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Former featured articleBarack Obama is a former featured article. Please see the links under Article milestones below for its original nomination page (for older articles, check the nomination archive) and why it was removed.
Main Page trophyThis article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page as Today's featured article on August 18, 2004, and on November 4, 2008.
In the newsOn this day... Article milestones
DateProcessResult
August 12, 2004Featured article candidatePromoted
August 18, 2004Today's featured articleMain Page
December 21, 2007Featured article reviewKept
January 23, 2007Featured article reviewKept
July 26, 2007Featured article reviewKept
April 15, 2008Featured article reviewKept
September 16, 2008Featured article reviewKept
November 4, 2008Today's featured articleMain Page
December 2, 2008Featured article reviewKept
March 10, 2009Featured article reviewKept
March 16, 2010Featured article reviewKept
March 17, 2010Featured article reviewKept
June 17, 2012Featured article reviewKept
October 22, 2012Featured article reviewKept
December 4, 2021Featured article reviewDemoted
In the news A news item involving this article was featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "In the news" column on November 5, 2008.
On this day... Facts from this article were featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "On this day..." column on November 5, 2013, November 4, 2016, and November 4, 2022.
Current status: Former featured article

New image?

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The image at the top of this page is currently Obama's official 2012 portrait, which is quite dated considering it's about 14 years old. Would it be a good idea to replace it with a more recent image? He's aged quite a bit since 2012 and has grey hair now, so a more recent photo would be more representative of his current physical appearance. There are some good photos on Commons from 2022, such as this and this, and he will be at the DNC soon so a 2024 photo may arise shortly. Any opinions? Di (they-them) (talk) 21:54, 19 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Di (they-them) I think the current picture is appropriate since it shows Obama when he was president i.e. most relevant. We do that with other presidents as well, with most (if not all) having pictures from the time they were president.
That said, the most recent picture in the article seems to be from 2015, which is almost a decade ago, and I agree that a more recent picture should be included. Cortador (talk) 06:49, 21 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
There's 2017 and 2022 in there. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 06:59, 21 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I missed those. 2022 seems fine to me. Cortador (talk) 07:55, 21 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Strong oppose. Former presidents before Obama use their official portraits. Same for ex-VPs and Congress officials after they retire. TDKR Chicago 101 (talk) 06:50, 21 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
While it's not a written "rule" in any way, the custom seems to be that US presidents has an official presidential portrait as WP:LEADIMAGE, at least back to Lyndon B. Johnson. I think it's reasonable to stick with that. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 07:05, 21 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose any change to the image based on this argument. Jimmy Carter is now 99 years and almost 11 months old, and our image of him is from when he was president. We do not use a photo of a frail, emaciated Jimmy Carter in a wheelchair wearing a shawl. Lead portraits of presidents should show them while they were president. In this case, the image shows Obama in 2012, when he was approximately halfway through his eight year presidency. Seems right to me. Consider also William Howard Taft, the only president of the photographic era who served in high government office after his presidency, serving nine years as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Despite that long service as Chief Justice, our lead image of Taft shows him about the time that he was elected to his single term as president. Consider Herbert Hoover who lived over 30 years after his defeat by FDR in 1932 and we correctly use a portrait of him taken in 1928 around the time he first became president. Consider George H. W. Bush who lived about 25 years after his defeat by Bill Clinton, and we use his presidential portrait from 1989. Consider Bill Clinton who left the White House in 2001 and is still active in presidential politics. We use his 1993 presidential portrait. There is no basis for changing the lead portraits of US presidents as older people, and the general principle of to illustrate notable people at the top of their game. For every president other than FDR, that would be a maximum of eight years. But since FDR died in office, of course we show him during his 12 plus year term, specifically when he was running for his fourth term in 1944. Cullen328 (talk) 07:56, 21 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 21 August 2024

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Change

Photo of Obama standing behind a lectern, giving a speech at the White House, with Biden and Harris smiling in the background
Obama with president Joe Biden and vice president Kamala Harris in the White House, April 5, 2022

To

Photo of Obama standing behind a lectern, giving a speech at the White House, with Biden and Harris smiling in the background
Obama with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the White House, April 5, 2022

The titles of President and Vice President of the United States should be capitalized because they are governmental offices. 2601:240:4180:CB80:D0B7:E674:63D3:1DB1 (talk) 14:27, 21 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

 Done The specific example you cited did indeed warrant capitalization per MOS:OFFICE, whereas most other uses of the terms are lowercase as they are used generically. A. Randomdude0000 (talk) 14:50, 21 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 30 August 2024

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{{subst:trim|1= [(X)Y]


Write your request ABOVE this line and do not remove the tildes and curly brackets below. -->

 Not done: It's not clear what needs to be done, and the image you added is already in the article. ⸺(Random)staplers 17:27, 30 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 4 September 2024

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Change

In July 2024, Obama encouraged efforts that lead to Biden's withdrawal from the 2024 presidential election, saying that his path to winning re-election had "greatly diminished."[1] Obama did, however, praise Biden's work as president, saying that "Joe Biden has been one of America's most consequential presidents" and that Biden "wouldn't make this decision unless he believed it was right for America."[2] He later endorsed presumptive nominee and vice president Kamala Harris.[3]

To

In July 2024, Obama condemned the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump and called for a return to civility in U.S. politics.[4] He also encouraged efforts that led to Biden's withdrawal from the 2024 presidential election, saying that Biden’s path to winning re-election had "greatly diminished."[5] Obama did, however, praise Biden's work as president, saying that "Joe Biden has been one of America's most consequential presidents" and that Biden "wouldn't make this decision unless he believed it was right for America."[6] He later endorsed presumptive nominee and vice president Kamala Harris.[7] 2601:240:4180:CB80:151F:3ACD:A4CA:23CA (talk) 15:29, 4 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

 Done Added as a separate sentence since the events aren't related, thanks. Jamedeus (talk) 20:36, 4 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]
It strikes me as bloat. Condemning an assassination attempt is par for the course. Nobody expected him not to condemn it. It is like expressing condolences. It is especially jarring as a standalone paragraph. Surtsicna (talk) 21:01, 4 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

References

  1. ^ Pager, Tyler; Scherer, Michael (2024-07-18). "Obama tells allies Biden's path to winning reelection has greatly diminished". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
  2. ^ Obama, Barack (July 21, 2024). "Bill and Hillary Clinton Endorse Kamala Harris". Medium. Archived from the original on July 21, 2024. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
  3. ^ Smith, David; Tait, Robert (2024-07-26). "Barack Obama endorses Kamala Harris for president in 2024 US election". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  4. ^ Samuels, Brett (July 13, 2024). "Obama condemns apparent shooting at Trump rally, wishes former president 'quick recovery'". The Hill. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  5. ^ Pager, Tyler; Scherer, Michael (2024-07-18). "Obama tells allies Biden's path to winning reelection has greatly diminished". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
  6. ^ Obama, Barack (July 21, 2024). "Bill and Hillary Clinton Endorse Kamala Harris". Medium. Archived from the original on July 21, 2024. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
  7. ^ Smith, David; Tait, Robert (2024-07-26). "Barack Obama endorses Kamala Harris for president in 2024 US election". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-07-26.

Semi-protected edit request on 16 September 2024

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Change

In July 2024, Obama encouraged efforts that lead to Biden's withdrawal from the 2024 presidential election, saying that his path to winning re-election had "greatly diminished."[1] Obama did, however, praise Biden's work as president, saying that "Joe Biden has been one of America's most consequential presidents" and that Biden "wouldn't make this decision unless he believed it was right for America."[2] He later endorsed presumptive nominee and vice president Kamala Harris.[3]

To

Obama condemned the assassination attempt on former President Trump on July 13, 2024, wishing Trump a quick recovery and called for a restoration of “civility and respect” in politics.[4] Additionally, Obama encouraged efforts that led to President Biden's withdrawal from the 2024 presidential election, saying that his path to winning re-election had "greatly diminished."[5] Obama did, however, praise Biden's work as president, saying that "Joe Biden has been one of America's most consequential presidents" and that Biden "wouldn't make this decision unless he believed it was right for America."[6] He later endorsed presumptive nominee and vice president Kamala Harris.[7] 2601:240:4180:CB80:5572:2442:68D0:5998 (talk) 15:56, 16 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

References

  1. ^ Pager, Tyler; Scherer, Michael (2024-07-18). "Obama tells allies Biden's path to winning reelection has greatly diminished". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
  2. ^ Obama, Barack (July 21, 2024). "Bill and Hillary Clinton Endorse Kamala Harris". Medium. Archived from the original on July 21, 2024. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
  3. ^ Smith, David; Tait, Robert (2024-07-26). "Barack Obama endorses Kamala Harris for president in 2024 US election". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
  4. ^ Samuels, Brett (July 13, 2024). "Obama condemns apparent shooting at Trump rally, wishes former president 'quick recovery'". The Hill. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  5. ^ Pager, Tyler; Scherer, Michael (2024-07-18). "Obama tells allies Biden's path to winning reelection has greatly diminished". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
  6. ^ Obama, Barack (July 21, 2024). "Bill and Hillary Clinton Endorse Kamala Harris". Medium. Archived from the original on July 21, 2024. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
  7. ^ Smith, David; Tait, Robert (2024-07-26). "Barack Obama endorses Kamala Harris for president in 2024 US election". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
 Not done for now: please establish a consensus for this alteration before using the {{Edit semi-protected}} template. It appears you previously requested this edit, it was done, and then it was reverted by @Surtsicna: (see Special:Diff/1244062399 meamemg (talk) 18:36, 17 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

He is not African-American!

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He is American, but not descendant of American chattel slavery. 69.121.109.19 (talk) 22:07, 13 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Where is his father from? Who ever said that to be African American you must be descendant of American chattel slavery? – Muboshgu (talk) 22:24, 13 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Yes. I know American racial labels are often illogical, but to say an American with an African father is not African-American is pushing that lack of logic too far. HiLo48 (talk)
He's widely (nearly universally) referred to as African American in the sources, so it's appropriate for us to use the term here. I was going to say that people who want to know about the nuances of meaning of the term can just click through to African-American and read about it there, but then I realized we had the link pointing to an article about African American presidents in pop culture. So I fixed that, and now anyone who wants to know the nuances of meaning of the term and its relationship with the history of American chattel slavery can click through to African-American which covers the subject in depth. Thanks for bringing this to our attention! -- LWG talk 16:35, 17 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
This view exist, see American Descendants of Slavery, but it is not atm the prevailing one. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 15:15, 18 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

He wasn’t president in 2017

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Idk why it says that but it isn’t true 72.74.28.171 (talk) 23:06, 21 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

His term ended on January 20th, 2017, so he was still President during those nineteen days, plus twelve hours. CRBoyer 23:11, 21 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 10 November 2024

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In the section "Presidency -> Domestic Policy" the subheader for "Same-sex marriage" should be formatted as a subheader. Currently it is accidentally just normal text.

In the source:

Same-sex marriage
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Should change to:

====Same-sex marriage==== Barrtender (talk) 20:56, 10 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

 Done. The error seems to have been in the article for a while, thanks for pointing it out.--Commander Keane (talk) 01:36, 11 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
It has been reversed, correctly. The subheader level 5 looks like normal text on mobile, thus stands out like a saw thumb. Also on mobile you never get to see the nesting illustrated in the table of contents. Desktop is another story. Interestingly I checked the level of the heading directly above (LGBT rights) but didn't make the connection between the sections (probably my own bias considering same-sex marriage a civil fundamental civil right rather than an LGBT thing). Commander Keane (talk) 03:54, 11 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 10 November 2024 (2)

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He was not the first African American President. Hamilton was. 74.70.210.158 (talk) 23:40, 10 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Alexander Hamilton was never the President.CRBoyer 23:50, 10 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Semi-protected edit request on 12 November 2024

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Check this particular edit: [4].

As a member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African-American president in U.S. history.

Am I alone at thinking that this sentence is slightly confusing because it lacks the logical flow that is expected in a sentence starting with "As"? "As it's late, I'm going to bed". Or compare with these two examples that make a lot more sense in my opinion:

As the son of a Kenyan national, he was the first African-American president in U.S. history.

As a member of the Democratic Party, he was elected U.S. President.

I would suggest to go back to the original:

A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African-American president in U.S. history.

Thanks. Truc Bizarre (talk) 11:58, 12 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Truc Bizarre I think it is fine as is, it implies he was a member of the Democratic party when he was president, he still is, but I think it is fine. Seawolf35 HGAV (talk) 17:51, 12 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
 Done I'm actually going to agree with Truc Bizarre here, the "as" infers a correlation between the two clauses that doesn't exist, so I removed it. DrOrinScrivello (talk) 20:17, 12 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]