2009 Nobel Peace Prize There have been a number of calls for Obama to either return the award or to have the Nobel Committee recall it, most recently in 2013. In April 2013 a petition was begun asking the Nobel Committee to rescind the Peace Prize. The petition garnered 10,000 signatures in its first day and nearly 20,000 by the end of its first week. Nobel laureate and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore called the award "extremely well deserved". Obama received congratulations and kind words from other elected officials, such as from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former rival, Senator John McCain, who
2016 Nobel Peace Prize peace accords.” Ciarán Norris, writing in "The Guardian", argued that awarding the prize solely to Santos, not to the White Helmets nor shared with a FARC leader, was a deliberate choice to lend its power in a way that might have the greatest direct impact in achieving peace. "The Nobel prize committee had an opportunity today, just days after a hard-fought peace risked being lost in the Colombian jungle, to provoke peace and kickstart that process. In so doing, they have demonstrated that where the international community may not always lend its support to securing peace in every conflict –