53 Interesting Facts About Barack Obama

Last updated on February 7th, 2023

36. In March of 2010, he signed his signature legislation, the Affordable Care Act, into law. Anywhere from 12 to 18 million Americans acquired health insurance who previously did not have coverage due to this law.

37. Obama was the first sitting U. S. president to speak to the British Parliament; endorse same-sex marriage; visit Hiroshima, Japan; as well as visit Cuba in 88 years and re-establish diplomatic relations.

38. Obama has a YouTube channel with over 289 million views and uploaded his weekly address to it, the first president to do so.

Here is his farewell video from the channel.

39. He was re-elected on November 6, 2012, and inaugurated on January 20, 2013, as required by the Constitution in a private ceremony in the White House(as it was a Sunday). The public ceremony at the capital occurred the next day.

40. During his first inauguration in 2009, a mistake was made in the wording so his oath of office was retaken in a ceremony the next day. When re-elected he became the second President in history to take the oath of office four times, after Franklin Roosevelt.

41. Other accomplishments of President Obama include the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009; Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010; American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012; ending the Iraqi War; and ordering the military operation that killed Osama bin Laden.

42. Barack Obama left office on January 20, 2017, after two terms as president. His presidential library will be built in Chicago to house his papers and memorabilia.

43. President Obama kept a carving of a wooden hand holding an egg on his desk. It is a Kenyan symbol of the fragility of life.

Personal and Random Facts

44. Obama is left-handed and can speak Spanish. Obama was the eighth U.S. president in history who was known to be left-handed.

45. At just over six feet tall (6’1″) Obama is one of the tallest U.S. presidents and he can bench press an impressive 200 pounds.

46. He was given the code name “Renegade” by his Secret Service handlers.

47. Obama hasn’t liked ice cream since he worked at a Baskin-Robbins as a teenager. His favorite snack is chocolate-peanut protein bars and his favorite candy is Fran’s Smoked Salt Caramels.

48. His favorite drink is black forest berry iced tea. He doesn’t drink coffee and rarely drinks alcohol.

49. His favorite meal is his wife’s shrimp linguini. He loves to cook chili himself. Other favorite foods include cobbler and broccoli.

50. He had the tennis court at the White House adapted into a basketball court and still shoots many three-pointers. He also loves golf. He enjoys boxing matches and has a pair of red boxing gloves owned by Muhammad Ali.

51. He loves to play Scrabble and enjoys poker as well.

52. Other hobbies include reading and writing.

53. He collects Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comics. And he is influenced by Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi and Pablo Picasio, to name a few.

Inspirational Quotes

“The future rewards those who press on. I don’t have time to feel sorry for myself. I don’t have time to complain. I’m going to press on.”

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”

“Now, as a nation, we don’t promise equal outcomes, but we were founded on the idea everybody should have an equal opportunity to succeed. No matter who you are, what you look like, where you come from, you can make it. That’s an essential promise of America. Where you start should not determine where you end up.”

“We need to steer clear of this poverty of ambition, where people want to drive fancy cars and wear nice clothes and live in nice apartments but don’t want to work hard to accomplish these things. Everyone should try to realize their full potential.”

“If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress.”

“We need to internalize this idea of excellence. Not many folks spend a lot of time trying to be excellent.”

“I think when you spread the wealth around it’s good for everybody.”

“America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles of justice and progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.”

“It was the labor movement that helped secure so much of what we take for granted today. The 40-hour work week, the minimum wage, family leave, health insurance, Social Security, Medicare, retirement plans. The cornerstones of the middle-class security all bear the union label.”

“The role of citizen in a democracy does not end with your vote.”

“Lincoln – they used to talk about him almost as bad as they talk about me. So democracy has never been for the faint of heart…”

“You can’t let your failures define you – you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time.”

“I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I am not in favor of gay marriage. But when you start playing around with constitutions, just to prohibit somebody who cares about another person, it just seems to me that’s not what America’s about. Usually, our constitutions expand liberties, they don’t contract them.”

“You can choose a future where more Americans have the chance to gain the skills they need to compete, no matter how old they are or how much money they have. Education was the gateway to opportunity for me. It was the gateway for Michelle. And now more than ever, it is the gateway to a middle-class life.”

“It’s not enough to train today’s workforce. We also have to prepare tomorrow’s workforce by guaranteeing every child access to a world-class education.”

“I’m going to try to unite all Americans.”

“Fifty years of isolating Cuba had failed to promote democracy, setting us back in Latin America. That’s why we restored diplomatic relations, opened the door to travel and commerce, and positioned ourselves to improve the lives of the Cuban people.”

“America thrived in the 20th century because we made high school free. We sent a generation to college. We cultivated the most educated workforce in the world.”

“Let’s be honest – tracking down, rounding up, and deporting millions of people isn’t realistic. Anyone who suggests otherwise isn’t being straight with you. It’s also not who we are as Americans.”

Barack Obama – Quick facts