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

October

• October 1 – President Barack Obama gives a statement on the Iranian nuclear program, in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House.

• October 2 – President and First Lady Obama, along with Oprah Winfrey, travel to Copenhagen, Denmark, to give a speech to the International Olympic Committee in a failed attempt to bring the 2016 Summer Olympics to Chicago.
• October 3 – The President and First Lady celebrate their 17th wedding anniversary at the Blue Duck Tavern in Washington, D.C. before heading back to the White House.
• October 5 – President Obama gives a speech to doctors about health care reform on the Rose Garden of the White House. Obama also participates in a CEQ Executive Order signing in the Oval Office.
• October 6 – Obama meets with the National Counter Terrorism Center leadership and analysts during a visit to the NCTC in McLean, Virginia.
• October 7 – The President presents 2008 Medals of Science and Medals of Technology and Innovation during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House. Obama also hosts an Astronomy Night on the South Lawn, with Sally Ride.
• October 9 – The 2009 Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to President Barack Obama "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples".

• October 10 – President Obama speaks at the Human Rights Campaign's 13th annual national dinner, to address civil rights and equality, along with gay marriage and "Don't ask, don't tell."
• October 13 – Obama gives a statement thanking United States Senator Olympia Snowe, and thirteen Democratic Senators on the Senate Finance Committee for approving a healthcare bill. Obama then meets with Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero of Spain. President Obama also hosts a "Fiesta Latina" event at the White House, and welcomes performers Marc Anthony, Gloria Estefan, Tito el Bambino, Jimmy Smits, Eva Longoria and George Lopez.
• October 14 – President Obama nominates Sharon Lubinski of the Minneapolis Police Department to be the first openly homosexual person to serve as a Marshal in the United States Marshals Service. Obama also speaks at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Washington, D.C., about Ted Kennedy and the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate.
• October 15 – Obama travels to New Orleans, Louisiana, to visit areas still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. Obama then travels to San Francisco, California to speak to the Democratic National Committee, alongside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
• October 16 – Obama speaks to a forum at Texas A&M University, alongside former President George H. W. Bush, in College Station, Texas, to promote public service.
• October 19 – President Obama visits Viers Mill Elementary School in Silver Spring, Maryland to speak to children about reading.
• October 20 – President Barack Obama meets with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in the Oval Office.
• October 21 – Obama, along with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, speaks at the Metropolitan Archives, in Landover, Maryland to announce a package of initiatives to increase credit to small businesses. Obama also meets with Senator John Kerry in the Oval Office to discuss the war in Afghanistan.
• October 22 – President Barack Obama signs the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act in the East Room of the White House.
• October 23 – President Obama declares a national emergency, in response to the H1N1 epidemic, in the United States.

• October 26 – President Barack Obama gives a speech to servicemen and women at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, in Jacksonville, Florida.
• October 27 – Obama speaks and tours the DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center in Arcadia, Florida.
• October 28 – President Obama signs the Matthew Shepard Act in the East Room of the White House, expanding hate-crime law to include gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.
• October 29 – President Obama travels to Dover Air Force Base to oversee the return of eighteen American soldiers killed in Afghanistan.
• October 30 – President Obama signs an executive order, lifting a 22-year old immigration and travel ban on citizens of the United States with HIV.
• October 31 – The First Family hosts a Halloween party at the White House, and welcome more than two thousand children.