Obama Presidency Oral History
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Josh Earnest
White House Press Secretary
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Denise O'Brien
Farmer and Agriculture Policy Advisor
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Naureen Shah
Civil Rights Advocate
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Lee Bollinger
University President
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Janet Murguía
Civil Rights Advocate
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Samuel Locklear
Military Official
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Rumana Ahmed
Public Engagement Official
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Timothy Geithner
Secretary of the Treasury
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Sarah Bloom Raskin
Economic and Monetary Policy Official
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Kimberly Teehee
Native American Affairs Policy Advisor
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Fiona Reeves
Director of Presidential Correspondence
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Raffi Freedman-Gurspan
Transgender Activist and LGBTQ Liaison
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Tyler Swanson
Voting Rights Activist
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Michael Botticelli
Drug Policy Official
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Debra Eschmeyer
Let's Move! Director
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Tiffiniy Cheng
Digital Rights Activist
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Jennifer Palmieri
White House Communications Director
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Josh DuBois
Public Engagement Official
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Marielena Hincapié
Immigration Justice
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Nathan Law
Hong Kong Democracy Activist
Interviews
Explore oral histories in the collection.
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go to the interview
Pete
SouzaWhite House Photographer -
go to the interview
Janet
YellenChair of the Federal Reserve -
go to the interview
Johnnie
CarsonDiplomat and Foreign Policy Official -
go to the interview
Kate
OrffLandscape Architect -
go to the interview
Scott
GrationSpecial Envoy -
go to the interview
Richard
BlancoInaugural Poet -
go to the interview
Rebekah
ErlerEconomic Correspondent -
go to the interview
William
McRavenMilitary Official -
go to the interview
Robert
TrappNewspaper Publisher and Correspondent -
go to the interview
Bill
McKibbenEnvironmental Activist
Between 2019 and 2023 Incite at Columbia University 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 moreStories
Each oral history interview contains dozens of stories. Explore these stories through prepared playlists—or save stories to make your own.
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go to the interview
2012 election strategy and regrets regarding voter registration in Arizona Jim Messina02:31
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go to the interview
Reflections on EPA community engagement from prior experience with the Superfund program Lisa Jackson02:52
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go to the interview
Receiving news of the San Bernardino shooting and subsequent information flow Jeh Johnson02:41
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go to the interview
Integrating climate change into US domestic and military national security strategy John Podesta07:00
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go to the interview
Coordination and communication during the BP oil spill response efforts John Holdren02:28
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go to the interview
Shaping USAID's vision and role during the Obama administration Gayle Smith02:02
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go to the interview
Supporting Obama's campaign with talking points and policy analysis Michelle Gavin02:31
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go to the interview
Involvement with Let's Move! and Let's Move Faith and Communities initiatives Michael Minor04:48
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go to the interview
Coordination between the administration and oil companies during oil spill responses Courtney Hight02:34
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go to the interview
Impact of Harold Washington's election and Fred Hampton's assassination on Black political empowerment in Chicago Bobby Rush04:41
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.
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go to the Nuclear Nonproliferation
Nuclear Nonproliferation
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go to the Native America
Native America
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go to the Obama in the Senate
Obama in the Senate
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go to the Middle East and North Africa
Middle East and North Africa
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go to the Financial Reform and Regulation
Financial Reform and Regulation
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go to the Elections and Campaigns
Elections and Campaigns
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go to the Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa
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go to the Democrats
Democrats
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go to the Gun Control
Gun Control
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go to the Counterterrorism
Counterterrorism
Navigate
Navigate the interconnected events and places that make up this history, narrated by the stories of the people who lived it.
News& Events
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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
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read full text:
An Expansive View Into Obama’s Transformative Presidency
Caroline Harting in Columbia News.NewsRead more
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read full text:
The Obama Presidency Inside-Out: A Conversation About Climate
New York CityOn May 31, 2023, we gathered in New York City to celebrate the completion of the Obama Presidency Oral History project's fieldwork.EventRead more