And Americans themselves became more wary of international engagement. While Obama remained largely popular internationally throughout his tenure, there were exceptions, including in Russia and key Muslim nations. president to do the right thing in international affairs. In 2009, shortly after Obama took office, residents in many countries expressed a sharp increase in confidence in the ability of the U.S. Bush was deeply unpopular following the U.S. Obama’s election quickly elevated America’s image abroad, especially in Europe, where George W. Unemployment has plummeted from 10% in late 2009 to below 5% today the Dow Jones Industrial Average has more than doubled.īut by some measures, the country faces serious economic challenges: A steady hollowing of the middle class, for example, continued during Obama’s presidency, and income inequality reached its highest point since 1928. economy is in much better shape now than it was in the aftermath of the Great Recession, which cost millions of Americans their homes and jobs and led Obama to push through a roughly $800 billion stimulus package as one of his first orders of business. But by 2016, following a spate of high-profile deaths of black Americans during encounters with police and protests by the Black Lives Matter movement and other groups, many Americans – especially blacks – described race relations as generally bad. would improve, especially among black voters. The election of the nation’s first black president raised hopes that race relations in the U.S. Today, use of smartphones and social media has become the norm in U.S. Profound social, demographic and technological changes have swept across the United States during Obama’s tenure, as have important shifts in government policy and public opinion.Īpple released its first iPhone during Obama’s 2007 campaign, and he announced his vice presidential pick – Joe Biden – on a two-year-old platform called Twitter. As he prepares to leave office, the country he led for eight years is undeniably different.