Obama Presidency Oral History

Incite at Columbia University
The Obama Presidency as told by 450+ officials, activists, organizers, and extraordinary people from all walks of life.

  • Sylvia Burwell

    OMB Director and HHS Secretary

  • Tom Harkin

    US Senator from Iowa

  • Cecile Richards

    Planned Parenthood President

  • Nancy-Ann DeParle

    White House Deputy Chief of Staff

  • Lisa Jackson

    EPA Administrator

  • Neera Tanden

    Health Policy Advisor

  • Michael Minor

    Pastor and Healthcare Advocate

  • Arun Majumdar

    ARPA-E Director

  • Robert Trapp

    Newspaper Publisher and Correspondent

  • Steven Chu

    Secretary of Energy

  • Bill McKibben

    Environmental Activist

  • Sandra Fluke

    Reproductive Health Advocate

  • Christy Goldfuss

    Environmental Policy Official

  • Don Verrilli

    Solicitor General

  • Elizabeth Fowler

    Health Policy Official

  • Kathleen Sebelius

    Secretary of Health and Human Services

  • Art and Helen Tanderup

    Farmers

  • Todd Stern

    Special Envoy

  • Nancy Nielsen

    American Medical Association President

  • Aneesh Chopra

    US Chief Technology Officer

Sylvia Burwell
OMB Director and HHS Secretary
43

Interviews released

Explore a special preview of interviews related to climate, energy, the environment, and healthcare.

Explore all interviews

Since 2019, Incite at Columbia University has interviewed hundreds of people to produce the official oral history of the Obama presidency. These in-depth interviews, conducted with those inside and outside of the administration, represent roughly 1,100 hours of audio and video that together form a comprehensive record of the Obama years.

Learn more

Stories

Each oral history interview contains dozens of stories. Explore these stories through prepared playlists—or save stories to make your own.

  • go to the interview
    Early life and family background of an Indian American immigrant's son Aneesh Chopra
    02:49
  • go to the interview
    Establishing an educational farm at Walker-Jones Elementary during the Obama administration Sarah Holway
    02:23
  • go to the interview
    Obama's push for the infrastructure bill and the We Can't Wait initiative Nancy-Ann DeParle
    03:52
  • go to the interview
    Engaging specialty societies in health care reform support Nancy Nielsen
    02:47
  • go to the interview
    Responsibilities of the traveling deputy chief of staff with President Obama Nancy-Ann DeParle
    02:45
  • go to the interview
    Defending the concept of government regulation against anti-regulatory fervor Carol Browner
    02:36
  • go to the interview
    Experiencing constituent interactions through travel with a member of Congress Arun Majumdar
    02:01
  • go to the interview
    President Obama's attentiveness to a young leukemia patient during a Mother's Day celebration Connie Anderson
    01:22
  • go to the interview
    Range of issues tackled as liaison to the antitrust division in 2009 Don Verrilli
    02:05
  • go to the interview
    Criticism of the Obama administration's Climate Action Plan by the farming community Joe Del Bosque
    02:56
Explore all stories

Topics

From healthcare to the financial crisis to nuclear nonproliferation, each topic explored in this collection is brought to life by narrators from both inside and outside the Obama administration.

  • go to the Climate, Environment, and Energy
    Climate, Environment, and Energy
  • go to the Healthcare
    Healthcare
  • Counterterrorism
    Coming soon
  • Russia
    Coming soon
  • Science
    Coming soon
  • Financial Reform and Regulation
    Coming soon
  • Labor
    Coming soon
  • Inherited Wars
    Coming soon
  • Transparency and Media
    Coming soon
  • Nuclear Nonproliferation
    Coming soon
See more topics

Navigate

Navigate the interconnected events and places that make up this history, narrated by the stories of the people who lived it.



2009-17

Timeline
Map

News& Events

  • read full text: What a New Oral History Reveals About Obama, and the Tradeoffs He Made
    Peter Baker in The New York Times.
    NewsRead more
  • read full text: An Expansive View Into Obama’s Transformative Presidency
    Caroline Harting in Columbia News.
    NewsRead more
  • read full text: The Obama Presidency Inside-Out: A Conversation About Climate
    New York City
    On May 31, 2023, we gathered in New York City to celebrate the completion of the Obama Presidency Oral History project's fieldwork.
    EventRead more
See more news