The First 100 Days: Barack Obama
As election day 2008 approached, it was a pretty safe bet that Barack Obama was going to become the next President of the United States. While his opponent John McCain was a man of considerable integrity who had served his country bravely as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War, and who had distinguished himself as an independent thinking member of the senate, that would not be enough. While a mortgage crisis piled on to all of the other perceived failings of the incumbent Republican administration of George W. Bush, voters did not want experience, they wanted change. Obama's campaign recognized it from early on. Much of the media fell in love with the intelligent and articulate young Senator from Illinois, and they also loved the notion of witnessing the history of the election of the first African-American President of the United States. As expected, Obama won the election, taking more that two-thirds of the electoral votes (365 to 173 for McCain), and almost ten million more popular votes. (The final results were 69,498,516 or 52.9% for Obama, to 59,948,323 or 45.7% for McCain).
Obama was so confident of victory that he had chosen Chris Lu to begin planning for his transition in May 2008. During the transition period, Obama announced his Cabinet selections and other key posts in his administration. In November 2008, Congressman Rahm Emanuel accepted Obama's offer to serve as White House Chief of Staff. Perhaps taking a page from Abraham Lincoln's "Team of Rivals" model, he chose his key opponent, New York Senator Hillary Clinton, as his Secretary of State. Clinton was once the front runner for the Democratic Party's nomination for president in 2008 before Obama gained his momentum and she lost hers.
Barack Obama was inaugurated as the forty-fourth President of the United States on January 20, 2009. Obama's transition team was highly complimentary of the Bush administration's outgoing transition team, particularly with regards to national security, and some elements of the Bush-Obama transition were later written into law. The inauguration set a record attendance for any event held in Washington, D.C. Based on the combined attendance numbers, television viewership, and Internet traffic, it was among the most-observed events ever by the global audience. The theme of the ceremony was "A New Birth of Freedom", a phrase taken from the Gettysburg Address, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth year of Abraham Lincoln. Obama and others paid homage to Lincoln in the form of tributes and references during several of the events, starting with a commemorative train tour from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Washington, D.C. on January 17, 2009. The inaugural events in Washington were held from January 18 to 21, 2009, and they included concerts, a national day of community service on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the swearing-in ceremony, the post-inauguration luncheon and parade, inaugural balls, and the interfaith inaugural prayer service. The presidential oath as administered to Obama during his swearing-in ceremony on January 20 was botched slightly by Chief Justice John Roberts, compared with the oath of office prescribed in the United States Constitution, and the oath was its re‑administered the next day at 7:35 a.m.
In one of his first official acts, President Obama issued a proclamation declaring January 20, 2009 a National Day of Renewal and Reconciliation. He also enacted a pay freeze for Senior White House Staff making more than $100,000 per year and announced stricter guidelines regarding lobbyists. The following day he revoked Executive Order 13233, which had been initiated by the Bush administration to limit access to the records of former presidents. He issued instructions to all agencies and departments in his administration to "adopt a presumption in favor" of Freedom of Information Act requests, reversing existing policy set by former Attorney General John Ashcroft
On January 22, President Obama signed an executive order announcing the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp within a year. He also signed a prohibition on using torture and other illegal coercive techniques, such as waterboarding, during interrogations and detentions, and requiring the Army field manual to be used as a guide. He also issued an executive order entitled "Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel", governing the limitations on hiring of employees by the executive branch to qualified individuals only, and placing very tight restrictions on lobbying in the White House. The next day, on January 23, he ordered an end to the funding ban for groups that provide abortion services or counseling abroad. He also ordered the first two Predator airstrikes of his presidency, in Pakistan.
On Saturday morning, January 24, President Obama produced his first weekly Saturday morning video address. The videos were made available on the White House website, whitehouse.gov and also on YouTube. His staff likened these to Franklin D. Roosevelt's fireside chats.
The next week on Monday, January 26 Obama signed his first two Presidential Memoranda concerning energy independence, directing the U.S. Department of Transportation to establish higher fuel efficiency standards before 2011 models are released and the allowing states to raise their emissions standards above the national standard. Later in the week on January 28 he made his first visit to The Pentagon as President, meeting with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Obama had kept Gates at his post. Gates had served in the same position for President Bush.
On January 29, President Obama signed his first bill, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which called for fair pay regardless of sex, race, or age. It was named for Lilly Ledbetter, the plaintiff in the employment discrimination case Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. She joined Barack and Michelle Obama at the signing ceremony. The next day President Obama signed a presidential memorandum launching the Middle Class Working Families Task Force to be led by Vice President Joe Biden.
On February 3, the President nominated Senator Judd Gregg to be Secretary of Commerce, after Bill Richardson withdrew his nomination. Senator Tom Daschle also withdrew his nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services, both citing tax problems. In television interviews, Obama accepted responsibility for the nomination mistakes and talks about the economic stimulus bill.
The next day, February 4, President Obama announced that companies that received large amounts of federal bailout money through the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) would be required to cap top executive pay at $500,000. He also signed the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 reauthorizing and expanding the Children's Health Insurance Program (or CHIP). That same day Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar cancelled 77 leases sold by the previous administration to oil and gas companies, while letting 39 leases stand.
President Obama spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast on February 5th and that morning the Washington Post published an op-ed the President had written entitled "The Action Americans Need". Its subject was the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. He also issued an order renaming the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, renaming it the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. The following day he announced the creation of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, and he issued an executive order calling for the use of union labor for large-scale federal construction projects. Later, on February 9, the President traveled to Elkhart, Indiana to discuss the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and returned to the White House to give his first nationally-televised press conference. He continued on his economic theme, when he traveled to Fort Myers, Florida the following day to discuss the Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the area's unemployment problems. He was joined by Florida Governor Charlie Crist.
On February 12, President Obama went to Springfield, Illinois to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of President Abraham Lincoln. He spoke at a Lincoln Bicentennial Celebration. But that same day, he lost another cabinet member when Judd Gregg, his choice for Commerce Secretary, withdrew his nomination for that office.The The First Family spent the weekend in their former home of Chicago.
The next week, on February 17, The White House launched Recovery.gov to explain the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. It included a video address from the President. That same day Obama signed the $787 billion Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law in Denver, Colorado. He also approved a deployment of 17,000 additional troops to Afghanistan.
President Obama made his first trip abroad as President on February 19th. He traveled to Ottawa, Canada, where he med with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper about environmental issues, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and other US-Canadian relations.
On February 24 President Obama addressed a joint session of the members of Congress. He discussed the recently passed $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 as well as the Troubled Assets Relief Program, the state of the economy, and the future of the country. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal gave the Republican response. That same day Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso met with the President at the White House. The next day Obama nominated former Governor of Washington Gary Locke to become United States Secretary of Commerce. Later in the week, on February 26, President Obama revealed his proposal for the 2010 United States federal budget. The next day he spoke at Camp Lejeune where he discussed his plans for troop withdrawals from Iraq.
On March 2, President Obama nominated Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. This was an important appointment as the Affordable Care Act would come to be an important part of Obama's legacy and would fulfill a campaign promise regarding government sponsored health care.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited President Obama at the White House on March 3rd. The agenda of the meeting included the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
On March 9 – President Obama reversed rules limiting federal money being used for human embryonic stem cell research. The next day he delivered a major policy speech on education, and he also held his first meeting as President with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Later that week, by executive order, he created 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. He also renewed economic sanctions against Iran first imposed in 1995.
President Obama met with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at the White House on March 14th. Later that week, on St. Patrick's day (March 17) he met with the Taoiseach Brian Cowen of Ireland, and the First Minister of Peter Robinson of Northern Ireland. He was a guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno two days later on Marrch 19th. The next day he had a special guest, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
The economy was once again a hot topic in late March. On the 23rd, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner unveiled the government's plan to help investors purchase toxic assets from banks. The following day the President held 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. That same day the Senate confirmed Gary Locke, former Governor of Washington, as United States Secretary of Commerce.
On March 25, President Obama met with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. He also met with Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the Secretary General of NATO, to discuss the upcoming summit, relations with Russia, and the future of NATO. The next day, March 26, President Obama held an online town hall at the White House, a historic first in American Presidential conveyance.
President Obama announced a new strategy for the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan on March 26th. Obama announced that U.S. combat forces would leave Iraq by August 2010, with 35,000–50,000 American soldiers remaining in Iraq as advisers and trainers, down from the roughly 150,000 American soldiers in Iraq in early 2009.
Late March and early April were a time of world travel for the President. From March 27–30 the President 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. On March 30 he announced plans and restructuring ultimatums for Chrysler and General Motors. On March 31 President Obama and the First Lady arrived in London for G20 meeting with World Leaders. The next day, April 1, he met with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, Chinese President Hu Jintao, and Queen Elizabeth II. The G-20 summit began the following day. On April 3 President Obama met with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and held a town hall meeting with French and German students. From April 3 to 4 he attended the two-day NATO summit in Strasbourg, France, and Kehl and Baden-Baden, Germany. On April 5 he met with Czech President Václav Klaus and Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek. He gave a well-publicized speech on nuclear proliferation disarmament to a public crowd in Prague. Earlier that week, the North Korean government had launched a long-range multi-stage rocket. From April 6 to 7, the President visited Istanbul and Ankara, Turkey, including attending a meeting at the Alliance of Civilizations forum. He finished his trip in Istanbul with a town hall meeting, before making a surprise visit to Baghdad, Iraq, where he meets with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
After returning home, Obama hosted a White House Passover Seder for the second night of Passover on April 9th, the first time the holiday was every celebrated in the White House. The President had approved military action that led to Richard Phillips, who was captured by pirates in the Maersk Alabama hijacking, being freed by Navy Seals. The next day Obama signed a presidential memorandum eliminating limits on Cuban-Americans governing family visits and remittances sent to the island.
The President was on the road once again later in the month, but closer to home, when on April 16 and 17 he visited Mexico to meet with President Felipe Calderón. Obama called the US is a "full partner" with Mexico in its fight against the Mexican drug cartels. From Mexico he traveled to attend the 5th Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. He was back in the White House on April 21 for a meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan. He also spoke to CIA staff that day.
On April 23 President Obama spoke at a Holocaust remembrance ceremony at the capitol sponsored by the National Holocaust Museum. Four days later, on April 27, he addressed the National Academy of Sciences and announced that more than 3 percent of the GDP will be devoted to research and development. He also announced a goal of reducing carbon pollution by more than 80 percent by 2050.
As his 100th day in office neared closer, Obama finally had a Secretary of Health and Human Services as the Senate confirmed the appointment of Kathleen Sebelius on April 28th. The next day President Obama held another prime-time news conference, to discuss the first 100 days of his presidency, and the plans already implemented that would continue into the rest of his term.
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, the fourth best since Gallup began tracking presidential approval ratings of the first quarters in 1953. The most important action of Obama's first 100 days was the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Originally intended to be a bipartisan bill, Congressional passage of the bill relied largely on Democratic votes, though three Republican Senators did vote for it. The lack of Republican support for the bill, and the inability of Democrats to win that support, foreshadowed the gridlock and partisanship that would continue throughout Obama's presidency.
Obama was so confident of victory that he had chosen Chris Lu to begin planning for his transition in May 2008. During the transition period, Obama announced his Cabinet selections and other key posts in his administration. In November 2008, Congressman Rahm Emanuel accepted Obama's offer to serve as White House Chief of Staff. Perhaps taking a page from Abraham Lincoln's "Team of Rivals" model, he chose his key opponent, New York Senator Hillary Clinton, as his Secretary of State. Clinton was once the front runner for the Democratic Party's nomination for president in 2008 before Obama gained his momentum and she lost hers.
Barack Obama was inaugurated as the forty-fourth President of the United States on January 20, 2009. Obama's transition team was highly complimentary of the Bush administration's outgoing transition team, particularly with regards to national security, and some elements of the Bush-Obama transition were later written into law. The inauguration set a record attendance for any event held in Washington, D.C. Based on the combined attendance numbers, television viewership, and Internet traffic, it was among the most-observed events ever by the global audience. The theme of the ceremony was "A New Birth of Freedom", a phrase taken from the Gettysburg Address, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth year of Abraham Lincoln. Obama and others paid homage to Lincoln in the form of tributes and references during several of the events, starting with a commemorative train tour from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Washington, D.C. on January 17, 2009. The inaugural events in Washington were held from January 18 to 21, 2009, and they included concerts, a national day of community service on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the swearing-in ceremony, the post-inauguration luncheon and parade, inaugural balls, and the interfaith inaugural prayer service. The presidential oath as administered to Obama during his swearing-in ceremony on January 20 was botched slightly by Chief Justice John Roberts, compared with the oath of office prescribed in the United States Constitution, and the oath was its re‑administered the next day at 7:35 a.m.
In one of his first official acts, President Obama issued a proclamation declaring January 20, 2009 a National Day of Renewal and Reconciliation. He also enacted a pay freeze for Senior White House Staff making more than $100,000 per year and announced stricter guidelines regarding lobbyists. The following day he revoked Executive Order 13233, which had been initiated by the Bush administration to limit access to the records of former presidents. He issued instructions to all agencies and departments in his administration to "adopt a presumption in favor" of Freedom of Information Act requests, reversing existing policy set by former Attorney General John Ashcroft
On January 22, President Obama signed an executive order announcing the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp within a year. He also signed a prohibition on using torture and other illegal coercive techniques, such as waterboarding, during interrogations and detentions, and requiring the Army field manual to be used as a guide. He also issued an executive order entitled "Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel", governing the limitations on hiring of employees by the executive branch to qualified individuals only, and placing very tight restrictions on lobbying in the White House. The next day, on January 23, he ordered an end to the funding ban for groups that provide abortion services or counseling abroad. He also ordered the first two Predator airstrikes of his presidency, in Pakistan.
On Saturday morning, January 24, President Obama produced his first weekly Saturday morning video address. The videos were made available on the White House website, whitehouse.gov and also on YouTube. His staff likened these to Franklin D. Roosevelt's fireside chats.
The next week on Monday, January 26 Obama signed his first two Presidential Memoranda concerning energy independence, directing the U.S. Department of Transportation to establish higher fuel efficiency standards before 2011 models are released and the allowing states to raise their emissions standards above the national standard. Later in the week on January 28 he made his first visit to The Pentagon as President, meeting with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Obama had kept Gates at his post. Gates had served in the same position for President Bush.
On January 29, President Obama signed his first bill, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which called for fair pay regardless of sex, race, or age. It was named for Lilly Ledbetter, the plaintiff in the employment discrimination case Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. She joined Barack and Michelle Obama at the signing ceremony. The next day President Obama signed a presidential memorandum launching the Middle Class Working Families Task Force to be led by Vice President Joe Biden.
On February 3, the President nominated Senator Judd Gregg to be Secretary of Commerce, after Bill Richardson withdrew his nomination. Senator Tom Daschle also withdrew his nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services, both citing tax problems. In television interviews, Obama accepted responsibility for the nomination mistakes and talks about the economic stimulus bill.
The next day, February 4, President Obama announced that companies that received large amounts of federal bailout money through the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) would be required to cap top executive pay at $500,000. He also signed the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 reauthorizing and expanding the Children's Health Insurance Program (or CHIP). That same day Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar cancelled 77 leases sold by the previous administration to oil and gas companies, while letting 39 leases stand.
President Obama spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast on February 5th and that morning the Washington Post published an op-ed the President had written entitled "The Action Americans Need". Its subject was the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. He also issued an order renaming the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, renaming it the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. The following day he announced the creation of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, and he issued an executive order calling for the use of union labor for large-scale federal construction projects. Later, on February 9, the President traveled to Elkhart, Indiana to discuss the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and returned to the White House to give his first nationally-televised press conference. He continued on his economic theme, when he traveled to Fort Myers, Florida the following day to discuss the Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the area's unemployment problems. He was joined by Florida Governor Charlie Crist.
On February 12, President Obama went to Springfield, Illinois to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of President Abraham Lincoln. He spoke at a Lincoln Bicentennial Celebration. But that same day, he lost another cabinet member when Judd Gregg, his choice for Commerce Secretary, withdrew his nomination for that office.The The First Family spent the weekend in their former home of Chicago.
The next week, on February 17, The White House launched Recovery.gov to explain the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. It included a video address from the President. That same day Obama signed the $787 billion Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law in Denver, Colorado. He also approved a deployment of 17,000 additional troops to Afghanistan.
President Obama made his first trip abroad as President on February 19th. He traveled to Ottawa, Canada, where he med with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper about environmental issues, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and other US-Canadian relations.
On February 24 President Obama addressed a joint session of the members of Congress. He discussed the recently passed $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 as well as the Troubled Assets Relief Program, the state of the economy, and the future of the country. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal gave the Republican response. That same day Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso met with the President at the White House. The next day Obama nominated former Governor of Washington Gary Locke to become United States Secretary of Commerce. Later in the week, on February 26, President Obama revealed his proposal for the 2010 United States federal budget. The next day he spoke at Camp Lejeune where he discussed his plans for troop withdrawals from Iraq.
On March 2, President Obama nominated Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. This was an important appointment as the Affordable Care Act would come to be an important part of Obama's legacy and would fulfill a campaign promise regarding government sponsored health care.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited President Obama at the White House on March 3rd. The agenda of the meeting included the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
On March 9 – President Obama reversed rules limiting federal money being used for human embryonic stem cell research. The next day he delivered a major policy speech on education, and he also held his first meeting as President with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Later that week, by executive order, he created 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. He also renewed economic sanctions against Iran first imposed in 1995.
President Obama met with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at the White House on March 14th. Later that week, on St. Patrick's day (March 17) he met with the Taoiseach Brian Cowen of Ireland, and the First Minister of Peter Robinson of Northern Ireland. He was a guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno two days later on Marrch 19th. The next day he had a special guest, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
The economy was once again a hot topic in late March. On the 23rd, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner unveiled the government's plan to help investors purchase toxic assets from banks. The following day the President held 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. That same day the Senate confirmed Gary Locke, former Governor of Washington, as United States Secretary of Commerce.
On March 25, President Obama met with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. He also met with Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the Secretary General of NATO, to discuss the upcoming summit, relations with Russia, and the future of NATO. The next day, March 26, President Obama held an online town hall at the White House, a historic first in American Presidential conveyance.
President Obama announced a new strategy for the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan on March 26th. Obama announced that U.S. combat forces would leave Iraq by August 2010, with 35,000–50,000 American soldiers remaining in Iraq as advisers and trainers, down from the roughly 150,000 American soldiers in Iraq in early 2009.
Late March and early April were a time of world travel for the President. From March 27–30 the President 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. On March 30 he announced plans and restructuring ultimatums for Chrysler and General Motors. On March 31 President Obama and the First Lady arrived in London for G20 meeting with World Leaders. The next day, April 1, he met with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, Chinese President Hu Jintao, and Queen Elizabeth II. The G-20 summit began the following day. On April 3 President Obama met with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and held a town hall meeting with French and German students. From April 3 to 4 he attended the two-day NATO summit in Strasbourg, France, and Kehl and Baden-Baden, Germany. On April 5 he met with Czech President Václav Klaus and Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek. He gave a well-publicized speech on nuclear proliferation disarmament to a public crowd in Prague. Earlier that week, the North Korean government had launched a long-range multi-stage rocket. From April 6 to 7, the President visited Istanbul and Ankara, Turkey, including attending a meeting at the Alliance of Civilizations forum. He finished his trip in Istanbul with a town hall meeting, before making a surprise visit to Baghdad, Iraq, where he meets with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
After returning home, Obama hosted a White House Passover Seder for the second night of Passover on April 9th, the first time the holiday was every celebrated in the White House. The President had approved military action that led to Richard Phillips, who was captured by pirates in the Maersk Alabama hijacking, being freed by Navy Seals. The next day Obama signed a presidential memorandum eliminating limits on Cuban-Americans governing family visits and remittances sent to the island.
The President was on the road once again later in the month, but closer to home, when on April 16 and 17 he visited Mexico to meet with President Felipe Calderón. Obama called the US is a "full partner" with Mexico in its fight against the Mexican drug cartels. From Mexico he traveled to attend the 5th Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. He was back in the White House on April 21 for a meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan. He also spoke to CIA staff that day.
On April 23 President Obama spoke at a Holocaust remembrance ceremony at the capitol sponsored by the National Holocaust Museum. Four days later, on April 27, he addressed the National Academy of Sciences and announced that more than 3 percent of the GDP will be devoted to research and development. He also announced a goal of reducing carbon pollution by more than 80 percent by 2050.
As his 100th day in office neared closer, Obama finally had a Secretary of Health and Human Services as the Senate confirmed the appointment of Kathleen Sebelius on April 28th. The next day President Obama held another prime-time news conference, to discuss the first 100 days of his presidency, and the plans already implemented that would continue into the rest of his term.
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, the fourth best since Gallup began tracking presidential approval ratings of the first quarters in 1953. The most important action of Obama's first 100 days was the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Originally intended to be a bipartisan bill, Congressional passage of the bill relied largely on Democratic votes, though three Republican Senators did vote for it. The lack of Republican support for the bill, and the inability of Democrats to win that support, foreshadowed the gridlock and partisanship that would continue throughout Obama's presidency.