As the first African-American elected president of the United States, Barack Obama became a pivotal figure in American history even before his inauguration back in January 2009. But after winning a second term in 2012, his achievements in office have made him one of the most transformative presidents of the past 100 years. He took office with a country in peril and led it through the Great Recession, two wars, civil unrest, a rash of mass shootings, and changing cultural demographics.
In the 2008 campaign, he called for change and eight years later we are living in a more prosperous country because of it.
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Here are 28 of President Obama’s biggest accomplishments as president:
1. He helped rescue the country from the Great Recession, cutting the unemployment rate from 10% to 4.7% over six years.
2. He signed the Affordable Care Act that provided health insurance to over 20 million uninsured Americans.
3. As president, Obama helped end the war in Iraq.
4. He ordered for the capture and killing of Osama Bin Laden.
5. He passed the $787 billion America Recovery and Reinvestment Act to spur economic growth during the Great Recession.
6. Obama supported the LGBTQ community’s fight for marriage equality.
7. He commuted the sentences of nearly 1,200 drug offenders to reverse “unjust and outdated prison sentences.”
8. He helped to save the U.S. auto industry.
9. He helped put the U.S. on track for energy independence by 2020.
10. Obama's administration began the drawdown of troops in Afghanistan.
11. He signed the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, allowing as many as 5 million people living in the U.S. illegally to avoid deportation and receive work permits.
12. He signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to re-regulate the financial sector.
13. He helped the veteran homeless rate to decrease by 50%.
14. He reversed Bush-era torture policies.
15. He began the process of normalizing relations with Cuba.
16. Obama increased Department of Veteran Affairs funding.
17. He signed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act.
18. Obama worked to boost fuel efficiency standards for cars.
19. He signed legislation to improve school nutrition with the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.
20. He officially repealed the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
21. He signed the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, making it a federal crime to assault anyone based on sexual or gender identification.
22. Obama helped negotiate the landmark Iran Nuclear Deal.
23. He signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to combat pay discrimination against women.
24. He nominated Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, making her the first person of Hispanic heritage ever to serve as a justice.
25. He supported veterans through a $78 billion tuition assistance GI Bill.
26. Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”
27. He launched My Brother’s Keeper, a White House initiative designed to help young minorities achieve their full potential.
28. He expanded embryonic stem cell research leading to groundbreaking work in areas including spinal injury treatment and cancer.
This story originally appeared on GOOD.
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