Barack Obama

President Barack Obama was the 44th President of the United States, in office from 2009 to 2017. Obama was preceded by George W. Bush and succeeded by Donald Trump. He and his wife, Michelle, are parents to daughters Malia and Sasha. Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on August 4, 1961 to a father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas. Obama was educated in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Hawaii, going on to continue his education at Occidental College in Los Angeles and Columbia University in New York City. 2008 presidential campaign Prior to Obama's successful 2008 presidential campaign, Obama served in the Illinois State Senate from 1997 until 2004, when he was elected to the US Senate. He served in the Senate until November 2008. On February 10, 2007, Obama announced that he would run for the presidency, running on a campaign of hope and change and featuring policies including the ending of the Iraq War, energy and independence and reforming health care. Following a duel between Obama and Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Party nomination, the latter withdrew from the primaries in June 2008 and endorsed Obama. Alongside vice presidential running mate Joe Biden, Obama competed against Republican candidate John McCain for the presidency. On November 4, 2008, Obama defeated McCain by 365 electoral votes to 173 to become the first African American president in US history. Obama's first term as president Obama was sworn in as president on January 20, 2009. His first term was dominated by policies regarding the end of the Iraq War, closure of Guantanamo Bay, healthcare reform, LGBT rights and energy policy. In a key speech at Cairo University on June 4 2009, Obama called for a "New Beginning" in relations between the Islamic world and the US. During his first term, Obama increased military aid to Israel, including the funding of Israel's Iron Dome missile defense program, but also maintained a strict approach regarding settlement construction. Obama's second term as president Obama was re-elected president for a second term in November 2012, defeating Republican challenger Mitt Romney and becoming the first Democratic president since Franklin D. Roosevelt to win the majority of the popular vote on two occasions. On January 20, 2013, he was sworn in to office for a second time. The start of Obama's second term was marked by a proposed overhaul of American gun control following a mass shooting in Newtown, in which 26 were killed. The attempts were blocked by the Senate. Domestically, Obama is primarily remembered for healthcare reform and LGBT rights. The key provisions of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, came into effect in 2014. By 2016, the number of uninsured Americans had been halved. Repealing the act has been a key policy of Obama's successor Donald Trump. On June 26, 2015, the US Supreme Court recognized the right to same-sex marriage nationwide, making it legal in all states and most U.S. territories. By June 2016, approximately 1 million Americans were in same-sex marriages, a rise of 33% following the Supreme Court decision. Foreign policy legacy Obama's foreign policy legacy soon came under attack following the accession of Donald Trump to the US presidency. In December 2014, Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro announced the beginning of the "Cuban thaw," a process of normalizing relations between the US and Cuba. Obama became the first US President to visit Cuba since 1928. Trump announced in June 2017 that he was "cancelling" Obama's agreements with Cuba, although he did state his willingness for a new deal to be negotiated. In the Middle East, the rise of ISIS and the failure to insist on "red lines" in the Syrian Civil War have left stains on Obama's foreign policy, but it was the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran's nuclear program that was the cause of considerable tension in the region, particularly between Israel and the US. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fiercely opposed the nuclear agreement, continuing to do so until today. Critics argue that the deal, involving sanction relief for the cessation of nuclear weapon development, does not sufficiently tackle Iran's nuclear program and fails to challenge Iran's wider activity in destabilizing the Middle East. In January 2018, Trump gave European allies a 120-day deadline to "fix" the Iran nuclear deal. If left unfixed, Trump threatened US withdrawal from the Iran deal.

Why Israel is even more fearful of Trump nuke deal than Obama’s - analysis

Trump’s better nuclear deal terms would leave Iran only months away from a nuclear weapon and would prevent Israel from attacking at its best opportunity in decades.

 A 3D-printed miniature model of Donald Trump and the U.S. and Iran flags are seen in this illustration taken January 15, 2025.
 Mossad Director David Barnea, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff (Illustrative).

Mossad director, Dermer seemingly unable to deter Witkoff from Iran nuclear strategy

 US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff shakes hands with Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi in Muscat, Oman, April 12, 2025.

Trump must clarify what he means when says Iran will never have nuclear weapons - opinion

 Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump is assisted by the Secret Service after gunfire rang out during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show in Butler, Pennsylvania, US, July 13, 2024.

Trump replaces Obama portrait with painting of assassination attempt


Open doors, muted voices: Has Trump made Netanyahu give up on Iran?

NATIONAL AFFAIRS: Netanyahu could afford to confront Obama's push for a nuclear deal - Can Bibi pay the price to confront Trump?

 UNLIKE ON previous occasions, when US President Donald Trump told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that negotiations with Iran were scheduled to begin this weekend, Netanyahu’s response was relatively muted. Here, Trump bids farewell to Netanyahu as he leaves the White House after their meeting on

Trump should not imitate Obama, repeating his presidential mistakes - opinion

The lessons from 2015 must be clear to avoid another disastrous deal. No negotiations should begin until Iran fully dismantles its nuclear program.

US President Donald Trump seen over an Iranian flag (illustrative)

Letters to the Editor April 9, 2025: Legitimate freedom of speech

Readers of The Jerusalem Post have their say.

 Letters

Obama's call for academic freedom must include Jewish and Israeli voices - editorial

Limiting Israeli researchers, professors, students, and professionals from participating in US academia due to violent outbursts not only harms them; it harms those very institutions.

 PRO-PALESTINIAN DEMONSTRATORS hold a rally at Columbia University in New York City on the first anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attack, last month.

'It's up to us to fix this': Obama urges universities to defend academic freedom

“The idea of cancelling a speaker who comes to your campus, trying to shout them down and not letting them speak [...] that’s not what America should be about," Obama said.

 Former US president Barack Obama listens to speakers on a panel at the Obama Foundation Democracy Forum in Chicago, Illinois, US. December 5, 2024.

Iran holding war games as it faces Israel tensions, Trump's return

The Iranian military conducted air defense exercises as Trump's presidency nears.

 Commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Major General Hossein Salami and commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, visit an underground of the new "missile city" at an undisclosed location in Iran, in this picture obtained on January 11, 2025.

How Barack Obama's peaceful ideology led to failed foreign policy - opinion

The Obama administration’s decisions left a significantly more fragmented and futile world than the one he inherited.

 THEN-US president Barack Obama delivers a statement as then-secretary of state John Kerry looks on, in 2016.

Americans weren’t interested in prolonging Obama’s policies through Harris - opinion

Americans felt the vibe – that American wokeness and moral self-doubt were insidious weaknesses. Therefore, they ruled that the Obama era must finally end.

 FORMER US president Barack Obama speaks during a presidential election campaign rally for then-candidate Kamala Harris in Philadelphia last month.

Biden's final opportunity: A bold move on Iran and Israel to secure his legacy - opinion

Quoting “despondent Biden administration officials,” the report said they were mulling how to protect what they termed their national security priorities before Trump returns to the Oval Office.

 US PRESIDENT Joe Biden delivers remarks on the 2024 election results and the upcoming presidential transition of power, at the White House, last Thursday. ‘People will call us a lame duck government, but we have to keep our eye on the ball, and we will,’ says a Biden aide regarding the Middle East.

'Not the outcome we hoped for': Former US presidents react to election results

Former presidents unite in response to Trump's 2024 win, urging Americans to extend 'good faith' across political divides.

Funeral service for the former U.S. President George H.W. Bush in Washington

Obama urges Jewish Americans to back Harris, criticizes Trump’s ties to Holocaust deniers

At the rally, Obama asked why Jewish Americans would place their faith in a president “who sat down for pleasantries with Holocaust deniers.” 

U.S. President Barack Obama looks up during his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York September 21, 2016.