Cameron Miranda
Barack Obama was inaugurated as the first African-American president of the United States on January 20, 2009. During his presidency, Obama focused on domestic policies, signing laws such as the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and the Affordable Care Act. He also signed executive orders to close the Guantanamo Bay prison and address the effects of the Great Recession. In foreign policy, Obama committed to counter-terrorism efforts, including airstrikes against ISIL, and sought to improve community-police relationships in the wake of events in Ferguson, Missouri. Additionally, Obama signed the Achieving a Better Life Experience Act, supporting individuals with disabilities, and took steps towards immigration reform and climate action.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date of inauguration | 20 January 2009 |
| First actions as president | Reversing measures taken by the Bush administration following the September 11 attacks |
| First legislation signed | Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act |
| Legislation signed | American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Affordable Care Act, Achieving a Better Life Experience Act, Credit CARD Act of 2009, Executive Order 13492 |
| Foreign policy focus | Reducing number of American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, counter-terrorism strategy against ISIL, airstrikes against ISIL, support for forces fighting ISIL, humanitarian assistance to civilians |
| Achievements | Osama bin Laden killed under Obama's administration, phase out of private prisons, most commutations out of all presidents, focus on community-oriented policing model |
| Domestic policy focus | Economic crisis, healthcare reform, education reform, tax credits for veterans |
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What You'll Learn
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
On January 29, 2009, President Barack Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 into law. This was the first piece of legislation of his administration. The Act amends Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sex-based wage discrimination between men and women who perform jobs requiring substantially equal skill, effort, and responsibility under similar working conditions.
The Act was a response to the case of Lilly Ledbetter, a production supervisor at a Goodyear tire plant in Alabama, who filed an equal-pay lawsuit regarding pay discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Ledbetter claimed that she had been discriminated against based on her sex and race, and a jury initially found in her favour, awarding her $3 million. However, this amount was reduced to $360,000 due to a Title VII damage cap, and the appeals court reversed this ruling. The Supreme Court then ruled that Ledbetter's complaint was time-barred because the discriminatory decisions relating to pay had been made more than 180 days prior to the date she filed her charge.
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The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
The ARRA was based on Keynesian economic theory, which argues that during recessions, the government should increase public spending to offset the decrease in private spending. This, in turn, would save jobs and prevent further economic deterioration. The Act included tax incentives, such as those related to the American Opportunity Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit, which were later extended for an additional two years by the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010.
The ARRA also encompassed the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act), which provided significant funding for healthcare-related initiatives. This included a $25.1 billion subsidy for healthcare insurance premiums for the unemployed under the COBRA program, $10 billion for health research and the construction of National Institutes of Health facilities, and $53.6 billion in aid to local school districts to prevent layoffs and cutbacks, with potential flexibility to use the funds for school modernization and repair.
Furthermore, the Act allocated $40 billion to extend unemployment benefits through December 31, increasing them by $25 per week, and provided one-time payments of $250 to Social Security recipients, individuals on Supplemental Security Income, and veterans receiving disability pensions. Additionally, the ARRA played a role in the creation of the National Broadband Plan, which aimed to ensure that all Americans had access to broadband and established benchmarks for achieving this goal.
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The Affordable Care Act
ACA amended the Public Health Service Act of 1944 and introduced new provisions on affordable care into Title 42 of the United States Code. The individual insurance market was overhauled, and many of the law's regulations applied specifically to this market. The structure of Medicare, Medicaid, and the employer market were largely retained, although some regulations did apply to the employer market. The law also made delivery system changes that affected most of the healthcare system.
All new individual major medical health insurance policies sold to individuals and families faced new requirements, which came into effect on January 1, 2014. These include guaranteed issue, which prohibits insurers from denying coverage to individuals because of pre-existing conditions. States were also required to ensure the availability of insurance for individual children who did not have coverage through their families.
The act includes delivery system reforms intended to constrain costs and improve quality. These include Medicare payment changes to discourage hospital-acquired conditions and readmissions, bundled payment initiatives, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, the Independent Payment Advisory Board, and accountable care organizations. Health care cost/quality initiatives included incentives to reduce hospital infections, adopt electronic medical records, and to coordinate care and prioritize quality over quantity.
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The Achieving a Better Life Experience Act
During his presidency, Barack Obama signed many important acts into law. One of these was the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act, which was signed into law on December 19, 2014, as part of the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014.
The ABLE Act was created to establish tax-free savings accounts for individuals with disabilities to cover qualified disability-related expenses, including education, housing, and transportation. This was the first time that people with disabilities were given the opportunity to save and pay for the extra costs associated with living with a disability, thereby enhancing their financial health, independence, and quality of life. Contributions to these accounts are subject to annual and cumulative limits and are treated as gifts for federal gift tax purposes. Importantly, these accounts do not replace benefits provided through private insurance, the Medicaid program, the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, employment, or other sources.
The act was named after the late Stephen Beck Jr., a father whose daughter, Natalie, has Down syndrome. Beck made it his life's mission to ensure that his daughter had the same opportunities to save as everyone else. Sadly, he passed away just days after the U.S. House of Representatives passed the ABLE Act. The act was also supported by various disability advocates and organisations, such as the National Disability Institute (NDI), the founder and manager of the ABLE National Resource Center.
The ABLE Act has undergone some changes since its inception. For example, in 2022, Section 529A was amended to extend the age of onset of disability for ABLE account eligibility from 26 to 46 years old. This change, which will go into effect on January 1, 2026, expands access to ABLE accounts for individuals who become disabled later in life, thereby increasing financial security and support for a broader group of people with disabilities, including veterans.
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The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act
The 2013 reauthorization expanded federal protections to include gay, lesbian, and transgender individuals, Native Americans, and immigrants. Notably, it addressed a longstanding legal issue by allowing the prosecution of non-Native Americans in tribal courts for domestic or dating violence perpetrated against Native Americans. This provision overturned the 1978 Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe case, which previously left Native American women unprotected in cases of violence perpetrated by non-Native Americans.
The Act also provided $1.6 billion for investigating and prosecuting violent crimes against women, imposed mandatory restitution on those convicted, and allowed civil redress when prosecutors chose not to pursue cases. Additionally, it established the Office on Violence Against Women within the U.S. Department of Justice.
The Violence Against Women Act was first introduced in 1994 and has received bipartisan support for reauthorization over the years, with the exception of opposition from conservative Republicans in 2012. Their opposition was based on extending the Act's protections to same-sex couples and provisions allowing battered foreigners residing illegally in the country to claim temporary visas. Despite this resistance, the Senate voted to reauthorize the Act in April 2012, and it was signed into law by President Obama the following year.
The Act has continued to be reauthorized periodically, including in 2019 and 2022, to maintain its vital protections and support for victims of violence.
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Frequently asked questions
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was the first signed legislation of the Obama administration. It encourages fair pay for all workers and establishes new methods of protesting unfair paychecks.
Obama signed the American Jobs Act into law on November 21, 2011. It included the Returning Heroes Tax Credit and the Wounded Warriors Tax Credit, which provided tax credits to businesses that hired unemployed veterans.
Obama signed the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act into law on December 19, 2014. It allows individuals with disabilities to earn assets without risking the loss of needed health benefits and income assistance. It also creates a new savings account for families with disabled members.
