Presidents at Peace: Barack Obama Wins the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize
In 2009 the Nobel committee created controversy and adversely affected its reputation with its decision to award the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to newly elected US President Barack Obama. The decision was controversial because many believed that Obama had not been in office long enough to merit receiving the award, and had no significant accomplishments worthy of the honor. But the Nobel committee defended its decision, saying that it was giving the award to the new president "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."
The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced the award on October 9, 2009, citing Obama's promotion of nuclear nonproliferation and a "new climate" in international relations fostered by Obama, especially in reaching out to the Muslim world.
In 2009 there were 205 nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize, which included Chinese and Afghan civil rights activists and African politicians. Colombian Senator Piedad Córdoba, Afghanistan's Sima Samar, Chinese dissident Hu Jia and Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Morgan Tsvangirai had been speculated to be front runners for the award. The five members of the Nobel Committee, appointed by the Norwegian Parliament, was comprised two members of the Norwegian Labor Party, one from the left-wing Socialist Left Party, one from the Conservative Party of Norway and one from the right-wing Progress Party.
When the prize was announced, and criticism of the choice became apparent, the committee chairman Thorbjorn
Jagland said "We have not given the prize for what may happen in the future. We are awarding Obama for what he has done in the past year. And we are hoping this may contribute a little bit for what he is trying to do." Jagland said the committee was influenced by a speech Obama gave about Islam in Cairo in June 2009, the president's efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation and climate change, and Obama's support for using established international bodies such as the United Nations to pursue foreign policy goals.
Obama was the fourth U.S. President to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, after Theodore Roosevelt (in 1906) and Woodrow Wilson (1919), both of whom received the award during their time in office, and Jimmy Carter (2002), who received the award 21 years after leaving office. But Obama was the first U.S. president to receive the award during his first year in office, just eight and a half months into his first term. He was nominated less than two weeks in office.
When asked for comment, Obama said he was "surprised" and "deeply humbled" by the award. He admitted that he did not feel that he deserved the award. In remarks he made at the White House Rose Garden on the day of the announcement, Obama stated, "I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments but rather an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations." He added, "throughout history, the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement, it's also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes, and that is why I will accept this award as a call to action - a call for all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st century." Obama listed those challenges as including the goal of eliminating nuclear weapons, nuclear proliferation, climate change, tolerance "among people of different faiths and races and religions", peace between and security for Israelis and Palestinians, better social conditions for the world's poor.
Obama announced that he would donate the 10 million Swedish kronor (or US$1.4 million) monetary award to charity. The largest donations were given to the housing charity Fisher House Foundation who received $250,000, and the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund which received $200,000. Eight organizations which support education also received a donation. $125,000 was donated to the College Summit, the Posse Foundation, the United Negro College Fund, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, the Appalachian Leadership and Education Foundation, and the American Indian College Fund. $100,000 was donated to Africare, and the Central Asia Institute.
In a USA Today / Gallup Poll conducted October 16-19, 61% of American adults polled responded that they thought Obama did not deserve to win the prize, while 34% responded that he did. When asked if they were personally glad that Obama won the award, 46% of respondents said they were and 47% said they were not.
There was widespread criticism of the Nobel Committee's decision from commentators and editorial writers across the political spectrum. Today host Matt Lauer and Jonah Goldberg of the National Review said that less than a year into the first term, Obama had no major foreign policy achievements. Peter Beinart of the Daily Beast called the decision a "farce". Noam Chomsky said "In defense of the committee, we might say that the achievement of doing nothing to advance peace places Obama on a considerably higher moral plane than some of the earlier recipients". Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson wrote, that the committee members "have forfeited any claim to seriousness. Peace-the kind of peace that keeps people from being killed and oppressed-is an achievement, not a sentiment. Intending to honor Obama, the committee has actually embarrassed him." According to The Washington Post news analyst Dan Balz, "even among his supporters there was a sense of surprise and even shock, a belief that the award was premature, a disservice and a potential liability." Thomas L. Friedman of The New York Times wrote, "It dismays me that the most important prize in the world has been devalued in this way". Lech Wałęsa, (1983) cofounder of the Solidarity trade union, and former president of Poland said the award was premature. "He has not yet made a real input."
President Obama accepted the Nobel Peace prize in person at the Oslo City Hall in Norway on December 10, 2009. In a 36-minute speech, he discussed the tensions between war and peace and the idea of a "just war". The speech was generally well received. A number of prominent Republican politicians publicly praised the speech, including Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin. The New York Times praised the eloquence of the speech, stating that "President Obama gave the speech he needed to give, but we suspect not precisely the one the Nobel committee wanted to hear." In the speech Obama defended the occasional necessity of war and stated that evil exists in the world.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced the award on October 9, 2009, citing Obama's promotion of nuclear nonproliferation and a "new climate" in international relations fostered by Obama, especially in reaching out to the Muslim world.
In 2009 there were 205 nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize, which included Chinese and Afghan civil rights activists and African politicians. Colombian Senator Piedad Córdoba, Afghanistan's Sima Samar, Chinese dissident Hu Jia and Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Morgan Tsvangirai had been speculated to be front runners for the award. The five members of the Nobel Committee, appointed by the Norwegian Parliament, was comprised two members of the Norwegian Labor Party, one from the left-wing Socialist Left Party, one from the Conservative Party of Norway and one from the right-wing Progress Party.
When the prize was announced, and criticism of the choice became apparent, the committee chairman Thorbjorn
Jagland said "We have not given the prize for what may happen in the future. We are awarding Obama for what he has done in the past year. And we are hoping this may contribute a little bit for what he is trying to do." Jagland said the committee was influenced by a speech Obama gave about Islam in Cairo in June 2009, the president's efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation and climate change, and Obama's support for using established international bodies such as the United Nations to pursue foreign policy goals.
Obama was the fourth U.S. President to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, after Theodore Roosevelt (in 1906) and Woodrow Wilson (1919), both of whom received the award during their time in office, and Jimmy Carter (2002), who received the award 21 years after leaving office. But Obama was the first U.S. president to receive the award during his first year in office, just eight and a half months into his first term. He was nominated less than two weeks in office.
When asked for comment, Obama said he was "surprised" and "deeply humbled" by the award. He admitted that he did not feel that he deserved the award. In remarks he made at the White House Rose Garden on the day of the announcement, Obama stated, "I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments but rather an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations." He added, "throughout history, the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement, it's also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes, and that is why I will accept this award as a call to action - a call for all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st century." Obama listed those challenges as including the goal of eliminating nuclear weapons, nuclear proliferation, climate change, tolerance "among people of different faiths and races and religions", peace between and security for Israelis and Palestinians, better social conditions for the world's poor.
Obama announced that he would donate the 10 million Swedish kronor (or US$1.4 million) monetary award to charity. The largest donations were given to the housing charity Fisher House Foundation who received $250,000, and the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund which received $200,000. Eight organizations which support education also received a donation. $125,000 was donated to the College Summit, the Posse Foundation, the United Negro College Fund, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, the Appalachian Leadership and Education Foundation, and the American Indian College Fund. $100,000 was donated to Africare, and the Central Asia Institute.
In a USA Today / Gallup Poll conducted October 16-19, 61% of American adults polled responded that they thought Obama did not deserve to win the prize, while 34% responded that he did. When asked if they were personally glad that Obama won the award, 46% of respondents said they were and 47% said they were not.
There was widespread criticism of the Nobel Committee's decision from commentators and editorial writers across the political spectrum. Today host Matt Lauer and Jonah Goldberg of the National Review said that less than a year into the first term, Obama had no major foreign policy achievements. Peter Beinart of the Daily Beast called the decision a "farce". Noam Chomsky said "In defense of the committee, we might say that the achievement of doing nothing to advance peace places Obama on a considerably higher moral plane than some of the earlier recipients". Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson wrote, that the committee members "have forfeited any claim to seriousness. Peace-the kind of peace that keeps people from being killed and oppressed-is an achievement, not a sentiment. Intending to honor Obama, the committee has actually embarrassed him." According to The Washington Post news analyst Dan Balz, "even among his supporters there was a sense of surprise and even shock, a belief that the award was premature, a disservice and a potential liability." Thomas L. Friedman of The New York Times wrote, "It dismays me that the most important prize in the world has been devalued in this way". Lech Wałęsa, (1983) cofounder of the Solidarity trade union, and former president of Poland said the award was premature. "He has not yet made a real input."
President Obama accepted the Nobel Peace prize in person at the Oslo City Hall in Norway on December 10, 2009. In a 36-minute speech, he discussed the tensions between war and peace and the idea of a "just war". The speech was generally well received. A number of prominent Republican politicians publicly praised the speech, including Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin. The New York Times praised the eloquence of the speech, stating that "President Obama gave the speech he needed to give, but we suspect not precisely the one the Nobel committee wanted to hear." In the speech Obama defended the occasional necessity of war and stated that evil exists in the world.