The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), nicknamed the Recovery Act, was a stimulus package enacted by the 111th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in February 2009. Developed in response to the Great Recession, the primary objective of this federal statute was to save existing jobs and create new ones as soon as possible. Other objectives were to provide temporary relief programs for those most affected by the recession and invest in infrastructure, education, health, and renewable energy.
President Barack Obama signs the ARRA into law on February 17, 2009 in Denver, Colorado. Vice President Joe Biden stands behind him.
President Barack Obama speaks about the 2,000th project approved through the ARRA. The president is joined by Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood.
Composition of the Act: Tax incentives – Includes $15 B for Infrastructure and Science, $61 B for Protecting the Vulnerable, $25 B for Education and Training and $22 B for Energy, so total funds are $126 B for Infrastructure and Science, $142 B for Protecting the Vulnerable, $78 B for Education and Training, and $65 B for Energy. State and Local Fiscal Relief – Prevents state and local cuts to health and education programs and state and local tax increases.
Barack Obama
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Barack Hussein Obama II is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African-American president in United States history. Obama previously served as a U.S. senator representing Illinois from 2005 to 2008, as an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004, and as a community service organizer, civil rights lawyer, and university lecturer.
Obama (right) with grandfather Stanley Armour Dunham, mother Ann Dunham, and half-sister Maya Soetoro, mid-1970s in Honolulu
Obama's Indonesian school record in St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Elementary School. Obama was enrolled as "Barry Soetoro" (no. 1), and was wrongly recorded as an Indonesian citizen (no. 3) and a Muslim (no. 4).
Obama poses in the Green Room of the White House with wife Michelle and daughters Sasha and Malia, 2009.