Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan


U.S. soldiers on patrol outside an airbase in Afghanistan. AFP/Getty Images

Obama framed his early candidacy around his opposition to the Iraq war. He promised to wind down American involvement within 16 months of taking office. Saying Iraq had been an unnecessary diversion from Afghanistan, he later added parallel commitments to deploy at least 10,000 additional troops to Afghanistan and to continue -- and even expand -- the Bush administration's policy of using drones to fire missiles at suspected terrorist targets within neighboring Pakistan. Obama frequently described Afghanistan and Pakistan as his top national-security priorities, and vowed to shift U.S. military and financial resources away from Iraq.

Done So Far

As president, Obama has largely kept to his campaign commitments, and his expansion of the war effort in Afghanistan has gone well beyond what he discussed on the trail. In February, Obama said he would withdraw all U.S. combat forces from Iraq by Aug. 31, 2010, while leaving a residual force of up to 50,000 troops there for an additional year. Obama has also announced plans to deploy 21,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, which will push the U.S. military presence there to its highest level since the 2001 invasion. U.S. missile strikes into Pakistan have continued, but Mr. Obama has tried to balance the military moves inside Pakistan with an expansion of American civilian aid to the country.

What's Next

Several important decisions loom. In Iraq, Obama will have to decide whether to postpone -- or even halt -- his withdrawal plans amid a wave of recent violence and a new spate of political wrangling among the country's feuding sectarian groups.

In Afghanistan and Pakistan, the administration must decide whether to launch peace talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan, what to do about the Pakistani government's decision to surrender broad swaths of the country to armed Islamist groups, and whether to expand the shadow war that American Special Operations forces and intelligence operatives are waging against the Pakistani Taliban and their allies.

—Yochi J. Dreazen

Tackling the Recession


Treasury's Geithner testifies at a hearing over the TARP plan. Bloomberg News

By the end of the campaign, Obama's candidacy -- once framed around restoring peace -- had become consumed by the need to restore prosperity. He promised a massive economic-stimulus bill to give the economy a quick shot in the arm, said he would steer President Bush's $700 billion Wall Street bailout more toward Main Street, vowed to remake the financial regulatory system so such a crisis wouldn't happen again, and envisioned a path to recovery that would restore the faltering middle class for the long haul.

Done So Far

As his first major act, Obama muscled through a $787 billion economic-stimulus plan within weeks of taking office. A small tax cut for those earning less than $190,000 a year for couples is already in effect, along with unemployment-insurance extensions, increased food-stamp allotments and aid to state governments. Money is beginning to flow to infrastructure projects. The administration has directed several billion dollars of financial bailout money to restructuring mortgages for struggling homeowners and getting credit flowing to small business. He threw a lifeline to General Motors and Chrysler, but fired GM's chief executive. Treasury Secretary Geithner laid out the principles for a financial regulatory overhaul.

What's Next

Now comes the hard part. Tough decisions loom about restructuring Chrysler (end of April) and GM (end of May). The administration needs to implement "stress tests" for banks, and may need to ask Congress for still more financial-system bailout money, a tough sell. If the economy continues to slide, lawmakers may this fall craft another stimulus plan. Congress still must take up the financial regulation proposal, which promises to spark a battle among corporate lobbyists.

While the recession is far from over, Obama has been hailing glimmers of hope as he tries to shift the debate to stage two: the long-term recovery. He has vowed to rebuild the economy on a "rock" of ambitious energy and health plans, but faces fierce legislative fights.

—Jonathan Weisman

Health Care


Nurses and heath-care activists rally for universal single-payer health plan. AFP/Getty Images

Obama pledged to provide health-care coverage for all Americans and contain escalating costs, echoing a promise that Bill Clinton tried to fulfill early in his administration. Clinton's effort failed, weakening his presidency in the middle of his first term.

On the campaign trail, Obama called for a new health-insurance exchange in which private plans would compete with a new public insurance plan to expand health-care coverage. He proposed requiring large employers that don't provide coverage to begin chipping in for worker health-care costs. He also promised to lower health-care spending by making hospitals release cost and quality comparisons.

Done So Far

In March, Obama set the ambitious goal of enacting comprehensive health-care reform by the end of the year. But the effort faced an early setback when his nominee to lead it, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, bowed out amid questions about his tax payments. Nonetheless, the White House has been drumming up support for some type of health-care overhaul, and the president has notched early health-policy achievements. The stimulus package includes $19 billion to improve health-information technology, rewarding hospitals and doctors for computerizing medical records and funding research comparing the effectiveness of different medical treatments.

What's Next

Legislation for health-care reform is expected to take shape in the House and Senate over the next few months. They'll have to reach an agreement on whether to include a government-sponsored health-insurance plan that would compete with private insurers -- a move some Republicans oppose, concerned it could drive private plans out of business. The White House and congressional leaders also will have to figure out exactly how to pay for the overhaul. Obama's main proposal to date -- curbing the value of tax deductions for high earners for charitable contributions and other expenses -- has drawn strong bipartisan opposition, and is seen as all but dead.

—Janet Adamy



Students at a New York elementary school bearing the president's name. Associated Press

As a candidate, Obama laid out an ambitious education agenda that included bolstering early-childhood programs and overhauling Bush's signature No Child Left Behind law to provide more support for struggling schools. Risking union ire, he also called for merit pay for teachers and expanded use of charter schools, where union representation is thin. In higher education, Obama said he would create a tax credit for students who perform community service. He promised to eliminate subsidies to private lenders, making the government the only provider of federal student loans.

Done So Far

The stimulus bill gives the Education Department $100 billion to dole out, including money to help prevent teacher layoffs -- more than double the department's regular annual budget. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has demanded an array of new data from states wanting a share of the money. He has also warned requests will be judged according to how well states advance administration goals such as toughening learning standards. In his 2010 budget proposal, the president said he would expand access to preschool, push states to raise educational standards and provide rewards for effective teachers and principals. With Obama's backing, Congress has bolstered funding for Pell grants for low-income college students and increased the financial aid available to those who do volunteer work.

What's Next

After gathering input, the Obama administration is likely to pursue reauthorization of the No Child law later this year. With its heavy reliance upon testing, the statute has divided educators and lawmakers. So far, Obama has given no sign that he plans to retreat from that general strategy. Having Democratic majorities in Congress should help the president's cause, but states may balk at being asked to boost educational standards when many are struggling to meet existing goals. His stands on merit pay for teachers and more charter schools also face opposition from unions.

Congress is also set to take up his proposal to cut back on federal subsidies to private student-loan companies, steering the money instead to direct assistance for students.

—Robert Tomsho



At Guantanamo Bay, Obama's picture replaces outgoing President Bush. Associated Press

Obama promised a clean break with the Bush administration's counterterrorism effort, saying he would close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, adhere to the Geneva Conventions, ban torture without equivocation, bar warrantless eavesdropping on U.S. citizens or tracking of peaceful protesters, and reject military commission trials in favor of federal courts or courts-martial that afford constitutional rights.

Done So Far

Two days after taking office, Obama issued orders to close Guantanamo within a year and require the CIA to comply with the Geneva Conventions. He directed the attorney general to spearhead a cabinet-level task force to review detention policies and come up with options, and suspended military commission proceedings at Guantanamo.

Since then, however, the administration largely has defended the status quo against lawsuits filed by prisoners, arguing that courts shouldn't impose piecemeal remedies for unlawful detentions until the policy review is complete. Despite Obama's pledges of transparency, the detention-policy review has been conducted largely in secret. The president also has equivocated over whether to let Bush policies be bygones or to accept more comprehensive investigations of what went wrong, potentially including a review of allegations that officials may have violated laws forbidding prisoner abuse.

What's Next

The president has handed off most of these questions to Attorney General Eric Holder, who must not only sign off on the policy review but also decide whether officials responsible for Bush-era practices should be professionally sanctioned or possibly even prosecuted.

By announcing specific timelines for the policy review and closing Guantanamo, Obama has set a high bar for himself. Challenges include figuring out where to send dozens of prisoners from Guantanamo. He'll either rapidly close the book on the aggressive and legally contentious policies that helped define the Bush administration -- or be forced to admit that such a change is harder than he thought.

—Jess Bravin

Energy and the Environment


Obama tours the solar array at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. Getty Images

Obama put sweeping energy and climate-control measures at the center of his campaign. He backed legislation to cut greenhouse-gas emissions by roughly 80% by 2050 through a system that would require all emitters to buy pollution credits. He also pledged to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, raise automobile fuel-economy standards, and boost the use of electricity derived from renewable sources such as wind, solar and geothermal. Obama also promised to spend $15 billion a year to spur green technologies such as biofuels, plug-in hybrid cars and improvements to the electricity grid. He opposed the planned nuclear-waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.

Done So Far

The stimulus bill directs $42 billion to the Energy Department alone for an array of renewable-energy projects. DOE has announced $6 billion in new funding under the bill to accelerate the cleanup of nuclear waste, but it has yet to award any loans to car makers seeking assistance under a program intended to spur the rollout of low-emission vehicles.

The Transportation Department adopted fuel-economy standards less aggressive than ones proposed by the Bush administration, prompting a lawsuit by environmentalists. The Environmental Protection Agency gave a boost to environmentalists, though, with the declaration that carbon dioxide poses a global threat -- a move laying the groundwork for new federal rules governing carbon emissions. Obama's 2010 budget proposes raising oil-industry taxes by at least $30 billion.

What's Next

The administration now faces a mammoth fight over its pledge to pass a cap-and-trade bill that would put a price on carbon-dioxide emissions. The administration must also move forward on its promises to boost renewable-power sources as part of a comprehensive energy bill. The administration's budget proposal calls for essentially killing Yucca Mountain, but it's unclear how far that will go; critics say such a move would make it harder to expand the use of nuclear energy.

—Stephen Power and Neil King Jr.


During the campaign, Obama frequently said the Bush administration had hurt American alliances abroad, pledging to "rediscover the power of diplomacy," and "meet with all nations, friend and foe." The administration has also released a video message to Iran offering to engage and has lifted restrictions on travel and remittances to Cuba for Cuban-Americans. While other countries have noted the change in tone, Obama has had little visible progress so far in winning concessions.

Stem Cells

President Obama loosened restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research on March 9, fulfilling a campaign promise. The Bush administration viewed the research as the destruction of human life and under its rules, the National Institutes of Health was limited to funding a few dozen cell lines derived from human embryos. The agency's new guidelines could make about 700 existing lines eligible for funding, but stop short of allowing federal support for derivation of new lines and a form of embryonic cloning.

Government Ethics

As president, Obama has committed his administration to "unprecedented" transparency and a ban on employment for anyone who had worked as a lobbyist within the past two years. The White House has drawn criticism for giving waivers to some nominees, and for some high-level appointees who had failed to pay their full taxes owed. The Obama administration is also facing charges that the ban is too strict and has made it too difficult to get qualified people to fill key positions.


Obama took a tougher trade stance on the campaign trail than he has pursued in office. When he was seeking the Democratic nomination, he emphasized his promise to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement to raise labor and environmental standards. He branded China as a currency manipulator, an allegation usually made by trade skeptics. However, his Treasury chose not to repeat the currency manipulator label in a recent report. On trips to Canada and Mexico, he downplayed talk of renegotiating NAFTA.


During the campaign, Obama said he would cut taxes for middle-class families and raise them on upper-income taxpayers. The stimulus bill included an $800 tax cut for couples earning less than $150,000, and the president is pursuing a cap on itemized deductions for mortgage interest and charitable donations to help fund health-care overhaul. Now he has to square promises not to raise taxes on people making less than $250,000 a year with considerable spending plans and a pledge to cut the deficit.

Hope and Change

As much as any policy issue, the centerpiece of the Obama campaign was a call for "hope" and "change" in politics, chiefly by reducing polarization. The president has made early gestures of bipartisanship, offering cabinet positions to Republicans and inviting them to join discussions on major issues such as the stimulus package. Most Republicans complain that these discussions are only cosmetic, and continue to vote against the president. Polls also suggest that the American public remains deeply divided.

—Louise Radnofsky