Barack Hussein Obama II

Reform health insurance: cover the uninsured, end pre-existing-condition denials, allow children to stay on parents' plan to age 26.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Pub.L. 111-148) was signed March 23, 2010. The pre-existing-condition prohibition and age-26 dependent coverage rule are codified in the law and remained in force throughout his presidency.

End the Iraq War and bring combat troops home.

Combat operations formally ended August 2010; remaining U.S. troops withdrew by December 2011 per the Bush-era Status of Forces Agreement. However, U.S. forces returned to Iraq beginning June 2014 to counter ISIS, with roughly 5,000 troops in-country by end-of-term.

Close the Guantánamo Bay detention facility.

Executive Order 13492 (Jan 22, 2009) ordered closure within one year. Congress blocked transfer of detainees to U.S. soil via the FY2011 NDAA and subsequent restrictions. Guantánamo remained open at end-of-term with 41 detainees.

Pass comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship.

S.744 passed the Senate 68-32 in June 2013 but House Speaker Boehner refused to bring it to a floor vote. The DACA executive action (June 2012) and DAPA (Nov 2014, enjoined by courts) did not constitute statutory comprehensive reform.

Enact a cap-and-trade system to address climate change.

The American Clean Energy and Security Act (Waxman-Markey, H.R.2454) passed the House 219-212 in June 2009. The Senate companion never reached a floor vote and was abandoned in July 2010. No subsequent cap-and-trade bill advanced.

Rejoin or strengthen international climate agreements.

The United States signed the Paris Agreement on Apr 22, 2016 and formally accepted it Sep 3, 2016 alongside China. The U.S.-China Joint Announcement (Nov 2014) set the precedent that enabled the Paris terms.

Stand firm against further tax cuts for top earners.

The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (Jan 2, 2013) raised the top marginal rate from 35% to 39.6% on incomes above $400k/$450k, but extended the Bush rates permanently for incomes below that. Some Bush-era cuts on top earners were thus extended for years before the partial rollback.

Eliminate Osama bin Laden and disrupt al-Qaeda leadership.

Operation Neptune Spear killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan on May 2, 2011. Subsequent drone-strike campaigns through 2016 killed senior al-Qaeda operational leaders including Anwar al-Awlaki (Sep 2011) and Atiyah Abd al-Rahman (Aug 2011).

Repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

The Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 (Pub.L. 111-321) was signed Dec 22, 2010. Implementation completed Sep 20, 2011 after the certification requirements were satisfied.

Negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was concluded July 14, 2015 between Iran and the P5+1. UN Security Council Resolution 2231 endorsed it July 20, 2015. The agreement remained in force at the end of his term.

Reduce student loan burden via income-based repayment.

Income-Based Repayment was created by the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 but expanded substantially via Pay As You Earn (Dec 2012) and Revised PAYE (Dec 2015), capping payments at 10% of discretionary income with forgiveness after 20-25 years.

Pass meaningful gun-violence-prevention legislation after Sandy Hook.

The Manchin-Toomey background-check amendment to S.649 fell six votes short of cloture (54-46) on April 17, 2013. No major federal gun legislation passed in the remaining four years of the term despite repeated executive-branch attempts.