January 21 – President Obama revokes Executive Order 13233, which had been initiated by the Bush administration to limit access to the records of former presidents.[5] At 7:35 pm EST on January 21, President Obama retakes the Presidential Oath of Office, again administered by Chief JusticeJohn G. Roberts, before four print journalists.[6] President Obama issues instructions to all agencies and departments in his administration to "adopt a presumption in favor" of Freedom of Information Act requests,[7] reversing earlier policy set by former Attorney GeneralJohn Ashcroft.[8] The President issues an executive order entitled "Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel", governing the limitations on hiring of employees by the executive branch to qualified individuals only, and placing very tight restrictions on lobbying in the White House.[9]
January 22 – President Obama signs an executive order announcing the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp within a year,[10] and signs a prohibition on using torture and other illegal coercive techniques, such as waterboarding, during interrogations and detentions,[11][12] requiring the Army field manual to be used as a guide.
January 23 – President Obama ends the funding ban for groups that provide abortion services or counseling abroad, also known as the "gag rule" or the Mexico City Policy.[13] He orders the first two Predatorairstrikes of his presidency. (See Airstrikes in Pakistan).[14]
January 26 – President Obama signs his first two Presidential Memoranda concerning energy independence, directing the U.S. Department of Transportation to establish higher fuel efficiency standards before 2011 models are released and the allowing states to raise their emissions standards above the national standard.[21] That night he gives his first formal interview as president to Al Arabiya.[22]
February 11 – President Obama promotes his economic stimulus plan at a construction site in Springfield, Virginia with then-DNC Chairman and former Virginia governor Tim Kaine.[64]
February 27 – President Obama delivers a speech at Camp Lejeune on his plans for troop withdrawals from Iraq.[99] The Obama administration through the Department of Health and Human Services starts the process to repeal or modify a "midnight rule" conceived to protect health workers who refuse for conscience reasons to provide health care.[100]
March 1–7 – Secretary of State Clinton leaves on her second foreign trip to Egypt, Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Belgium, Switzerland, and Turkey.[101]
March 12 – President Obama renews economic sanctions against Iran first imposed in 1995.[123] Mrs. Obama visits Fort Bragg, North Carolina on her first solo trip outside of the capital as First Lady.[124]
March 19 – President Obama appears on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.[133] Just before midnight President Obama releases a video message to the Iranian people and government to coincide with Nowruz.[134][135]
March 20 – President Obama and Vice President Biden meet with former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in Washington.[136]
March 23 – Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner unveils the government's plan to help investors purchase toxic assets from banks.[137]
March 24 – President Obama holds his second prime time press conference in the East Room of the White House, to discuss economic hardships, as well as the government's intentions to solve the global economic crisis.[138] Also, the United States Senate confirms Gary Locke, former Governor of Washington, as United States Secretary of Commerce.[139]
Obama answers questions in the first online town hall meeting.
March 26 – President Obama holds an online town hall at the White House, a historic first in American Presidential conveyance.[143][144]
March 27 – President Obama announces a new strategy for the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan.[145]
March 27–30 – Vice President Biden travelled to Latin America, visiting Chile and Costa Rica. The President attended the Progressive Governance conference in Chile, along with the presidents of Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay, and the prime ministers of the United Kingdom and Norway.[146][147]
April 2 – The G-20summit begins in London, England.[152] The President announces Robert Groves to be his candidate for director of The Census Bureau[153]
April 3 – President Obama meets French President Nicolas Sarkozy[154] and holds a town hall meeting with French and German students.[155]
April 5 – President Obama meets with Czech President Václav Klaus and Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek.[158] The President gives a thoughtful speech on nuclear proliferation disarmament to a public crowd in Prague. Earlier the North Korean government had launched a long-range multi-stage rocket.[159]
April 7 – President Obama finishes his trip in Istanbul, including a town hall meeting,[161] and makes a surprise visit to Baghdad, Iraq (his first as president), where he meets with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.[162]
April 13 – President Obama signs a presidential memorandum eliminating limits on Cuban-Americans governing family visits and remittances sent to the island.[165]
April 16–17 – President Obama visits Mexico to meet with President Felipe Calderón.[169] President Obama states the US is a "full partner" with Mexico in its fight against the Mexican drug cartels.[170]
April 27 – President Obama addresses the National Academy of Sciences and announces that more than 3 percent of the GDP will be devoted to research and development. He also announces a doubling of the budgets of NSF and NIST, and a goal of reducing carbon pollution by more than 80 percent by 2050.[176][177][178][179]
April 29 – President Obama meets the Media in a primetime news conference, to discuss the first 100 days of his presidency, and the plans already implemented that will continue into the rest of his term.[181]
May 4 – President Obama marks Cinco de Mayo a day early in a small speech to Latino Americans. President Obama was joined by First Lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Second Lady Jill Biden, United States Ambassador to Mexico Arturo Sarukhan and his wife Veronica Valenca-Sarukhan.[182]
May 5 – President Obama meets with Israeli President Shimon Peres in the Oval Office of the White House to discuss the foreign affairs of Israel, the relationship between Palestinians and Israelis, and the prospects of a two-state solution.[183]
May 6 – President Obama holds a summit with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari at the White House.[184]
May 13 – At Arizona State University, President Obama gives his first commencement address as president, but does not receive an honorary degree from the University.[186]
May 17 – Amidst controversy over his visit, in regards to his stance on issues such as abortion and his recent executive order that lifts the ban on stem cell research, President Obama delivers the commencement address at the University of Notre Dame.[191]
May 18 – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington.[192]
May 19 – President Obama announces plans to create new automobile fuel efficiency standards requiring cars, as well as light trucks to have an average of at least 35.5 miles per gallon, by 2016, in an attempt to curve emissions and reduce the United States' contributions to global warming.[193]
May 22 – President Obama gives the commencement address at United States Naval Academy.[195] The President also signs the Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act and the Credit CARD Act into law, to reform legislation and aim "...to establish fair and transparent practices relating to the extension of credit under an open end consumer credit plan, and for other purposes."
May 23 – Major General Charles Bolden is nominated by President Obama to be the next NASA administrator, marking the first African American to be nominated to the position.[196]Lori Garver is nominated to be the deputy administrator.
May 26 – President Obama nominates federal judgeSonia Sotomayor to replace retiring Supreme Court justice David Souter.[199] Confirmed in August, she becomes the just the third woman, and first Hispanic, to be appointed to the court.[200]
May 30 – Plans for a CyberSpace Czar to help prevent web crimes such as identity theft and other breaches of computer security networks are announced by the President.[201] The president and first lady later travel to New York City, where they dined at Blue Hill and attend the Broadway revival of Joe Turner's Come and Gone.[202]
May 31 – President Obama denounces and condemns the killing of medical director and abortion provider George Tiller, saying he was "shocked and outraged" by the assassination and death of Tiller.[203]
June 1 – President Obama speaks to the American public about the General Motors bankruptcy crisis in a press conference at the White House.[204]
June 4 – President Obama gives a speech in Cairo, Egypt, as a part of a worldwide attempt to repair the image of America around the world, a promise he made during his campaign for President of the United States. During the speech, President Obama notably references the Bible, the Torah, the Qur'an, and other Muslim texts in his address to the more than one thousand Cairo University students in attendance.[208] The President also announced that the U.S. Government would host a Summit on Entrepreneurship to identify how we can deepen ties between business leaders, foundations, and entrepreneurs in the United States and Muslim communities around the world.[209]
June 5 – President Obama visits Buchenwald, a former Naziconcentration camp used during World War II, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and survivor and activist Elie Wiesel, during his trip through Germany.[210] President Obama then arrives in Paris, visits the Eiffel Tower with his family, and meets French President Sarkozy.[211]
June 17 – President Obama announces sweeping proposals to rework financial regulation[218] and move the country toward financial stability. President Obama also signs a memorandum extending certain benefits to federal employees involved in same sex partnerships.[219]
June 19 – Along with other prominent fathers, Obama holds a town hall meeting at the White House to commemorate Father's Day, and bring awareness to the relationship of American fathers and children. President Obama notably identified his father as one of the greatest influences in his own life, in the short time that they were together.[220]
June 27 – The removal of American combat troops from major Iraqi cities begins.[225]
June 28 – President Obama meets with President Álvaro Uribe of Colombia in the Oval Office. The President and First Lady also host a reception in the East Room for LGBT Pride Month.[226]
June 30 – The President delivers remarks at an event in the East Room to highlight programs that have been able to make a difference in communities across the country.[227]
July 1 – President Obama holds an online townhall meeting to discuss health care reform. President Obama is joined by Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett.[228]
July 2 – The President meets in the Roosevelt Room with leaders of companies that are creating jobs. The President also delivers remarks about innovation and jobs in the White House Rose Garden.[229]
July 4 – The White House celebrates Independence Day and honors military heroes and their families with a barbecue on the South Lawn. The celebrations conclude with fireworks on the White House grounds and at the Washington Memorial.[230]
July 6 – The President and First Lady arrive in Moscow to meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, to discuss diplomatic progress in regards to nuclear weapons, as well as the situation in Afghanistan.[231] President Obama also speaks at the graduation ceremony of the New Economic School in Moscow.[232]
July 9 – President Obama attends the second day of the G-8 Summit, and holds a bilateral meeting with Brazilian President Lula da Silva. The President also attends a working dinner hosted by Italian President Giorgio Napolitano later that day.[237]
July 10 – On the final day of the G-8 Summit, President Obama meets with South African President Jacob Zuma, President Obama also visits Pope Benedict XVI in Vatican City. The President then heads to Ghana in Africa, his first visit to any sub-saharan African nation since he was elected president.[238]
July 13 – The President nominates Dr.Regina Benjamin for the position of United States Surgeon General, noting her experience as a medical doctor in Alabama, and her multiple rebuildings of her office after natural disasters, in selecting her for the office.[242][243]
July 14 – President Obama meets with Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende in the Oval Office.[244] President Obama then speaks at Macomb Community College, and proposes a $12 billion effort to help two-year institutions to "train more people [...] for the jobs of the future."[245] President Obama also throws the first pitch at baseball's annual All-Star Game at Busch Stadium.[244]
July 15 – A milestone is achieved when a Senate committee approves a plan to revamp the U.S. health care system.[246] The Senate confirmed President Obama's nominations of retired astronaut Maj. Gen. Charles Bolden as administrator of NASA and Lori Garver as the assistant administrator.[247]
July 17 – President Obama gives a speech on healthcare reform, to help to pass a national healthcare bill in the Congress, and address concerns over a government run healthcare program.[250][251]
July 22 – The President holds a primetime news conference to address concerns over the healthcare bill in Congress. President Obama also comments on the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, and the actions of the police in arresting Gates.[254] President Obama also meets with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in the Oval Office, and hold a joint news conference in the White House Rose Garden.[255]
July 23 – President Obama travels to Cleveland, Ohio to tour the Cleveland Clinic, as well as deliver further remarks about healthcare reform.[256]
July 30 – President Obama and Vice President Biden hold a "beer summit" at the White House with Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates and the arresting officer Sgt. James Crowley of the Cambridge Police Department, in order to address the issue of race in America and discuss the arrest of Gates in his Massachusetts home on July 16, 2009.[259] Obama also discusses remarks he had made during his news conference on July 22, in which he stated that the police department had "acted stupidly" in arresting Gates.[260]
July 30 – President Obama meets with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Philippines in the Oval Office. The 2 leaders talk about the strong relationship between the Philippines and United States. They also discuss terrorism in the Southern Philippines and environmental issues. President Arroyo is the first Asian Leader to attend discussions at the White House during Obama's Presidency. [261]
August 4 – President Obama celebrates his forty-eighth birthday at the White House.[263] President Obama also meets with National Commander of the American Legion Dave Rehbein and Executive Director Peter Gaytan.[264]
August 5 – President Obama visits Elkhart, Indiana for the second time in his presidency to hold a townhall meeting about unemployment in the work force and new jobs being created.[265]
August 7 – The President gives a statement in the Rose Garden in regards to the release of the Bureau of Labor Statistics' unemployment figures for the month of July.[267]
August 14 – President Obama holds a townhall meeting, in Belgrade, Montana, to discuss health insurance reform, and the healthcare bill in Congress.[273]
August 15 – President Obama holds another townhall meeting, in Grand Junction, Colorado, to continue his emphasis on healthcare reform.[274]
August 16 – President Obama visits the Grand Canyon in Arizona with First Lady Michelle Obama, and daughters Malia and Sasha Obama.[275]
August 18 – President Obama, along with Vice President Biden and Secretary of State Clinton, meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in the Oval Office.[277]
August 29 – President Obama gives the eulogy at the funeral service of Senator Edward Moore Kennedy.[279] Former Presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush (also representing his father, former President George H. W. Bush) attend,[280] along with Vice President Biden, three former Vice Presidents, 58 senators, 21 former senators, many members of the House of Representatives, and several foreign dignitaries.[281]
September 23 – President Obama gives his first speech to the United Nations General Assembly.[297] President Obama also speaks as a guest speaker at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York City.[298]
September 25 – While at the G20 summit, President Obama along with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown make a public statement accusing Iran of constructing a secret nuclear facility near Qom.[299]
September 29 – President Obama meets with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen in the Oval Office for an expanded delegation meeting.[300]
October 3 – The President and First Lady celebrate their 17th wedding anniversary at the Blue Duck Tavern in Washington, D.C. before heading back to the White House.[305]
October 5 – President Obama gives a speech to doctors about health care reform on the Rose Garden of the White House.[306] Obama also participates in a CEQ Executive Order signing in the Oval Office.[307]
October 6 – President Obama meets with the National Counter Terrorism Center leadership and analysts during a visit to the NCTC in McLean, Virginia.[308]
October 7 – The President presents 2008 Medals of Science and Medals of Technology and Innovation during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House.[309] President Obama also hosts an Astronomy Night on the South Lawn, with Sally Ride.[310]
October 9 – The 2009 Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to President Obama "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples".[311][312]
October 19 – President Obama visits Viers Mill Elementary School in Silver Spring, Maryland to speak to children about reading.[322]
October 20 – President Obama meets with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in the Oval Office.[323] President Obama later travel to the headquarters of the Joint Terrorism Task Force in New York City.[324]
October 21 – President Obama, along with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, speaks at the Metropolitan Archives, in Landover, Maryland to announce a package of initiatives to increase credit to small businesses.[325] President Obama also meets with Senator John Kerry in the Oval Office to discuss the war in Afghanistan.[326]
October 22 – President Obama signs the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act in the East Room of the White House.[327]
October 27 – President Obama speaks and tours the DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center in Arcadia, Florida.[331]
October 28 – President Obama signs the Matthew Shepard Act in the East Room of the White House, expanding hate-crime law to include gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.[332][333]
October 30 – President Obama signs an executive order, lifting a 22-year-old immigration and travel ban on citizens of the United States with HIV.[336][337]
October 31 – The First Family hosts a Halloween party at the White House, and welcome more than two thousand children.[338]
November 5 – President Obama meets with the Botswanan President Ian Khama in the Oval Office. President Obama also meets with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to discuss Hispanic relations in the United States.[347][348]
November 9 – President Obama welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office. President Obama also signs an executive order establishing the Council on Veterans Employment.[350][351]
November 10 – President Obama gives a eulogy at the Fort Hood ceremony honoring those killed in the shooting rampage on November 5, 2009, by Major Nidal Malik Hasan.[352]
November 13 – President Obama arrives in Tokyo to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, and holds a bilateral meeting.[356]
November 14 – President Obama delivers a major address regarding Asia's relationship with the United States, at Suntory Hall in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.[357]
November 17 – President Obama holds a series of meetings with President Hu Jintao, to discuss issues regarding U.S.-China relations. President Obama also tours the Forbidden City in Beijing.[364]
November 19 – President Obama meets and holds an arrival ceremony with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in Seoul, South Korea.[368]
November 23 – President Obama presents the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award to Magadonga Mahlangu, Jenni Williams, and their organization known as WOZA, in a ceremony in the East Room of the White House.[369]
Obama with Manmohan Singh in the East Room of the White House.
November 24 – The first state dinner of the Obama presidency honoring Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is held in a reception on the White House grounds.[370][371]
November 25 – President Obama officially pardons two turkeys in recognition of Thanksgiving in the United States.[372]
November 30 – President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton meet Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.[373]