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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.

Blinken's critique of Trump omits vital details about Obama's failings with Iran - opinion

What Blinken’s essay leaves out is that Obama employed weak negotiating tactics that allowed Tehran to evade several key issues.

|ByNORMAN J. KURZ
THEN-US SECRETARY of state Antony Blinken meets with International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi at the State Department in 2021. The US ignored Iran’s expansion of ballistic missile technology, the writer maintains.
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump leaves the White House last Tuesday to attend the NATO Summit in The Hague.

Israel-Iran peace: Trump's motivation for holding ceasefire is a Nobel Prize legacy - opinion

The ceasefire can make or break Trump’s legacy. It got off to a shaky start with the president castigating both sides for early violations.

|ByDOUGLAS BLOOMFIELD
HOW THE US understood and understands the Iranian regime has massively shaped its foreign policy and will continue to shape the region. Here, a TV screen displays the televised message of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during the Iran-Israel conflict in Tehran, Iran last Thursday.

Foreign policy expert: US mistakes stem from misunderstanding of Iranian regime

MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS: David Wurmser, a US foreign policy expert, lays out how the US doesn’t understand the Iranian regime at all.

|BySARAH BEN-NUN
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement at the Weizmann Institute of Science, which was hit by an Iranian missile barrage, in the central city of Rehovot, Israel, June 20, 2025

Collapsing proxies, accelerating threats: How Netanyahu methodically moved toward striking Iran

NATIONAL AFFAIRS: In the end, what seemed for years like empty bluster turned out to be something else entirely: A long, calculated wait for the right moment.

|ByHERB KEINON

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.

MAY 29, 2025ByYONAH JEREMY BOB
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, Dermer seemingly unable to deter Witkoff from Iran nuclear strategy

There has been deep concern that Trump's admin does not understand the importance of the details of setting back Iran's nuclear program.

APRIL 20, 2025ByYONAH JEREMY BOB
Mossad Director David Barnea, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff (Illustrative).

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

Cooperation with the US is vital for strengthening deterrence and executing this complex mission, but Israel must be prepared to act alone.

APRIL 17, 2025ByJACOB NAGEL
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 replaces Obama portrait with painting of assassination attempt

Trump replaced Obama's portrait with one of himself surviving an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania, while Obama's portrait was relocated.

APRIL 13, 2025ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
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.

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?

APRIL 11, 2025ByHERB KEINON
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.

APRIL 10, 2025ByJACOB NAGEL
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.

APRIL 9, 2025ByLETTERS TO THE EDITOR
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.

APRIL 8, 2025ByJPOST EDITORIAL
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.

APRIL 7, 2025ByYUVAL LEVY
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.

JANUARY 11, 2025ByREUTERS
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.

JANUARY 8, 2025ByGREGORY LYAKHOV
THEN-US president Barack Obama delivers a statement as then-secretary of state John Kerry looks on, in 2016.