First 100 Days of Barack Obama's Presidency

The first 100 days of Barack Obama's presidency began with his inauguration on January 20, 2009 as the 44th President of the United States. The first 100 days of a presidential term took on symbolic significance during Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration, and the period is considered a benchmark to measure the early success of a president. Obama's 100th day in office was April 29, 2009.

Obama began to formally create his presidential footprint during his first 100 days. Obama quickly began attempting to foster support for his economic stimulus package, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The bill passed in the House on January 28, 2009 by a 244–188 vote, and it passed in the Senate on February 10 by a 61–37 margin. Obama stated that he should not be judged by his first hundred days: "The first hundred days is going to be important, but it’s probably going to be the first thousand days that makes the difference."

Obama's accomplishments after the first 100 days include passage of the $787 billion economic stimulus plan; signing into law the expanded State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP), that the White House says provides benefits to 4 million additional working families; signing the Ledbetter law requiring equal pay for women; winning approval of a congressional budget resolution that put Congress on record as dedicated to dealing with major health care reform legislation in 2009; implementing new ethics guidelines designed to significantly curtail the influence of lobbyists on the executive branch; breaking from the Bush administration on a number of policy fronts, except for Iraq, in which he followed through on Bush's Iraq withdrawal of U.S. troops; supporting the UN declaration on sexual orientation and gender identity; relaxing enforcement of marijuana laws; and lifting the 7½-year ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. He also ordered the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, in Cuba, though it's still open, as well as lifted some travel and money restrictions to the island.

At the end of the first 100 days 65% of Americans approved of how Obama was doing and 29% disapproved. According to Gallup's First quarter survey in April, President Obama received a 63% approval rating. Gallup began tracking presidential approval ratings of the first quarters since Eisenhower in 1953. President Kennedy received the highest in April 1961 with a 74% rating. Obama's 63% is the fourth highest and the highest since President Carter with a 69%. President Reagan's first quarter had 60% approval in 1981, President George.H.W. Bush with 57% in 1989, President Clinton with 55% in 1993, and President George W. Bush with 58% in 2001.