommodating to Israel and more sympathetic to the Palestinian position.

In , the US was the only country to veto a Security Council resolution condemning illegal Israeli settlements. However, one of his last acts as President in Dec was for the US to abstain on a similar motion condemning Israeli settlement building. A year into his presidency, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his promise to promote world peace.

Many thought this somewhat premature for occurring at the start of his presidency. In , he signed with Russia the New START Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty which included a reduction in nuclear arms between the two countries; though in , relations between the two countries soured after the Russian invasion of the Ukraine caused Obama to initiate economic sanctions against Russia.

Obama pledged to end American troops involvement in Iraq and by could announce all troops would be leaving Iraq. Troops have remained in Afghanistan. In , Obama began a process to normalise relationship with Cuba after negotiations with Raul Castro. In , Obama became the first US president to visit Cuba, since Fidel Castro the long-time dictator of Cuba died in Nov.

Presidential Medals of Freedom [ change change source ]. Death of Nelson Mandela [ change change source ]. Minimum wage and college [ change change source ]. Legalization of same-sex marriage [ change change source ]. Climate change [ change change source ]. Nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court [ change change source ]. Post-presidency, —present [ change change source ].

References [ change change source ]. Department of Health, Hawaii. August 9, Archived from the original on October 14, Retrieved Pew Research Center - U. Washington, D. Archived from the original on October 26, Retrieved December 31, The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 28, The Honolulu Advertiser. Archived from the original on January 29, Talk of the Nation Political Junkie blog.

Archived from the original on May 11, Barack Obama: Man of Destiny. Archived from the original on The New York Times. August 8, ISSN April 4, Archived from the original on April 5, Retrieved April 5, United Press International. Archived from the original on May 10, November 7, Archived from the original on November 7, Retrieved November 7, Archived from the original on December 21, Retrieved February 3, ABC News.

December 15, Archived from the original on February 23, Other websites [ change change source ]. Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Barack Obama. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Barack Obama. Cabinet of President Barack Obama — Hillary Clinton — John Kerry — Timothy Geithner — Jack Lew — Eric Holder — Loretta Lynch — Ken Salazar — Sally Jewell — Tom Vilsack — Hilda Solis — Tom Perez — Kathleen Sebelius — Sylvia Mathews Burwell — Shaun Donovan — Julian Castro — Ray LaHood — Anthony Foxx — Steven Chu — Ernest Moniz — Arne Duncan — John King — Eric Shinseki — Bob McDonald — Janet Napolitano — Jeh Johnson — Joe Biden — Lisa Jackson — Gina McCarthy — Ron Kirk — Michael Froman — Susan Rice — Samantha Power — Presidents of the United States.

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