Obama’s failed quest for a ‘grand bargain’

Last summer, the White House was embroiled in a battle with Republican leaders over legislation to increase the debt ceiling and avert default. A look at the negotiations that unfolded between President Obama and his advisers, and House Speaker John A. Boehner and the GOP leadership.

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July 11, 2011

President Obama confers with staff on his debt limit and deficit reduction strategy. White House officials say last year's debt ceiling negotiations with Republicans, as the expiration of the borrowing limit loomed, were some of the most the most pressure filled of Obama's presidency.

Pete Souza / WHITE HOUSE

July 3, 2011

Obama meets with House Speaker John A. Boehner just before the Fourth of July holiday. The tea party caucus, critical of Obama's political agenda, presented a political challenge for the Ohio Republican as he negotiated the GOP agenda during debt reduction talks.

Pete Souza / WHITE HOUSE

July 13, 2011

President Obama hosts Congressional leaders in the White House Cabinet Room for debt ceiling talks. Attendees include, from left, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker John A. Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Pete Souza / WHITE HOUSE

July 15, 2011

On July 15, President Obama pushes for a deal that would include tax increases: "My Republican friends have said that they're not willing to do revenues and they have repeated that on several occasions. My hope, though, is that they're listening not just to lobbyists or special interests here in Washington, but they're also listening to the American people."

Joshua Roberts / BLOOMBERG NEWS

July 14, 2011

Senate Majority Leader Sen. Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), left, holds a news briefing after meeting with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Senate Democrats. "This debate is not about new spending. This is about bulls that are due," Reid said.

Evan Vucci / AP

July 15, 2011

Amid warnings of looming default by Democrats, House Speaker John A. Boehner holds a news conference, offering his own proposals.

Susan Walsh / AP

July 19, 2011

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and other members of the bipartisan “Gang of Six” on July 19 unveiled their own deficit-reduction package, which came after months of negotiation and put the Obama-Boehner proposal in jeopardy.

Melina Mara / THE WASHINGTON POST

July 20, 2011

Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), talks to reporters about the “Gang of Six: plan, which included an overhaul of the tax code that would raise nearly $2 trillion over a decade – double the $800 billion proposed by House Speaker John. A. Boehner.

Melina Mara / THE WASHINGTON POST

July 19, 2011

On July 19, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid applauded the “Gang of Six’ for putting out a plan but expressed concerns about the plan getting passed by the Treasury deadline. “I'm happy to work and use anything in the ‘Gang of Six’ that we can. But remember we only have 13 days, 13 days,” Reid said.

Melina Mara / THE WASHINGTON POST

July 22, 2011

By July 22, negotiations between House Speaker John A. Boehner and President Obama are up in the air. Boehner doesn’t return Obama's calls. The two finally speak around 5:30 p.m., but Boehner tells Obama the deal is off. At a news conference, Boehner says “there is no plan” on raising the debt ceiling.

Alex Brandon / AP

July 22, 2011

A frustrated Obama holds a news conference July 22, pressing Congress to make a deal: “We have now run out of time. I told Speaker Boehner, I've told Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, I've told Harry Reid, and I've told Mitch McConnell I want them here at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow. We have run out of time. And they are going to have to explain to me how it is that we are going to avoid default.:

Jewek Samad / AFP/Getty Images

July 23, 2011

President Obama and Vice President Biden meet with Congressional leaders in the Cabinet Room of the White House on July 23. From left: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Office of Management and Budget Director Jack Lew, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid, and House Speaker John A. Boehner.

Pete Souza / WHITE HOUSE

July 23, 2011

Discussions between House Speaker John A. Boehner, left, and President Obama are deadlocked after Boehner declines the White House framework for debt reduction.

Jewel Samad / AFP/Getty Images

July 24, 2011

President Obama and Vice President Biden confer on the South Lawn of the White House on July 24. That day, Obama calls House Speaker John A. Boehner and asks him to consider taking the deal they nearly struck a week earlier without the $400 billion in extra tax revenue. Boehner tells him no.

Pete Souza / WHITE HOUSE

July 29, 2011

With the Treasury deadline looming, House Speaker John A. Boehner walks to the House floor to take up debt reduction legislation rewritten overnight to win the support of conservative holdouts.

Speaker Boehner walks to the House floor./AP / AP

July 31, 2011

President Obama meets with senior advisors in the West Wing on July 31, two days before the Treasury deadline. Attendees included, from left, National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling; Chief of Staff Bill Daley; Bruce Reed, chief of staff to the vice president; Rob Nabors, assistant to the President for legislative affairs; Office of Management and Budget Director Jack Lew; Vice President Biden; and senior advisor Valerie Jarrett.

Pete Souza / WHITE HOUSE

July 31, 2011

Obama works through final negotiations on a debt reduction plan that will avert default.

Pete Souza / WHITE HOUSE

July 31, 2011

Obama works through debt reduction negotiations July 31 with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner; Chief of Staff Bill Daley; National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling; Office of Management and Budget Director Jack Lew; senior advisor Valerie Jarrett; Bruce Reed, chief of staff to the vice president; and counsel to the president Kathryn Ruemmler.

Pete Souza / WHITE HOUSE

July 31, 2011

President Obama talks with senior advisors in the Oval Office to discuss the debt limit .

Pete Souza / WHITE HOUSE

July 31, 2011

Vice President Biden shakes President Obama's hand in the Oval Office near the end of intense negotiations to produce deficit reduction plan that will pass Congress.

Pete Souza / WHITE HOUSE

Aug. 2, 2011

President Obama signs the Budget Control Act of 2011 on Aug. 2, the Treasury deadline for avoiding default. While Congress passed the debt reduction package in time, the historic “grand bargain” that Obama sought was not to be.

Pete Souza / WHITE HOUSE

FEATURED PHOTO GALLERIES

James Gandolfini stars as Tony Soprano in the critically acclaimed HBO series 'The Sopranos.' The show received 16 Emmy nominations Thursday, July 22, 1999, including best dramatic series and best actor for Gandolfini. It is the first cable show ever recognized in the dramatic series category. (AP Photo/HO, HBO, Anthony Nesta) Original Filename: EMMY NOMINATIONS.jpg ORG XMIT: LA109

James Gandolfini dies at 51

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WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 19: Vice President Joe Biden speaks before the Frederick Douglass statue now permanently placed in the US Capitol's Emancipation Hall in Washington, DC on June 19, 2013. The statue of the abolition leader was chosen by District residents to represent them in the Capitol because of his stance on self governance according to Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC). The statue by artist Steven Weitzman, was blocked from it's placement in the Capitol for years, a victim of rules that stated that only the 50 states can display statues of their favored sons and daughters in the Capitol. The House and Senate passed a resolution last month allowing DC to be represented in Emancipation Hall which features statues of notable leaders nominated by each state. (Photo by Linda Davidson / The Washington Post)

Frederick Douglass statue unveiled in the Capitol

The carving of the famed abolitionist and District advocate finds its place inside the halls of Congress.

TV presenter and conservationist Anneka Tanaka-Svenska wears a hat designed by Louis Mariette during the first day of Royal Ascot, in Berkshire, west of London, on June 18, 2013. The five-day meeting is one of the highlights of the horse racing calendar. Horse racing has been held at the famous Berkshire course since 1711 and tradition is a hallmark of the meeting. Top hats and tails remain compulsory in parts of the course while a daily procession of horse-drawn carriages brings the Queen to the course. AFP PHOTO / ADRIAN DENNISADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images

Photos of the day

Royal Ascot, protests in Brazil, Lego exhibition, flooding in India, Cheetah-Cub robot and more.

Two-year old male rat named Dyatlik wears a costume during a rodent exhibition in Minsk, Belarus, Saturday, June 15, 2013. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Animal views

Rodent exhibition, swimming with elephants, Mexico’s feline mayoral candidate and more.

NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 18: Madonna attends the Dolce & Gabbana and The Cinema Society screening of the Epix World premiere of 'Madonna: The MDNA Tour' at The Paris Theatre on June 18, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)

Eye on entertainment

Madonna, Michael Buble, Barbara Streisand, Jackie Chan, Jerry Seinfeld, Estelle and other celebrities.

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 14: Johnathon Carrington, valedictorian at Dunbar High School, laughs with family and friends after his school's graduation ceremony at Howard University on Friday, June 14, 2013, in Washington, DC. Carrington, who grew up in Tyler House public-housing apartments and is graduating from one of DC's low-performing high schoolsy, where academic expectations are high. (Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)

Johnathon’s journey

Johnathon Carrington graduated Friday as the valedictorian of his neighborhood school, Dunbar High, and is headed to Georgetown University. But Carrington, 17, is nervous, and so are...

In this June 8, 2013 photo, youth compete in the Sao Carlos slum local soccer tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The pitch is just dirt and the incandescent lights aren't so bright. But when the boys' feet strike the football in the Sao Carlos slum as night falls every Saturday, big league dreams glow, inflated by the hope of escaping the shantytown with sporting skills. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

Brazil’s other soccer fields

With the Confederations Cup opening this week and the World Cup one year away, all eyes are on Brazil, where soccer is arguably played with more passion and art than anywhere else....

Inmates walk at a high-security male prison camp outside Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk May 14, 2013. High-security male prison camp number 17 is intended to house male inmates who are serving a sentence for the first time, and have been convicted for serious crimes. Prisoners at the facility work in wood and metal processing shops, manufacture furniture, sew clothes and do other kinds of work. They can also take part in educational, sport and cultural programs. Picture taken May 14, 2013. REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin (RUSSIA - Tags: CRIME LAW SOCIETY) ATTENTION EDITORS: PICTURE 4 OF 29 FOR PACKAGE 'INSIDE SIBERIA'S PRISONS' SEARCH 'ILYA PRISON' FOR ALL IMAGES

Life in a Siberian prison

A look inside a high-security prison camp outside Krasnoyarsk, Russia

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