Barack Obama

News, analysis, and features about Barack Obama, the 44th president of the US

John Kerry: Countries that fail to transition to clean energy are going to suffer economically

The US climate envoy on anger in developing countries over climate inequality, his reputation for being too positive, and conflict in the Middle East

Joe Biden understood the most important thing about the US’s decline

Donald Trump’s approach exudes pessimism about American power

The Obamas bring pure currents of hope and soul and optimism to Democratic convention

At the home of the Chicago Bulls, the faithful gathered for a golden couple of the city’s past

Inheritance is not just a family affair – it’s a critical societal issue

Despite wealth inequality, when it comes to social uplift, the past few decades in Ireland have been truly remarkable

Obama joins number of high-profile Democrats backing Kamala Harris

The 44th president was joined by wife Michelle, the former first lady, in a phone call with Harris

Kamala Harris praises Joe Biden’s ‘legacy of accomplishment’ on first day of her campaign - as it happened

Prominent Democrats Gretchen Whitmer and Gavin Newsom back vice-president to be the party’s candidate

More Democrats call for Biden to step aside from re-election bid

US president pledges to remain in White House race, but pressure is building

A neuropsychologist’s view on the four kinds of voters who will always back Trump

Donald Trump is more symptom than cause, but that won’t matter when he is unleashed on the White House

Marian Robinson obituary: down-to-earth matriarch of the Obama family

“Just show me how to work the washing machine and I’m good,” she said after moving into the White House

Plentiful Country: The Great Potato Famine and the Making of Irish New York: Forensic study highlights migrant triumph

Tyler Anbinder digs deep into real-life records to animate the social and economic strides made by the Irish in the US despite arduous conditions and initial press demonisation as ‘lazy’ Catholics

Great Expectations by Vinson Cunningham: Does not deliver enough despite an intriguing depiction of Barack Obama

US politics junkies will find things to relish but this novel falls short of being revelatory

George Stephanopoulos: ‘You can only have constructive debates if people are determined to engage in good faith’

Clinton-era White House adviser talks about his history of the White House Situation Room and his fear that Americans of opposing political camps have stopped listening to each other

Bodkin review: toe-curling paddywhackery from Barack and Michelle Obama plumbs the diddly dee depths

Netflix dramedy thinks it is critiquing cliches about Ireland when in fact it is adding to the stockpile

Faye Webster: ‘I want people to feel understood and related to’

Ahead of her Dublin gigs, the Atlanta indie-artist talks of her new ‘break-up’ album, being an Obama favourite and privacy in the context of fame

Grown-ups are not taking climate change seriously

Grown-ups are needed in these troubled times but must do a better job on the problem of our changing climate

Tough, lucky and clever (but not too clever): what makes a good taoiseach?

It’s like no other job in the country. If you think anyone can do it, you have no idea what’s involved

Washington witnesses nation-building at the National Building

Brightness and sincere optimism of Michelle O’Neill and Emma Little-Pengelly was a jolting invitation to look towards the future

Stock markets don’t love Donald Trump

Trump ranks below Obama, Clinton and other Democrat presidents in a large group seen as having little impact on markets

Eight years after James Foley’s murder by Isis, his mother sat down with his captor. Why?

James Foley’s brutal murder in 2014 was seen around the world. His mother Diane’s book documents the family’s struggle

Nikki Haley could emerge from Iowa caucuses as plausible alternative to Trump’s shadow

Midwestern state swung from endorsing Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 to Republican returns for the past two terms

Tales about a former piece of Ireland soon to be on the Washington property market

Government to sell the former Irish ambassador’s residence which has been visited by a number of presidents

Dianne Feinstein broke into Washington boys’ club as a trailblazing senator

Democrat believed in government as a force for good but has died at 90 watching US politics coming off the rails

Joe Biden did too much with too small a mandate

His big government activism wasn’t demanded and lets Republicans frame him for inflation

You don’t need to be artistic to work in the creative arts sector

Creative industries need people to mastermind projects and business types who keep the commercial side humming

What makes a US politician ‘Irish’? It doesn’t have much to do with their genes

What makes a US politician ‘Irish’? It’s a little to do with genealogy and a lot to do with their politics

Obama’s ‘back of the queue’ prediction for UK proves entirely accurate

Former US president said US-UK trade deal wouldn’t be priority if UK left EU and so it has come to pass

Why are US presidents so drawn to Ireland?

The visits are acts of political theatre with American audiences clearly in mind with the blueprint established by Kennedy

Gary Younge interview: ‘My mum was a single parent with three kids and therefore we were supposed to be into drugs’

Gary Younge observes how attitudes to race are changing in Ireland, Britain and elsewhere

Mariana Mazzucato: ‘The McKinseys and the Deloittes have no expertise in the areas they’re advising in’

Influential UCL economist questions value of influential consulting firms

Michelle Obama says she ‘couldn’t stand’ husband Barack for 10 years

Former first lady says caring for their young daughters put strain on their marriage in TV interview promoting latest book

Signed, sealed, delivered: the strange history of the mechanical signature

Hugh Linehan: Bob Dylan has been caught out badly, but do we overvalue the supposed authenticity of the signed edition?

UK government needs to stop doing stupid stuff around Brexit

Martin Wolf: It would be wonderful if the Tory administration could start doing sensible stuff

Virginia McLaurin obituary: Sharecropper’s daughter who danced with Obamas at the White House

She died at the age of 113 by her own measure but did not have a birth certificate, and had lived a quiet life until video of her with the president made her famous

Michelle Obama ‘hates’ how she looks and grew up with a ‘tiniest kernel of self-loathing’

In The Light We Carry, the former first lady’s second memoir, she also writes about her experience of depression

Finding the right words for a rarely speechless US president

Former White House speechwriter Cody Keenan recalls a tumultuous 10 days during Barack Obama’s presidency in his new memoir, Grace

US midterm elections: Republicans have slight lead over Democrats, poll shows

Biden and Obama hit the campaign trail in support of party candidates ahead of polling day on Tuesday

US midterm elections: Biden warns of threat to democracy, Trump says US ‘in decline’

Biden shares stage with Obama on campaign trail in Philadelphia as polls set to close on Tuesday

Obama warns of ‘dangerous’ political climate ahead of US midterms

Officials say it may take days for final results to be clear in closely contested races as millions of Americans cast early ballots

Dominic Dromgoole Q&A: ‘It is absurd and disproportionate how much great dramatic writing has emerged from Ireland’

Director has written a book celebrating notable theatre first nights

A feral mood has taken hold. If you think Washington is monstrous now, just wait

Maureen Dowd: Pelosi attack comes as US is haunted by violence

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