What were Barack Obama's accomplishments?

Answer 1

1. Two days after taking office, President Obama ordered the closing of the Guantanamo Bay detention centre in Cuba within a year. The decision delighted the left and earned praise from human rights activists and countries who had long criticised the prison's notorious interrogation methods as an example of US moral hypocrisy. But while Obama has succeeded in releasing or transferring 44 of the 242 prisoners he inherited, Congress has resisted White House attempts to move suspects to US soil, while convincing other countries to take in prisoners has proven challenging. In November, Obama admitted that he would miss his self-imposed deadline, and the attempted attack on a US-bound plane on Christmas Day resulted in Obama's decision to halt the transfer of prisoners to Yemen.
2. The 787-billion-dollar stimulus package signed into law by Obama on Feb. 17 - the most sweeping US recovery programme in over 60 years - was considered an early triumph for a president who had vowed a bold response to the economic crisis. The package, which combined spending programmes and tax relief to boost an economy struck low by the previous year's credit crisis, was criticised by Republicans who warned of climbing debt, and by some Democrats who insisted the programmes in the bill did not go far enough. But by November, there was growing agreement among many economic analysts that the plan had indeed saved jobs and pulled the American economy back from the brink of disaster, marking what Obama, when signing the bill into law, called "the beginning of the end".
3. On June 4, Obama delivered a closely watched address in which he urged "a new beginning between the US and Muslims around the world." Aiming to improve America's damaged image in Muslim countries after an unpopular Bush administration, Obama encouraged US citizens and the Islamic world to abandon their negative stereotypes of one another. But his most eagerly awaited remarks concerned the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Obama reaffirmed the "unbreakable" alliance between the US and Israel, but called for Jerusalem to stop building new settlements and earned applause when he said "America will not turn its back on the legitimate Palestinian aspiration for dignity, opportunity and a state of their own". The speech was widely praised for its candid tone and evenhanded approach, though some Muslim leaders around the world expressed scepticism about Obama's ability to back up words with action. The White House has yet to succeed in securing a promise of a settlement freeze from Israel.
4. Obama's remark at a press conference that police had "acted stupidly" in arresting African-American scholar Henry Louis Gates in his home in the Boston area, followed by his comments about the history of racial profiling in America, brought the issue of skin colour into the spotlight -- and made for an awkward moment from the ostensibly "post-racial" president. Right-leaning bloggers slammed Obama for insulting law enforcers and playing the "race card", while left-wing commentators worried that Obama had clumsily waded into a debate that would distract him from his domestic priority of health care reform. Several days later, Obama hosted a "beer summit" in the White House garden, meeting with Gates, the officer who had arrested Gates and Vice President Joe Biden, displaying an ability to turn a hot-button controversy into a "teachable moment".
5. Obama made history by nominating federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor - the daughter of Puerto Rican parents raised in Bronx housing projects - to the Supreme Court, making her the first Hispanic judge and the third woman to serve on the 220-year-old court. Despite controversy surrounding past comments by Sotomayor that a "wise Latina" woman might make a better legal decision than a white man,she was confirmed by the Senate in August, replacing Justice David H. Souter, who retired. Obama's selection of Sotomayor did more than add diversity to America's highest federal court; it also nudged the court to the left after eight years of rightward pushing by former President George W. Bush.
6. Nothing encapsulated the tug-of-war between the excitement generated by Obama's leadership and a growing impatience to see him make concrete changes on the world stage more than the surprise choice of the US president as winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in October. The committee cited the US president's ''extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,'' but critics at home and abroad said the award was premature and even inappropriate given America's entanglement in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. When accepting the award in Oslo in December, Obama acknowledged that paradox, and more specifically his decision to send additional US troops to Afghanistan: "There will be times when nations - acting individually or in concert - will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified," he said, adding that, compared to previous winners, his accomplishments were "slight."
7. After months of closed-door meetings with a divided foreign policy team (Vice President Biden was against a surge, Secretaries of State and Defence Clinton and Gates were in favour), Obama announced in December that 30,000 additional US troops would deploy to Afghanistan in 2010. In a TV addressdelivered from the US Military Academy at West Point, New York, Obama presented his new strategy, calling for an accelerated time frame "to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan", but warning that the US would start withdrawing troops by 2011. European NATO allies expressed approval of Obama's timeline, but reacted coolly to the administration's calls for additional troops. At home, in a rare cross-partisan configuration, Republicans spoke out in support of Obama's plan, while many Democrats and antiwar activists voiced disappointment.
8. After days of stalemate between the 192 nations gathered in Copenhagen to seek an accord on fighting global warming, Obama helped push talks toward a deal that put both wealthy and developing nations on the road to cutting emissions. The nonbinding agreement - which stipulates that countries commit to greenhouse gas reductions that would be open to international review - fell vastly short of hopes and was criticised by environmental activists around the world. Some, citing Obama's political constraints at home (namely a Congress resistant to passing climate change legislation), credited the US president for hammering out a deal with leaders of China, Brazil, South Africa, and India. Others considered Obama part of a collective failure to produce a meaningful pact.
9. Generations of American presidents have tried to give the US health care system a sweeping makeover, but Obama, who made the issue his domestic priority, is on the verge of checking the reform off his to-do list. After several months of often vitriolic public debate, both the House of Representatives and the Senate passed versions of reform that would extend coverage to millions of currently uninsured Americans. Top congressional Democrats are now working to combine the measures and to send a final law to Obama for signature. But the reform now hangs precariously in the balance: the election to fill the seat of late Democratic Senator and health care champion Edward Kennedy ended in Republican victory, losing Democrats the super-majority they needed to override Republican opposition in a final health-care vote -- leaving Obama just shy of a historic legislative accomplishment.
10. A foiled Christmas Day attack by a Nigerian man on a US-bound passenger plane put more than a dent in Obama's Hawaiian vacation; it put him, and his national security operation, in the direct line of fire. With a branch of al Qaeda in Yemen claiming responsibility for the plot, many wondered how US intelligence could have missed the "red flags". Republicans slammed Obama for waiting three days before addressing the American public and lashed out at Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano for her statement that "the system worked". In a televised appearance, Obama took responsibility, saying "our intelligence community failed to connect those dots", but also sought to put to rest fears that he was not up to the task of handling the terrorist threat. "We will not rest until we find all who were involved and hold them accountable," he affirmed.
11. In 2010, Obama signed into law a health care reform bill, providing health care for millions.

Answer 2

President Obama has many accomplishments in his life. According to his supporters, some of these accomplishments are:

• Graduated from College (Columbia, 1983)
• Got a Law Degree from Harvard (1991), with academic honors
• First African-American editor of the Harvard Law Review
• Elected Illinois State Senator 3 times
• Professor of constitutional law for 12 years
• Elected U.S. Senator
• He is the author of two best-selling books
• Became the first African American President of the US
• He helped to pass Health Care Reform
• He helped to rescue the American auto industry
• His policies stabilized our financial system
• won a Nobel Peace Prize
• won two GRAMMY Awards
• Gave the order that killed Osama bin Laden
• Brought Obama Health Care Plan

Answer 3

Note: this question calls for opinions, and they seem to break along partisan lines, with his opponents (the Republicans) being critical and saying he has accomplished little, and his supporters (the Democrats) being supportive and saying he has much to be proud of. Here are both sides of the question.

Republican answer:

He accomplished bringing a wonderful country into a terrible moral and economic mess! Gasoline prices have gone up under his watch, so have crude oil prices, corn prices, sugar and soybean prices. He brought unemployment rates up and the number of long-term unemployed people has risen to unprecedented heights. The poverty rate has also risen and food stamp recipients have drastically risen. Obama has increased our National dept by over $4 trillion dollars and continues to spend on entitlement programs, instead of getting people back to work. He is jeopardizing our security by cutting the wrong spending - defense. Obviously, Obama had no experience and should never have been elected president. If he were in the private sector, he would have been fired a long time ago! He accomplished uniting of most Americans against him.

Democratic answer:

In addition to becoming the first African-American president in US history, Barack Obama has many achievements since taking office. He helped to pass Health Care Reform, enabling millions of previously uninsured Americans (especially those with pre-existing conditions) to get insured. He helped to rescue the US auto industry, which has since returned to profitability. His policies stabilized the US economy, which was in a mess since the disastrous policies of President Bush. He prevented another Depression. Unlike his predecessor who talked tough, President Obama was able to find Osama Bin Laden and gave the order that brought him to justice at last. President Obama championed equal pay for women, and equal treatment under the law for gay people. He appointed the first Hispanic woman to the US Supreme Court, and kept his promise to end the war in Iraq and bring the troops home.

Answer 4

President Obama has many accomplishments. He is the first African-American president in U.S. history. He is the author of two best-selling books. He won a Nobel Peace Prize. He was the first African-American editor of the Harvard Law Review. And despite being raised by a single mother in a lower-middle class home and being biracial at a time when this was not common, he got a good education, had a successful career as a law professor, was elected to the Illinois State Senate (where he was also re-elected several times), became a U.S. senator, and then become president; he was also re-elected.

Answer 5

NOTHING But put us more in jeopardy by putting thief's in our White House. Time to clean them all out and start over with some good honest people who are not there for the power. Also Obama and his wife could do with less vacations and tighten there belts as they ask us to do all the time. Thousands are spent to take all his cronies with him where ever he goes. No need to take hundreds of people with him that dont belong there for a free ride on the taxpayers!

Answer 6

The president kept his promise to end our involvement in Iraq and bring the troops home. He has also accomplished other things, such as health care reform, rescuing the auto industry, and supervising the mission that finally killed Osama Bin Laden.

Answer 7

This question depends on which side you ask: Republicans will say he has accomplished nothing, or they will point to the fact that we still have a deficit and the economy has not entirely recovered. But Democrats will say the president has overcome the bad situation he inherited from President Bush. They will say Mr. Obama has many accomplishments, including preventing another Great Depression; rescuing the American auto industry and helping it to return to profitability; ending our involvement in Iraq and bringing most of the troops home; and expanding access to health care to millions of Americans.

Answer 8

He has successfully reinvented himself as "Barack" "Obama" when his name is actually Barry Soetoro.

Answer 9

Obamacare