Barack Obama
The Obama Era: The Last Eight Years in Pictures
Barack Obama is the 44th president of the United States and the first African-American president.
After eight years in office, President Obama delivered a farewell address to the American people in Chicago on Jan. 10, 2017.
Here's a look back at the tenure of Barack Obama, from Obamacare, his signature legislative achievement, to the mission that killed Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the Sept. 11 attacks, to a presidential visit to Cuba, the first in nearly 90 years.
Above: President Barack Obama waves as he and his wife Michelle walk down Pennsylvania Avenue during the Inaugural parade in Washington on Jan. 20, 2009.
President Obama signs the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, in the East Room of the White House on March 23, 2010.
Considered by many to be Obama's most significant legislative achievement, President-elect Donald Trump and the GOP Congress have vowed to repeal and replace the law.
President Obama phones incoming House Speaker John Boehner to congratulate him on his election victory from his Treaty Room office in the White House residence, a couple of minutes after midnight, on Nov. 3, 2010.
The GOP regained control of the House in midterm elections.
President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other members of the national security team receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House on May 1, 2011.
Bin Laden, the mastermind behind the Sept. 11 terror attacks that killed thousands of Americans, was slain in his luxury hideout in Pakistan in a firefight with U.S. forces, ending a manhunt that spanned a frustrating decade.
President Obama waves as he walks to his car after playing basketball at Fort McNair in Washington on Nov. 26, 2011.
Concerned about injury, the well-known hoops lover played less basketball in his second term. In 2010 he needed 12 stitches on his upper lip after getting an elbow to the mouth during a pickup game.
President Obama reacts as Joey Hudy of Phoenix, Arizona, launches a marshmallow from his Extreme Marshmallow Cannon in the State Dining Room at the White House Science Fair on Feb. 7, 2012. The fair celebrates the achievements of student winners of a broad range of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) competitions from across the country.
President Obama, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, left, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey attend an event at the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2012, commemorating the 11th anniversary of the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton walk away from the podium during the Transfer of Remains Ceremony for the return of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Libyan embassy employees at Joint Base Andrews on Sept. 14. 2012 in Maryland.
Stevens and the other embassy employees were killed when the consulate in Benghazi, Libya was attacked on Sept. 11, 2012.
President Obama pretends to be caught in Spider-Man's web as he greets Nicholas Tamarin, 3, just outside the Oval Office on Oct. 26, 2012.
Spider-Man had been trick-or-treating for an early Halloween with his father, White House aide Nate Tamarin in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
President Obama hugs North Point Marina owner Donna Vanzant as he tours damage done by Hurricane Sandy in Brigantine, New Jersey, on Oct. 31, 2012.
Putting aside partisan differences, Obama and Republican Gov. Chris Christie toured storm-stricken parts of New Jersey together, taking in scenes of flooded roads and burning homes in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy.
President Obama, first lady Michelle and their daughters Sasha, left, and Malia board Air Force One in Chicago on Nov. 7, 2012.
Obama returned to Washington emboldened by his re-election but facing the daunting task of breaking down partisan gridlock in a bitterly divided Congress.
President Obama speaks about the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, during a press briefing at the White House on Dec. 14, 2012.
A heavily armed gunman opened fire on school children and staff at the elementary school, killing 20 first-graders and six educators.
President Obama high-fives children in a pre-kindergarten classroom at College Heights early childhood learning center in Decatur, Georgia, on Feb. 14, 2013. Obama flew to Georgia to push his plan to ensure high-quality preschool, unveiled during his State of the Union address earlier in the week.
President Obama looks out of the "door of no return" during a tour of Goree Island, Senegal, on June 27, 2013.
The island is the site of the former slave house and embarkation point built by the Dutch in 1776, from which slaves were brought to the Americas. The "door of no return" was the entrance to the slave ships.
President Obama walks to a briefing to deliver remarks on the government shutdown at FEMA's National Responce Coordination Center in Washington on Oct. 7, 2013.
The first government shutdown in 17 years came after lawmakers reached an impasse on a bill to finance the government past Sept. 30. The Senate rejected measures passed by the Republican-led House on Monday that would have delayed key portions of the Affordable Care Act while extending funding for a few weeks.
First lady Michelle Obama, center, flexes her arms for Sesame Street characters Elmo, left, and Rosita, right, during an event to help promote fresh fruit and vegetable consumption in the State Dining Room of the White House on Oct. 30, 2013.
Michelle Obama championed a healthier nation during her time as first lady, installing a new garden on the South Lawn of the White House and leading the Let's Move! initiative, where she took on childhood obesity and lack of access to healthy food.
President Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron pose for a selfie with Denmark's Prime Minister Helle Thorning Schmidt as first lady Michelle Obama looks on during a memorial service for former South African President Nelson Mandela at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on Dec. 10, 2013.
Mandela, the revered icon of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa and one of the towering political figures of the 20th century, died at age 95.
President Obama, at left in white shirt, joins in a march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on March 7, 2015. Marching with him are, from left, Obama's mother-in-law Marian Robinson, daughter Sasha, first lady Michelle and Rep. John Lewis.
The Obamas joined thousands in Selma to honor the sacrifice and bravery of the men and women who bled there in 1965, in support of voting rights for all African Americans.
President Obama embraces Vice President Joe Biden after delivering the eulogy during the funeral of Biden's son, former Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, at St. Anthony of Padua church in Wilimington, Delaware, on June 6, 2015.
Beau Biden died of brain cancer. The vice president cited his family's painful mourning process as the primary reason he declined to run for president in 2016.
A Cuban man watches President Obama deliver a nationally televised address at the Grand Theater in Havana on March 22, 2016.
In his speech, Obama urged Cubans to look to the future with hope, casting his historic visit to the island nation as a moment to "bury the last remnant of the Cold War in the Americas."
President Obama drinks a glass of filtered water from Flint, Michigan, a city struggling with the effects of lead-poisoned drinking water, during a meeting with local and federal authorities on May 4, 2016.
The president said Flint's water is safe, if filtered, and to prove it, he took a sip of it himself.
First lady Michelle Obama, center, hugs former President George W. Bush, as President Barack Obama and former first lady Laura Bush look on at the dedication ceremony of the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture on the National Mall in Washington on Sept. 24, 2016.
President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump shake hands following their meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Nov. 10, 2016.
After their first face-to-face meeting, Obama and Trump pledged to work together following a rancorous election.
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle watch the musical performances at the 2016 National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony at the Ellipse near the White House on Dec. 1, 2016.