44 ways to judge the Obama era – CNN International
Those eight years saw the nation grapple with the worst economic disaster since the Great Depression. The country's response to that crisis helped reshape the economy and the makeup of the political system a few times over. And for every day of those eight years, the nation was at war -- on multiple fronts, against multiple groups for multiple purposes.
All of these momentous changes during Obama's presidency had very real effects on people across the country and the globe. And for each of these real-world impacts, there is a number.
The recession cost many people their livelihood. The following years saw many of those same people gain it back. While part of the drop in unemployment came from people leaving the workforce, enough people have jobs now that, statistically speaking, employment has recovered from the darkest days of the economic crisis.
Due in part to a revolution in domestic fossil fuels and massive oil production overseas, oil and gas have been pretty cheap for some of Obama's presidency.
Here's what the situation looks like.
Following years of upward climb and a rally after President-elect Donald Trump's electoral victory, stocks are near record highs.
Here's stock market performance as of January 3, 2017:
Obama's election coincided with Democratic victories across the nation and the strong 2008 showing built on the party's successes in 2006. But as the years went on, the situation virtually reversed itself. Obama will exit office with the Republican Party resurgent on the state and federal levels.
Deaths from opioid-related overdose deaths have been on the rise. More people are dying from overdoses on heroin and prescription pain medicine like oxycodone and fentanyl.
States with legal marijuana or cannabis products have blossomed under Obama. When he took office, recreational marijuana wasn't legal in any state.
The Affordable Care Act set aside funding for states to expand Medicaid -- a government health care program for the poorest Americans. But the process became something of a tussle with state governments and many of their Republican leaders. By the end of Obama's presidency, only the slim majority of states had opted to expand Medicaid.
As the economy recovered and the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, reformed the health care market, more people had health insurance coverage.
Here's the total percentage of people without insurance, according to the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey:
By the end of Obama's presidency, government debt had nearly doubled to about $20 trillion.
Trump said during his campaign that he'd create a special force to deport undocumented immigrants. Although Obama criticized Trump's immigration proposals, he detained and deported millions of men, women and children. Obama's administration deported the people -- 434,015 -- in 2013.
The US has grown more unequal over the past few decades, including the past eight years.
One commonly cited measure is the Gini index. The number ranges from zero to 1, and the higher the Gini index is, the more unequal the distribution of income is.
According to the Census, it was .469 in 2009 and .4817 in 2017.
The bottom half of earners have seen their pre-tax incomes fall while the highest earners have seen a fairly steady rise.
Debate abounds over how and why incomes vary by gender and whether the wage gap can fairly be said to exist. However, men and women, as well as people of different races, all have much different pay.
Following the dips in growth that marked the recession, the economy slowly and steadily rebounded. Many, including Trump, have said observed rates of growth are far too low.
Hate crime incidents in the US neared 6,000 in both 2013 and 2015.
The Obama administration created 11.3 million jobs in eight years, and the economy added jobs for 75 straight months, a record that totals 6 years.
More jobs were created under Obama than under George W. Bush, who only created 2.1 million jobs. However, Obama fell short of Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan, who saw 22.9 million and 15.9 million jobs created, respectively, under their presidencies.
The countries he hosted include:
When he was elected in 2008, 28,223,000 people were receiving food stamps.
In 2016, 44,219,000 people received food stamps -- an increase of nearly 16 million people.
Although Obama has vastly reduced the number of troops in Afghanistan during his time in office, he has failed to withdraw all American troops from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan.
As of December 2016, there were still 9,800 troops left.
As of January 2017, 45 prisoners remain and 171 have been released under Obama.
Nine of the 171 have been "confirmed" to have returned to terrorist activities, according to a government report.
Obama had pledged to close the controversial center within one year in an executive order he signed shortly after his inauguration in January 2009.
Obama hit the links 333 times since assuming the presidency, according to CBS News' Mark Knoller, the unofficial White House statistician who pledged to track each and every round played by the commander in chief.
While his critics have said this is too many rounds to play, his figure doesn't come close to the amount played by Woodrow Wilson, who is said to have played 1,200 rounds while President.
In 2015, the median was $56,516, which was a 5.2% increase from 2014. This was also the first increase in median income since 2007, before the economic crash.
In December 2016, the index was a high 113.7 -- a stark difference to when fell as low as 25 during the recession, when Obama took office.
The poverty rate in the United States in 2015 was 13.5%. This is down 1.2 percentage points from 14.8% in 2014. In 2015, there were 43.1 million people in poverty, 3.5 million fewer than in 2014.
The birth rate fell to 59.8 births per 1,000 women in 2016 under Obama.
The price of milk decreased under Obama from $3.58/gallon when he took office in January 2009 to $3.28/gallon as of November 2016.
CNN's Kevin Liptak, a White House reporter, has kept a running tally of Obama's acts of clemency -- the president's decisions to pardon or commute criminal sentences.
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44 ways to judge the Obama era - CNN International
- Obama unveils summer playlist See the songs that made the cut - USA Today - August 1st, 2026 [August 1st, 2026]
- This Is What Barack Obama Read and Listened to This Summer And People Have Thoughts - TODAY.com - August 1st, 2026 [August 1st, 2026]
- Harris cites JFK, Obama among most effective presidents, omitting Biden - The Hill - August 1st, 2026 [August 1st, 2026]
- Barack Obama Puts Glen Hansard, SZA, Drake, Beatles on His Songs of the Summer Playlist - The Hollywood Reporter - August 1st, 2026 [August 1st, 2026]
- Obama's summer reading list includes authors he's loved for years and new favorites - USA Today - August 1st, 2026 [August 1st, 2026]
- Obama Gives Oscar Winner Big Honor After Horrific Death - The Daily Beast - August 1st, 2026 [August 1st, 2026]
- Obama endorses Iowa Democrat Turek for the US Senate in a video of them playing basketball - AP News - August 1st, 2026 [August 1st, 2026]
- Colombian Singer Was Included by Barack Obama in his Annual List of Recommended Songs - ColombiaOne.com - August 1st, 2026 [August 1st, 2026]
- Pete Souza: The White House Photographer on Obama and Power - Monocle - August 1st, 2026 [August 1st, 2026]
- This Indiana singer made Obama music list. What to know about the artist - IndyStar - August 1st, 2026 [August 1st, 2026]
- Barack Obama Just Dropped His Summer Playlist, but Im Not Convinced Hes Actually Listening to Some of These Songs - vice.com - August 1st, 2026 [August 1st, 2026]
- Barack Obama Released His Summer 2026 Reading List: See The Picks - essence.com - August 1st, 2026 [August 1st, 2026]
- Watch Noah Kahan pretend to call Barack Obama and acknowledge summer playlist pick - KS95 94.5 - August 1st, 2026 [August 1st, 2026]
- Obama's Reading List Just Dropped, and It's Full of Must-Reads - Woman's World - August 1st, 2026 [August 1st, 2026]
- Michelle Obama, Who Called Americas Gun Laws Not a Good Thing, Says an Armed Guard Follows Her Everywhere - Thought Catalog - August 1st, 2026 [August 1st, 2026]
- Obama Endorses Josh Turek in Iowa Senate Race With Basketball Video - The New York Times - July 30th, 2026 [July 30th, 2026]
- Sasha Obama Wears a Surprising Shoe With Her Effortless Workout Look During Rare Public Outing - instyle.com - July 30th, 2026 [July 30th, 2026]
- Barack Obama, the only Democrat to win Iowa in a presidential election in the last quarter-century, loves basketball. Josh Turek, the Democratic... - July 30th, 2026 [July 30th, 2026]
- Obama makes one of his first midterm endorsements with a basketball video - The Seattle Times - July 30th, 2026 [July 30th, 2026]
- OPINION The unapologetic queer history at the new Obama Presidential Center - Windy City Times - July 30th, 2026 [July 30th, 2026]
- Michelle Obama and Justice Jackson Talk Work-Life Balance and Public Service - The New York Times - July 30th, 2026 [July 30th, 2026]
- Michelle Obama Refuses to Use Apple Pay for This Reason. A Cybersecurity Expert Says the Real Risk Is Something Else - inc.com - July 30th, 2026 [July 30th, 2026]
- Besides Obama, Chicago produced a second president, and he's about to turn 100 - WBEZ Chicago - July 30th, 2026 [July 30th, 2026]
- Obama, Trump Back Opposing Candidates In 3 Key Midterm Races Here's What's At Stake - BIN: Black Information Network - July 30th, 2026 [July 30th, 2026]
- The Democrats search for a new Obama: Can Jon Ossoff lead the party back? - Ynetnews - July 30th, 2026 [July 30th, 2026]
- JD Vance will never be the GOP Obama - Salon.com - July 30th, 2026 [July 30th, 2026]
- Obama endorses Iowa Democrat Turek for the US Senate in a video of them playing basketball - WHO13.com - July 30th, 2026 [July 30th, 2026]
- Michelle Obama Called Out by Critics on Gun Control Stance After Admitting Her Security Guard Carries a Weapon in Resurfaced Interview - Yahoo... - July 30th, 2026 [July 30th, 2026]
- Sasha Obama's signature off-duty style is taking shape with another effortless gym look - Yahoo - July 30th, 2026 [July 30th, 2026]
- Obama Says He Occupies a Suite in Trumps Head - The New York Times - June 26th, 2026 [June 26th, 2026]
- Obama Calls Trumps Obsession With Him A Strange Thing - Forbes - June 26th, 2026 [June 26th, 2026]
- Larry David and Barack Obama Made a New HBO Show. It Feels Different From What We Expect From Them. - Slate Magazine - June 26th, 2026 [June 26th, 2026]
- Opinion | Barack Obama is a tonic for the times - The Cap Times - June 26th, 2026 [June 26th, 2026]
- Comparing Trump's Iran negotiations to what Obama already did - Australian Broadcasting Corporation - June 26th, 2026 [June 26th, 2026]
- President Obama and Mrs. Obamas Remarks at the Opening of the Obama Presidential Center - Barack Obama Medium - June 26th, 2026 [June 26th, 2026]
- Barack and Michelle Obama in Their Most Personal Interview Yet: 'We Are Each Other's Counterbalance' (Exclusive) - People.com - June 26th, 2026 [June 26th, 2026]
- Barack Obama Gets Candid About Whether America Was Ready for Its First Black President (Exclusive) - People.com - June 26th, 2026 [June 26th, 2026]
- Barack Obama Reveals What He Hoped His Election as First Black President Would Accomplishand If He Succeeded - instyle.com - June 26th, 2026 [June 26th, 2026]
- A look at the relationship between Obama and Trump - NPR - June 26th, 2026 [June 26th, 2026]
- Heidi Stevens: Barack Obama cautioned against nostalgia. But is fondness for the past really all bad? - Chicago Tribune - June 26th, 2026 [June 26th, 2026]
- Curating Sounds and Tastes: Meet 2 Chicagoans Working to Make the Obama Presidential Center a Success - WTTW News - June 26th, 2026 [June 26th, 2026]
- WKU Disaster Science Team provides weather support for grand opening of Obama Presidential Center - WBKO - June 26th, 2026 [June 26th, 2026]
- Meet the practice behind the Obama Presidential Centers brand identity - Monocle - June 26th, 2026 [June 26th, 2026]
- Barack Obama Shares a Rare Update on His Health Weeks Before His 65th Birthday - instyle.com - June 26th, 2026 [June 26th, 2026]
- Michelle Obama reveals what the 'truth is' about Barack Obama marriage - USA Today - June 26th, 2026 [June 26th, 2026]
- Rogan: UFC fighter who insulted Michelle Obama probably shouldnt have been invited to White House event - The Hill - June 26th, 2026 [June 26th, 2026]
- Barack Obama Addresses Donald Trumps Obsession with Him: I Have a Suite in His Head - People.com - June 26th, 2026 [June 26th, 2026]
- Barack Obama Says He Can 'Barely Keep Up' with How Cool His Daughters Malia and Sasha Are (Exclusive) - People.com - June 26th, 2026 [June 26th, 2026]
- Larry David on Curb-ish New Series and Getting Obama to Act in It - The Hollywood Reporter - June 26th, 2026 [June 26th, 2026]
- UFC's Joshua Hokit Says Michelle Obama Comment Was "Giving Her A Compliment": "You'll Never Hear Me Backtrack From What I Say" -... - June 26th, 2026 [June 26th, 2026]
- Even Barack Obama has an opinion on the Spurs' lineup - MySA - June 26th, 2026 [June 26th, 2026]
- Flashback: In a Divided America, the Road from Obama to Trump - PBS - June 12th, 2026 [June 12th, 2026]
- ABJECT HUMILIATION WORSE THAN OBAMA DEAL why Trump cant get out of Iran war - Channel 4 - June 12th, 2026 [June 12th, 2026]
- Barack Obama Surprised the Disclosure Day Set: Imagine Your Scariest Day at Work and Then Obama Comes to Watch You - The Hollywood Reporter - June 12th, 2026 [June 12th, 2026]
- It was scary: Michelle Obama reveals big risk that sent her into major spiral of guilt - SILive.com - June 12th, 2026 [June 12th, 2026]
- Ahead of opening of Obama Presidential Center, Chicago traffic could be impacted by road closures, parking restrictions - ABC7 Chicago - June 12th, 2026 [June 12th, 2026]
- The Obama Presidential Center what is this forbidding monolith trying to say? - Financial Times - June 12th, 2026 [June 12th, 2026]
- Obama Center Opens In June. Heres What To Know About Watch Party, Road Closures - Block Club Chicago - June 12th, 2026 [June 12th, 2026]
- Restaurant news: Obama Presidential Center opening with Tafaris Kitchen and more on the South Side - Chicago Tribune - June 12th, 2026 [June 12th, 2026]
- Malia Obama's vest and skirt pairing is the cool-girl formula we're stealing this summer - HOLA - June 12th, 2026 [June 12th, 2026]
- A First Look at the Art in the New Obama Presidential Center - Hyperallergic - June 12th, 2026 [June 12th, 2026]
- Visiting the Obama Presidential Center? Heres What Else to See Around Jackson Park - WTTW - June 12th, 2026 [June 12th, 2026]
- Former President Obama meets with staff at Obama Presidential Center ahead of grand opening - CBS News - June 12th, 2026 [June 12th, 2026]
- Visiting Chicago's Obama Presidential Center: Everything you need to know including hours, how to get there - CBS News - June 12th, 2026 [June 12th, 2026]
- One Thin Dime museum to host Obama Presidential Center opening watch party - WVVA - June 12th, 2026 [June 12th, 2026]
- Trump invited to tour Obama Center after calling it a disaster - The Hill - June 12th, 2026 [June 12th, 2026]
- People Can't Stop Comparing Trump's Boos To Obama's 2019 NBA Finals Standing Ovation - BuzzFeed - June 12th, 2026 [June 12th, 2026]
- Four addresses on Stony Island show the promise, possible perils of Obama Center's impact on South Side - CBS News - June 12th, 2026 [June 12th, 2026]
- Pulitzer-winning historian honored by Obama dies after car hits him in Rhode Island supermarket parking lot - CBS News - June 12th, 2026 [June 12th, 2026]
- The Famous Voices That Will Guide You at the Obama Presidential Center - East Wing Magazine - June 12th, 2026 [June 12th, 2026]
- The Obama Center is a Monument to the More Effective Evil - Black Agenda Report - June 12th, 2026 [June 12th, 2026]
- Obama Center brings hopes for future of 4 properties on Stony Island - CBS News - June 12th, 2026 [June 12th, 2026]
- Obama Presidential Center Prepares For Opening 12-Years In The Making - Chicago YIMBY - June 12th, 2026 [June 12th, 2026]
- Barack Obama was the shadow architect of a Chicago-style treasure box museum - Porterville Recorder - June 12th, 2026 [June 12th, 2026]
- Here Are The Black-Owned Firms Involved In Constructing The Obama Presidential Center Opening Juneteenth - afrotech.com - June 12th, 2026 [June 12th, 2026]
- Trump Can Succeed in Lebanon Where Obama Failed | Opinion - Newsweek - June 12th, 2026 [June 12th, 2026]
- Black-owned construction firms bring Chicago's Obama Presidential Center to life - ABC7 Chicago - June 7th, 2026 [June 7th, 2026]
- Trump rips Obama's 'stupid' Iran deal, claims former president thought 'he could bribe them' - Yahoo - June 7th, 2026 [June 7th, 2026]
- Trump bashed the Obama Presidential Center. So they invited him on a tour - USA Today - June 7th, 2026 [June 7th, 2026]
- Inside the $850 million Obama Presidential Center ahead of its Juneteenth opening - CNBC - June 7th, 2026 [June 7th, 2026]