Human Rights - Obama Presidency Oral History

In a statement on Human Rights Day in December 2008—commemorating the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations—president-elect Obama wrote: “When the United States stands up for human rights, by example at home and by effort abroad, we align ourselves with men and women around the world who struggle for the right to speak their minds, to choose their leaders, and to be treated with dignity and respect. We also strengthen our security and well-being, because the abuse of human rights can feed many of the global dangers that we confront—from armed conflict and humanitarian crises, to corruption and the spread of ideologies that promote hatred and violence.” 

The oral history collection contains many interviews that highlight the Obama Administration’s consideration of universal human rights as a core principle undergirding U.S. democracy at home and guiding U.S. actions abroad. This brief topic essay refers to those policies that related explicitly to the invocation or defense of human rights in international politics. Material on domestic topics and policies that are conceptually grounded in human rights principles can be found in the interviews collected at the bottom of this page, and in the topic essays on Criminal Justice, Healthcare, and LGBTQ Policy, among others. 

One component of the interview material on global human rights deals with the Obama Administration’s efforts to expand the U.S. role in multilateral human rights forums and international justice bodies, following the Bush Administration’s preference for unilateralism. This was signaled most obviously by the U.S. decision in 2009 to seek a position on the United Nations Human Rights Council. Under Bush, the United States had shunned the UN body due to longstanding criticisms of the council’s politicization of human rights and ineffectiveness in protecting them. In interviews, narrators discuss the Administration’s intention to make multilateral human rights mechanisms like the Human Rights Council and International Criminal Court more effective through American participation and cooperation.