17 of President Obama's most inspirational quotes
When he left office, the nation was deeply divided by the most polarizing election in recent memory. Obama encouraged Americans to push on.
From the child of an immigrant to the 44th president of the United States, Obama often held up his own American story as an example of what is possible in this country.
Obama credits his daughters, Malia and Sasha, for making him a feminist.
He was the first sitting president to say he supported legalizing same-sex marriage. In 2015, the Supreme Court made it the law of the land.
Obama inspired a strong coalition of young people while in office, and plans to focus on engaging them now that he's no longer president.
Obama, and many members of Congress, tried to overhaul US immigration policies. But true immigration reform would elude them.
A frequent theme of Obama's speeches — one on which he launched his political career — was choosing "hope over fear."
In his second term, Obama attempted to tackle climate change, LGBT rights, and gun control as key issues. He didn't get much congressional support on them.
As a former constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago, Obama often spoke on upholding the First Amendment's freedoms of speech, religion, assembly, expression, and the press.
Obama sailed into his second term with 332 electoral votes and 51% of the popular vote in 2012. While Democrats maintained a slim majority in the Senate, Republicans maintained control of the House (where they had taken control in 2010).
When Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 18 others were shot in Tucson, Obama comforted the nation. It was the first of many mass shootings to which he would have to respond.
Ending US involvement in Iraq was one of his key campaign promises, and he did start withdrawing American troops in 2009. The reality of ending a war across the world proved more complicated, however.
Shortly after his inaugural address, Obama signed the $787 billion economic stimulus package, designed to pull the American economy out of the Great Recession. A year later, he signed into law the Affordable Care Act, his signature legislative achievement.
Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize a year after taking office for the promise he showed, sparking both celebration and derision around the globe.
Democrats swept into office that year, as they took control of both houses of Congress and the first black president entered the White House.
By 2008, he won the presidency with 365 electoral votes and 53% of the popular vote.
Back in 2004, Obama was still an Illinois state lawmaker running for US Senate, unknown to most of America.
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