Mr. Rerko Periods 1,3,4,7, and 8 President Project Example #44: Barack Obama 2008-2017 Mr. Rerko Periods 1,3,4,7, and 8 President Project Example

Barack-ground Information (Ha!) Barack Obama was born on August 4th, 1961 He is currently 57 years old He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii He is a member of the Democratic Party Before he was elected president, Barack Obama served as a Senator for Illinois

Barack Obama’s Election Barack Obama was first elected President in 2008 He defeated John McCain in 2008 He was reelected as President in 2012, defeating Mitt Romney Both of Barack Obama’s elections were rather large victories, winning by over 100 electoral votes each time.

Domestic Issue: The Great Recession When Barack Obama was elected, the United States economy was in a very serious recession A recession is when an economy gets smaller, meaning there are fewer jobs, less money, and regular people generally have a tougher time. Barack Obama’s administration attempted to provide a lot of relief, bailing out some major banks and companies and giving stimulus money, or money from the government to get people to spend more money. Overall, Barack Obama was relatively successful; since 2010, the United States economy has continued to grow and not suffer another period of recession since. But, some say that his plans either did too much or did not too enough.

Foreign Issue: Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan When Barack Obama took office, the United States had been in a war in Iraq since 2003 and Afghanistan since 2001 President Obama set goals to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan by the end of his tenure in office. He was successful in ending US involvement in Iraq, with combat operations ending in 2011. He was not as successful with the war in Afghanistan, increasing the number of US troops, despite plans to end the war in 2014. The war in Afghanistan continues to this day. Foreign policy was a mixed bag for Barack Obama, with major success in Iraq and Osama bin Laden but setbacks in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Presidential Fun Facts For both of his Presidential terms, Barack Obama’s vice president was Joe Biden When he became President, Barack Obama got a dog– a Portuguese Water Dog Barack Obama is married to Michelle Obama, and has two daughters, Malia and Sasha

Evaluating Barack Obama As President, Barack Obama was elected into a tough situation and did is best to negotiate a bad economy and two wars. However, the war in Afghanistan is still undecided and some have disliked the way he handled the recession. Overall, there are some parts of his legacy that are undecided, but so far, his Presidency would have to be considered a success.