On November 4, 2008, Barack Obama was elected to become the 44th president of the United States. The Democratic senator from Illinois made history as the first black candidate to win the presidency, and his election attracted massive attention worldwide. Obama inherited a daunting set of challenges from his predecessor, President George W. Bush: the worst economy in decades, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and an international image of the United States that had been marred by the policies of the "war on terror." Here are images of some of most important moments of Obama's presidency.
Barack Obama's Presidency In Pictures
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Barack Obama, joined by his wife, Michelle, and their daughters, Malia and Sasha, approaches the podium to be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States in Washington, D.C., on January 20, 2009.
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U.S. President Barack Obama prepares to enter the Oval Office at the White House on January 21, 2009. During his first days in office, Obama ordered the suspension of prosecutions at the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for 120 days, and ordered the closure of the facility within a year. At the end of his presidency, the prison camp continues to operate.
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Speaking at a military base in North Carolina on February 27, 2009, Obama set a date of August 31, 2010 for the end of U.S. combat operations in Iraq. His successor, Donald Trump, has claimed that the withdrawal of combat forces created a vacuum that led to the emergence of the Islamic State militant group.
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Obama speaks in Prague, Czech Republic, near a statue of the first Czechoslovak president, Tomas Garrigue Masaryk, on April 5, 2009. In his speech, Obama pledged that the United States would lead efforts "to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons."
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Obama turns the podium over to French President Nicolas Sarkozy as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown stands nearby at the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on September 25, 2009. The leaders addressed a previously secret Iranian nuclear facility, and demanded that Iran cooperate with international inspections of its nuclear sites.
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Obama speaks on the phone in the Oval Office after being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on October 9, 2009. The honor was granted just nine months into his first term, prompting world leaders to urge him to fulfill his pledges to advance the cause of global peace.
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The president greets a supporter and her baby in Alexandria, Virginia, on March 30, 2010, shortly after he signed the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, enabling the Affordable Care Act to go into effect. The Affordable Care Act, widely known as Obamacare, expanded access to health care to an estimated 20 million previously uninsured people.
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Obama tours the beach in Port Fourchon, Louisiana, on May 28, 2010, after an explosion at BP's Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig resulted in the worst oil spill in U.S. history.
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The president and his national security team receive updates in the Situation Room of the White House on May 1, as U.S. Special Forces conduct a raid on the compound of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The Al-Qaeda leader and four others were killed in the raid.
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Obama swims in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, on January 1, 2012. He is the first U.S. president born in Hawaii and the first born outside the 48 contiguous states.
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Confetti falls during Obama's victory speech in Chicago after he was elected to a second term on November 6, 2012.
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Obama expressed his "overwhelming grief" for the victims of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14, 2012. A gunman opened fire on schoolchildren and staff, killing 18 children and eight adults.
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Obama speaks with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone on March 1, 2014, amid an escalating crisis in Ukraine that further strained U.S.-Russian relations. On March 18, Russia illegally annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine.
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The president thanks troops for their service at a military base in Wrightstown, New Jersey, on December 15, 2014. The visit came shortly before Obama declared the end of the U.S. combat mission in Afghanistan on December 28.
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks with Obama after a working session of the G7 summit near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, on June 8, 2015.
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Obama fields questions in Washington on July 15, 2015, about the landmark nuclear deal struck with Iran the previous day. Iran and major global powers agreed on restrictions to Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
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Michelle and Barack Obama dance with 106-year-old Virginia McLaurin at the White House ahead of a reception celebrating African American History Month on February 18, 2016.
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Cuban President Raul Castro raises Obama's hand during a meeting at the Revolution Palace in Havana on March 21, 2016. Obama's visit to Cuba was the first by a U.S. president since the country's 1959 revolution, and marked a historic warming of ties between the two countries.
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The president and first lady dance with separate tango partners during a state dinner hosted by Argentina's President Mauricio Macri in Buenos Aires on March 23, 2016.
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Walker Earnest, the son of Obama's Press Secretary Josh Earnest, flexes his muscles with the president during Halloween trick-or-treating at the White House on October 31, 2016.
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Obama speaks with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office on November 10, 2016, shortly after Trump's election victory, to discuss a smooth transition of power.