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Election Day 2008
Obama is projected to win the key swing states of Ohio and Virginia, making him the first black President. A few hours later, he delivers his famous victory speech in Chicago's Grant Park. -
Inauguration
Barack Obama replaces outgoing President George Bush. -
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Barack Obama Administration
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Stimulus Bill
Obama passes a 787 billion dollars stimulus to stabilize the collapsing market, offer unemployment benefits, and save the Midwestern auto industry. He also continues Bush's TARP Policy of buying billions of dollars of "toxic assets" from Wall Street to stop major investment firms from "going under". -
General Motors Bailout
The federal government purchased an equity stake for around $9 billion in General Motors to bail out American car companies. -
Nobel Peace Prize
Won the Nobel Peace Prize for promoting healthy international relationships and peace, especially in the Middle East. -
Affordable Care Act (Obama Care)
Enacted a national health care system, dream of the Democrats since the 1930s. Obama Care allows children to stay on their parent's health plan until age 26, stops insurance from denying or taking away coverage from people with medical problems and has led to the lowest uninsured rate in American history. -
Dodd-Frank Act
Regulatory measures to eliminate conditions that brought on the 2008 financial meltdown. Includes the creation of a Consumer Protection Bureau and close monitoring of investment banking. -
Osama bin Laden Killed
Obama orders Seal Team Six operation that killed Osama bin Laden in his bunker in Pakistan, which weakened Al Qaeda. -
Fiscal Cliff
Bush Tax Cuts were set to expire at the end of 2011, but Obama extended them for another year because of failed fiscal cliff negotiations. -
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
Obama passes legislation that ended deportation of undocumented children and children born to undocumented immigrants on American soil. -
Modify Bush Tax Cuts
Fiscal cliff settled when Obama ends the Bush tax cuts for individuals with income over 400,000 dollars and couples over 450,000 dollars. -
Open Relations with Cuba
After 50 years of silence between the U.S. and Cuba, Obama re-opened contact with Cuba in response to advancements in human rights there. -
Marriage Equality
A 5-4 Supreme Court majority legalizes same-sex marriage in the states that did not allow it through Obergefell v Hodge. This case marked a major turning point for LGBT rights. Obama was also the first sitting president to openly support marriage equality. -
Iran Nuclear Deal
After two years of negotiations, the U.S. agreed to lift Iran's sanctions if they limited their uranium stockpiles and consented to random inspections of their nuclear facilities. This deal crippled the Iranian nuclear program. -
COP-21
Obama makes a historic climate deal with China. The American Clean Power Plan, which which would control emissions from coal-fired power plants and cut U.S. carbon emissions by one-third, led China to agree to level off greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Then, the rest of the world made commitments to fight climate change at the COP-21 conference in Paris. -
Offshore Drilling Ban
With President-elect Trump slated to take office in 2 months, Obama passed an executive order barring offshore drilling in the Atlantic and Arctic oceans from 2017 to 2022. -
CIA Investigation of Russian Hacking
Obama orders a CIA investigation of Russia's involvement in the 2016 elections. The initial assessment of the situation asserts that the Russian government worked to install Trump and damage Secretary Clinton. The investigation is expected to conclude by the end of Obama's term in office.