Barack Hussein Obama II is an American attorney and politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African-American president of the United States. He previously served as a U.S. senator from Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004. Obama received national attention in 2004 with his March Senate-primary win, his well-received July Democratic National Convention keynote address, and his landslide November election to the Senate.
In 2008, Obama was elected over Republican John McCain and was inaugurated on January 20, 2009. Nine months later, he was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. After winning re-election by defeating Republican opponent Mitt Romney, Obama was sworn in for a second term in 2013. During his term in office, America’s reputation abroad significantly improved.
Obama’s presidency has generally been regarded favorably, and evaluations of his presidency among historians, political scientists, and the general public place him among the upper tier of American presidents. Obama left office and retired in January 2017, but continued to reside in Washington, D.C. Obama is often ranked as the most admired man in America.
Some of the best quotes from Barack Obama are listed below.
- “Americans still believe in an America where anything’s possible – they just don’t think their leaders do.” – Barack Obama
- “Change doesn’t come from Washington; change comes to Washington.” – Barack Obama
- “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” – Barack Obama
- “Fixing a broken immigration system. Protecting our kids from gun violence. Equal pay for equal work, paid leave, raising the minimum wage. All these things still matter to hardworking families; they are still the right thing to do; and I will not let up until they get done.” – Barack Obama
- “Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. Because it’s only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realise your true potential.” – Barack Obama
- “Hope is the bedrock of this nation; the belief that our destiny will not be written for us, but by us.” – Barack Obama
- “I don’t want to pit Red America against Blue America – I want to be President of the United States of America.” – Barack Obama
- “If we think we can just use the same partisan playbook where we just challenge our opponent’s patriotism to win an election, then the American people will lose. The times are too serious for this kind of politics.” – Barack Obama
- “If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep on walking, eventually you’ll make progress.” – Barack Obama
- “In the end, this is what this election’s about – do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope?” – Barack Obama
- “It is time to give Iraqis their country back.” – Barack Obama
- “It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get to where we are today, but we have just begun. Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today.” – Barack Obama
- “It’s important to realise I was actually black before the election.” – Barack Obama
- “Lincoln – they used to talk about him almost as bad as they talk about me. So democracy has never been for the faint of heart…” – Barack Obama
- “Money is not the only answer, but it makes a difference.” – Barack Obama
- “My advisors were a little worried about the new rap entrance music – they’re a little more traditional. They suggested I start with some jokes at my own expense – just to take myself down a peg. I was like, “guys, guys, after four and a half years, how many pegs are there left?”.” – Barack Obama
- “Now, when you first become president, one of the questions people ask you is, “what’s really going on in Area 51?” … oh, I think I just became the first president to ever publicly mention Area 51… how’s that?” – Barack Obama
- “Some things are beyond my control. For example, this whole controversy about Jay-Z going to Cuba – it’s unbelievable! I’ve got 99 problems, now Jay-Z is one.” – Barack Obama
- “The future rewards those who press on. I don’t have time to feel sorry for myself. I don’t have time to complain. I’m going to press on.” – Barack Obama
- “The role of citizen in a democracy does not end with your vote.” – Barack Obama
- “The thing about Hip-Hop today is it’s smart, it’s insightful. The way they can communicate a complex message in a very short space is remarkable.” – Barack Obama
- “Those who have the privilege to serve this country have an obligation to do our job as best we can… that’s why disagreement cannot mean dysfunction… the American people’s hopes and dreams are what matters, not ours.” – Barack Obama
- “Understand, our police officers put their lives on the line for us every single day. They’ve got a tough job to do to maintain public safety and hold accountable those who break the law.” – Barack Obama
- “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” – Barack Obama
- “We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we’ve set. We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded.” – Barack Obama
- “We need to make progress on some important issues. Take the sequester – Republicans fell in love with the whole thing, and now they can’t stop talking about how much they hate it. It’s like we’re trapped in a Taylor Swift album.” – Barack Obama
- “What Washington needs is adult supervision.” – Barack Obama
- “What we need in Washington is not more political tactics – we need more good ideas.” – Barack Obama
- “You can’t let your failures define you – you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time.” – Barack Obama
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