As new administration unfolds, we bid farewell to two terms with Barack Obama CC’83. Enjoy a look back at some of our top 10 Obama moments:
10. When the two Columbia College alumni who were both holding the office of president — Barack Obama CC’83, President of the United States, and Toomas Hendrik Ilves CC’76, president of the Republic of Estonia — posed with First Ladies Michelle Obama and Evelin Ilves during a United Nations General Assembly reception.
9. When Obama signed his first bill into law, approving the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, equal-pay legislation named for Ledbetter, an Alabama woman who at the end of a 19-year career as a supervisor in a tire factory complained that she had been paid less than men.
8. When Obama performed his annual pardoning of the Thankgiving turkey while cracking corny dad jokes.
7. When Obama showed an endearing (and inspiring) side by letting a little boy feel his hair after the boy said, “I want to know if my hair is just like yours.”
6. When Obama got down with Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of the Broadway musical Hamilton, at the White House, in a Rose Garden Impromptu! Not to mention when Obama saw Hamilton, at which point he — an alumnus — sat in a theater named after an alumnus (Richard Rodgers CC'23) in a show about an alumnus! (Alexander Hamilton Class of 1778): bit.ly/22fSSC7
5. The time when Obama showed his pride on College Signing Day.
4. The time when Obama stunned mourners by breaking out in song — “Amazing Grace” — while delivering a touching eulogy at the funeral of Rev. Clementa Pinckney.
3. Any moment Obama displayed the incredible partnership, respect, and love he has with and for First Lady Michelle Obama.
2. When the Obama administration “made our union a little more perfect” by becoming the first administration to formally make a filing with the U.S. Supreme Court to support that bans on gay marriage should be declared unconstitutional nationwide.
1. And finally, the time when Obama dropped the mic at his last White House Correspondents’ dinner.
