The presidency at a glance

Before a crowd of more than a million cheering people, Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th U.S. president on Jan. 20, 2009.

As the economy faltered, the new president — who was elected on a platform of hope — made promises of renewal and encouraged Americans to start anew.

"Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America," Obama said to those gathered at Washington's National Mall.

"For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together."

Over the next two years, Obama would steer the country through continued economic uncertainty. Some Americans struggled to find jobs as others were forced to abandon their homes. Meanwhile, tensions between parties deepened as Obama's administration ushered in controversial initiatives including the stimulus package and a health-care reform bill.

'I believe we can be better'

Obama in early January 2011 would call on the nation to unite again following a mass shooting in Tuscon, Ariz., in which six people were killed, and Representative Gabrielle Giffords seriously wounded. In a speech, which some would deem the most important of his term, the president called for greater civility.

"I believe we can be better. Those who died here, those who saved lives here – they help me believe. We may not be able to stop all evil in the world, but I know that how we treat one another is entirely up to us. I believe that for all our imperfections, we are full of decency and goodness, and that the forces that divide us are not as strong as those that unite us," he said at a memorial for the victims.

This overview examines some of the key issues Obama has grappled with over his presidency, from unemployment to health care.

Approval ratings

In his first week in office, Obama's approval rating was 67 per cent, according to Gallup. Thirteen per cent disapproved and 22 per cent had no opinion.

Two years later — with an unemployment rate of 9.4 per cent and controversial initiatives including the health care reform bill under his belt — Obama's approval rate rests at 48 per cent. Forty-five per cent disapprove and seven per cent have no opinion. The telephone poll included interviews with 1,500 Americans and has a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.

Stacked up against other presidents in the January of their third year, Obama nears the middle of the pack near fellow Democrats Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter but ahead of Republican Ronald Reagan.

Obama vs. former presidents in January of 3rd year
	President	Approval rating	Date
	Barack Obama	48 per cent	January 2010
	George W. Bush	60 per cent	January 2003
	Bill Clinton	47 per cent	January 1995
	George H.W. Bush	75 per cent	January 1991
	Ronald Reagan	36 per cent	January 1983
	Jimmy Carter	47 per cent	January 1979
	Richard Nixon	56 per cent	January 1971
	John Kennedy	74 per cent	January 1963
	Dwight Eisenhower	70 per cent	January 1955

Source: Gallup

The unemployment rate in December 2010  fell to its lowest point — 9.4 per cent — in 19 months, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

The decline was attributed to a slowly bolstering economy though analysts cautioned some people workers have simply given up the search.

Obama said the improving numbers reflected a positive turnaround.

"We know these numbers can bounce around from month to month, but the trend is clear," he said.

"The economy added 1.3 million jobs last year. And each quarter was stronger than the previous quarter, which means that the pace of hiring is beginning to pick up."

Since December 2009, payrolls have grown by an average of 94,000 a month. An estimated 8.5 million jobs were lost in the U.S. owing to the economic downturn. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said the rate of growth is still not on pace.

"Payrolls expanded at an average of only about 100,000 per month in 2010 — a pace barely enough to accommodate the normal increase in the labor force and, therefore, insufficient to materially reduce the unemployment rate," he told Congress.

Despite the wobbly economy, daily consumer spending weakened modestly. In the first week of January 2009, Americans reported spending $58 per day in stores, restaurants, gas stations and online. Two years later, that number fell to $55. 

National government debt

In January 2011, national government debt soared to $14 trillion, an unprecedented high.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner urged Congress  to raise the statutory debt limit, warning financial inaction could be disastrous.

"The Treasury would be forced to default on legal obligations of the United States, causing catastrophic damage to the economy, potentially much more harmful than the effects of the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009," he wrote in the letter to Congress.

Pundits anticipate a battle to emerge when the Democrats seek a higher debt ceiling. In 2006, when then President George W. Bush sought a higher limit, Obama sharply criticized the move.

"The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure," he said in the Senate. "It is a sign that the U.S. government can't pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance the government's reckless fiscal policies."

Nearly half of the current national debt was accumulated over the  past six years. When George W. Bush started his second term in January 2005, debt levels climbed to $7.6 trillion. When Obama was inaugurated in 2009, the national debt tallied $10.6 trillion.

Pivotal speeches

Obama has long had a reputation as a powerful and persuasive orator. Here are word clouds of three of Obama's key speeches - his address to a joint session of congress; his call for health-care reform; and his first state of the nation address.

"We failed to look beyond the next payment, the next quarter, or the next election. A surplus became an excuse to transfer wealth to the wealthy instead of an opportunity to invest in our future.

"Critical debates and difficult decisions were put off for some other time on some other day...The day of reckoning has arrived."

"Now is the season for action," he said. "Now is when we must bring the best ideas of both parties together and show the American people that we can still do what we were sent here to do. Now is the time to deliver on health care."

Obama made reforming the $2.5-trillion U.S. health-care system a priority in his first year of office, but the process sparked angry debate.

In the end, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed without Republican support.

He emphasized job creation and health-care reform as his top priorities.

"What the American people hope — what they deserve — is for all of us, Democrats and Republicans, to work through our differences, to overcome the numbing weight of our politics," Obama said.