Jan. 20, 2009
President Obama and first lady Michelle walk down the parade route on Pennsylvania Avenue after Obama was sworn in as president.
Preston Keres-The Washington Post
Feb. 24, 2009
President Obama enters the House chamber to deliver his first address to a joint session of Congress. In his speech, Obama said his stimulus plan, bank bailout proposal, housing programs and health-care overhaul would work in concert to turn around the nation's struggling economy.
Richard A. Lipski-The Washington Post
Feb. 17, 2009
President Barack Obama traveled to Denver, Colo., to sign the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Obama called the measure the most sweeping financial legislation enacted in the nation's history.
Bill O'leary-The Washington Post
Feb. 27, 2009
President Obama makes remarks at Camp Lejeune, in North Carolina, thanking Marines and their families for their sacrifice. In his remarks, Obama announced his plan to withdraw most American troops from Iraq by August 2010.
Bill O'leary-The Washington Post
Feb. 27, 2009
President Obama attends a Washington Wizards basketball game at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C. Obama received an ovation when he entered the arena. The president also chatted casually throughout the game with the fans sitting on either side of him, but also paid close attention to the action on the court.
Preston Keres-The Washington Post
Feb. 1, 2009
Obama mimics the 'touchdown!' gesture that referees use in football while watching the Super Bowl at the White House.
Pete Souza-White House Photo
March 5, 2009
Obama talks alone with the late Sen. Edward Kennedy in the Green Room of the White House. At Kennedy's funeral in August 2009, Obama called Kennedy "the greatest legislator of our time" and told his family and friends that, "Ted Kennedy's life's work was not to champion those with wealth or power or special connections. It was to give a voice to those who were not heard."
Pete Souza-White House Photo
April 13, 2009
Obama and family host thousands of children of all ages at the annual Easter Egg Roll on the south lawn of the White House. Free tickets for the event were issued to 30,000 people from 45 states.
Bill O'leary-The Washington Post
April 14, 2009
The first family officially introduces Bo, their new Portuguese water dog, to the world. Bo was a gift from the late Sen. Edward Kennedy and his wife, Victoria.
Bill O'leary-The Washington Post
May 6, 2009
Obama makes remarks after private meetings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan. Obama intends to maintain an arm's-length relationship with Karzai in the hope that it will lead him to address issues of concern to the United States.
Bill O'leary-The Washington Post
June 2, 2009
Obama closes his eyes before he tapes his weekly radio address in the Roosevelt Room of the White House.
Samantha Appleton-The White House
June 1, 2009
Obama is briefed by Matt Flavin, director of Veterans and Wounded Warrior Policy, aboard Marine One en route to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. Obama visited with more than four dozen patients of the National Naval Medical Center during an hour-long stop at the hospital.
Pete Souza-The White House
June 7, 2009
Obama sits on the steps of the U.S. Ambassador's residence in Paris before returning to Washington. Obama's tour through France and other European countries was aimed at changing the tone of the relationship with traditional allies that was soured by the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Pete Souza-The White House
June 25, 2009
Obama and first lady Michelle talk backstage before an event for the United We Serve service project at Fort McNair in Washington D.C. The project is an effort to promote volunteerism and the nation's increased interest in public and community service.
Pete Souza-The White House
June 25, 2009
Obama talks with Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel during a phone call in the Oval Office. Emanuel is noted as being aggressive and relentless in working with the media.
Pete Souza-The White House
July 11, 2009
Obama speaks to the crowd at the departure ceremony at Accra airport in Ghana, Africa. Obama delivered a blunt but optimistic message about how Africa can shape its destiny: "We must start with a simple premise that Africa's future is up to Africans." The Obama visit followed a trip to Italy and Russia.
Pete Souza-The White House
July 4, 2009
The president and his wife watch the fireworks over the National Mall from the White House.
Pete Souza-The White House
July 24, 2009
Obama meets with Vice President Joe Biden in the Oval Office. The president and vice president have lunch together each week. They have even ventured outside the White House and eaten at local spots, such as Ray's Hell Burger in Arlington, Va.
Pete Souza-The White House
July 28, 2009
Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan, center, holds a basketball given to him by Obama following their meeting in the Oval Office. The meeting focused on the outcomes of the first U.S.-China strategic and economic dialogue.
Pete Souza-The White House
July 30, 2009
Obama convened a beer summit with Vice President Joe Biden, Cambridge, Mass., police sergeant James Crowley and Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. The meeting was the culmination of a dispute over their behavior when Crowley investigated a potential burglary at Gates's house causing a national debate on racial profiling.
Marvin Joseph/twp-THE WASHINGTON POST
Aug. 10, 2009
Obama boards Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base for the flight to the North American Leaders' Summit in Guadalajara, Mexico. The two-day summit was aimed at discussing Mexico's ongoing drug wars and determining if its strategy to eliminate trafficking and the violence associated with it is working.
Pete Souza-The White House
Aug. 14, 2009
Obama and local fishing guide Dan Vermillion fish for trout on the East Gallatin River near Belgrade, Mont. Obama traveled to Big Sky Country to deliver a speech on health-care reform in Bozeman.
Pete Souza-The White House
Aug. 24, 2009
Obama puts a little body in his shot during a round of golf at Farm Neck golf course during his vacation on Martha's Vineyard. The first family vacationed on the Massachusetts island over the summer and received a warm welcome from local residents and shops.
Pete Souza-The White House
Aug. 18, 2009
Obama meets with former President Bill Clinton in the Situation Room of the White House. Obama and Clinton, joined by members of Obama's national security staff, discussed North Korea and other international issues.
Pete Souza-White House Photo Office
Oct. 9, 2009
Obama attends a briefing on Afghanistan in the Situation Room of the White House. Days later, Obama announced he would authorize -- and the Pentagon is deploying -- at least 13,000 troops to Afghanistan. That number is in addition to the 21,000 additional troops he said he would send in March.
Pete Souza-The White House
Aug. 19, 2009
Obama sits behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office during a conference call with religious leaders. Obama told the conference call that overhauling the current system is a moral imperative.
Pete Souza-The White House
Sept. 8, 2009
Obama talks with Justice Sonia Sotomayor prior to her Investiture Ceremony at the Supreme Court. When Obama first introduced Sotomayor as his court nominee, he said she is the embodiment of the qualities he seeks in a judge: a rigorous intellect, an appreciation of the limited role of the judiciary and "an understanding of how the world works and how ordinary people live."
Pete Souza-The White House
Sept. 9, 2009
Obama waves to the first lady and guests seated in the gallery of the House Chamber. Obama used his speech to declare that the "time for bickering is over," as he sought to revive the prospects for far-reaching health-care legislation. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) shouted "You lie" from the chamber floor when Obama said his plans would not cover illegal immigrants or provide funding for abortions.
Pete Souza-The White House
Sept. 10, 2009
Obama reflects during a meeting with his full Cabinet at the White House. Following the meeting, Obama responded to a question about the outburst from Rep. Wilson during his address on health care. "We all make mistakes," the president said.
Pete Souza-The White House
Sept. 11, 2009
Obama and first lady Michelle commemorate the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks at the Pentagon Memorial. In a speech delivered in the rain, Obama said "eight Septembers have come and gone... but no turning of the season can diminish the pain and the loss of that day."
Bill O'leary-TWP
Sept. 22, 2009
Obama watches as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas shake hands at a trilateral meeting at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. Obama's meetings with the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Authority signaled his impatience with months of stalemate in the quest for Middle East peace.
Pete Souza-The White House
Sept. 25, 2009
Obama, joined by the leaders of France and Great Britain, announce the existence of nuclear facilities in Iran during the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh, Pa. The leaders asked the IAEA for immediate access to a newly disclosed Iranian nuclear facility.
Bill O'leary-TWP
Oct. 2, 2009
On Air Force One, President Obama and Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal discuss the war in Afghanistan and the troops needed to fight it. McChrystal was flown from London to Copenhagen to meet with the president.
Pete Souza-The White House
Oct. 8, 2009
Obama, along with cabinet secretaries and members of Congress, watch a shot during a basketball game on the White House court. Obama was criticized by women's groups for hosting basketball and golf games without including any women.
Pete Souza-The White House
Oct. 16, 2009
Obama meets with, from left, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, former President George H. W. Bush, Senior advisor Valerie Jarrett and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, prior to the Points of Light forum at Texas A&M University, in College Station, Texas. The Points of Light forum encourages commitment to volunteerism and public service.
Pete Souza-The White House
Oct. 29, 2009
Obama made a solemn pre-dawn visit to Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Del., to honor 18 Americans killed in Afghanistan earlier in the week.
Pete Souza-The White House
Oct. 30, 2009
Obama plays with the daughter of Emmett Beliveau, the director of advance, in the outer Oval Office.
Pete Souza-The White House
Nov. 14, 2009
Obama laughs with aides aboard Air Force One en route to Singapore. Obama traveled to Asia on an eight-day tour to reassert U.S. influence in the world's most economically buoyant region.
Pete Souza-THE WHITE HOUSE
Oct. 29, 2009
Obama rests his foot on a desk as he talks with Phil Schiliro, assistant to the President for legislative affairs.
Pete Souza-The White House
Nov. 10, 2009
Obama pauses at the memorial set up in front of the podium honoring those killed during a shooting at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas. In his remarks, Obama said, "This is a time of war. And yet these Americans did not die on a foreign field of battle. They were killed here, on American soil, in the heart of this great American community. It is this fact that makes the tragedy even more painful and even more incomprehensible."
Melina Mara/twp-TWP
Nov. 17, 2009
Obama and others walk through the Great Hall of the People after attending a state dinner in Beijing, China. Obama stopped in China as part of his eight-day tour through Asia. During a town hall with university students, the president said that relations between the United States and China have often faced "tumultuous winds," but that the two countries have developed "deep and even dramatic ties."
Pete Souza-The White House
Nov. 18, 2009
Barack Obama tours the Great Wall in Badaling, China. "It's majestic," declared Obama, according to a pool report.
Pete Souza-The White House
Nov. 24, 2009
Obama and first lady Michelle welcomes Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Mrs. Gursharan Kaur to the first White House State Dinner. The first couple welcomed 400 guests into a tent built on the South Lawn.
Marvin Joseph/twp-THE WASHINGTON POST
Nov. 24, 2009
Obama and Michelle share a laugh while leaving the state dinner. In the days that followed, The Washington Post reported that Tareq and Michaele Salahi, two Virginia socialites, had crashed the White House dinner.
The White House-Getty Images
Dec. 1, 2009
Obama reads as Marine One lifts off from the south lawn of the White House en route to Andrews Air Force Base. The next day, Obama announced his strategy for Afghanistan at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. "I have determined that it is in our vital national interest to send an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan," Obama said.
Chuck Kennedy-The White House
Dec. 1, 2009
Obama, Vice President Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, walk from the West Wing to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
Pete Souza-The White House
Dec. 3, 2009
President Obama, with his family Malia, Sasha and Michelle, press the button to light the National Christmas Tree on the White House Ellipse.
Ricky Carioti-The Washington Post
Dec. 3, 2009
Obama fist-bumps custodian Lawrence Lipscomb in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building following the opening session of the White House Forum on Jobs and Economic Growth. The forum, which included business executives, economists, financial experts and union leaders, focused on examining initiatives to accelerate job creation.
Pete Souza-The White House
Dec. 10, 2009
Obama and Michelle depart Oslo City Hall following the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway. In his acceptance speech, Obama delivered an impassioned rationale for war -- a paradox that he acknowledged --even as he defended the United States's record abroad in promoting human rights, individual freedom and global security.
Pete Souza-The White House
Dec. 10, 2009
Obama looks out a window at Slottet Royal Palace of Norway following his meeting with King Harald V and Queen Sonja in Oslo. The apparent contradiction of a wartime president accepting a prize for peace provided the fulcrum for Obama's 36-minute acceptance speech, which he delivered to about 1,000 people, including Norway's royal family and top government officials.
Samantha Appleton-The White House
Gallery Credits:
Photo Editor Dee Swann, Robert Miller, Stephen Cook, Nick Kirkpatrick
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