Timeline of The Presidency of Barack Obama (2009) - March

March

• March 1–7 – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leaves on her second foreign trip to Egypt, Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Belgium, Switzerland, and Turkey.

• March 2 – Secretary of State Clinton pledges US$900 million of humanitarian and development aid to the Gaza Strip and West Bank at a donor conference in Sharm el-Sheik. Obama nominates Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius to be Secretary of Health and Human Services and appoints Nancy-Ann DeParle as White House health czar.

• March 3 – Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Gordon Brown visits Obama at the White House. Obama restores a provision of the Endangered Species Act requiring that federal agencies consult the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and/or the National Marine Fisheries Service before taking actions that could harm endangered species.

• March 4 – Obama issues a memorandum limiting the possibility to grant no-bid contracts to private businesses.

• March 5 – Sanjay Gupta withdraws his name for Surgeon General. Vivek Kundra is selected by Obama as first Federal Chief Information Officer.

• March 9 – Obama overturns rules limiting federal money being used for human embryonic stem cell research. The President also orders all executive officials to consult with the Attorney General before relying on any signing statement previously used to bypass a statute. The Office of Management and Budget has given the Pentagon directives to delay procurement of aerial refueling tankers by five years and cancel plans for a new long-range bomber.

• March 10 – Obama delivers a major policy speech on education, and holds his first meeting as president with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Chas Freeman withdraws from his appointment as chairman of the National Intelligence Council.

• March 11 – The President signs the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009; on the same occasion he issues his first signing statement. VP Joe Biden announces the nomination of Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske as "Drug Czar" and head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Obama creates (by executive order) a White House Council on Women and Girls to be chaired by Valerie Jarrett to assure cabinet level agencies coordinate policies and programs that affect women and families. Obama officially announces Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry and Christopher R. Hill Ambassadors respectively to Afghanistan and Iraq.

• March 12 – Obama renews economic sanctions against Iran first imposed in 1995. Michelle Obama visits Fort Bragg, North Carolina on her first solo trip outside of the capital as First Lady.

• March 13 – The Department of Justice outlines a new legal standard for detaining the suspected terrorists held at Guantanamo; "enemy combatant" definition is dropped, and suspects shall be detained under international law.

• March 14 – Obama meets Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at the White House. Obama announces the nomination of Margaret A. Hamburg to become Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

• March 17 – Barack Obama meets with the Taoiseach of Republic of Ireland, Brian Cowen, and the First Minister of Northern Ireland, Peter Robinson.

• March 18 – Obama speaks at a town hall meeting in Costa Mesa, California. The United States Senate confirms Ron Kirk, former Mayor of Dallas, as United States Trade Representative.

• March 19 – Obama appears on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Just before midnight Obama releases a video message to the Iranian people and government to coincide with Nowruz.

• March 20 – Obama and Biden meet with former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in Washington.

• March 23 – Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner unveils the government's plan to help investors purchase toxic assets from banks.

• March 24 – Obama holds his second prime time press conference in the East Room of the White House, to discuss economic hardships, as well as the government's intentions to solve the global economic crisis. Also, the United States Senate confirms Gary Locke, former Governor of Washington, as United States Secretary of Commerce.

• March 25 – Obama meets with Kevin Rudd, the Prime Minister of Australia. Obama also meets with Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the Secretary General of NATO, to discuss the upcoming summit, relations with Russia, and the future of NATO.

• March 25–26 – Secretary of State Clinton travels to Mexico City and Monterrey, Mexico to discuss US collaboration in the Mérida Initiative.

• March 26 – Obama holds an online town hall at the White House, a historic first in American Presidential conveyance.

• March 27 – Obama announces a new strategy for the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

• March 27–30 – Vice President Joe Biden travelled to Latin America, visiting Chile and Costa Rica. He attended the Progressive Governance conference in Chile, along with the presidents of Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay, and the prime ministers of the United Kingdom and Norway.

• March 30 – Obama announces new plans and restructuring ultimatums for Chrysler and General Motors. Obama signs the Omnibus Public Land Management Act into law.

• March 31 – Barack and Michelle Obama arrive in London for G20 meeting with World Leaders.