Policy • History • ImpactPromise Tracker
Promise Tracker groups this presidency term's records by status. The default view prioritizes promises with direct or meaningful downstream Black-community impact while keeping repeated administrations distinct.
This page covers the 2009-2017 term for Barack Obama.
All tracked promises for this president are visible, including secondary and deprioritized records.
Delivered
8
In Progress
0
Partial
4
Failed
2
Blocked
2
This presidency view groups curated Promise Tracker records by status. It keeps the records visible first, then points into Black Impact Score when you want a score summary built from the same public evidence base.
Records remain visible here even before they are complete enough for scoring. Open Black Impact Score when you want the summarized score view, then return to these record pages to verify the underlying actions, outcomes, and sources.
8 records in this status
Criminal Justice
Reduce the federal crack-powder sentencing disparityTracked as delivered because the Fair Sentencing Act reduced the statutory disparity from 100-to-1 to 18-to-1, producing a clear legal change even though it did not eliminate the gap entirely.
Health Care
Ban pre-existing-condition exclusionsThe Affordable Care Act barred insurers from denying or pricing coverage based on pre-existing conditions in major parts of the insurance market.
Health Care / Children
Expand children's health insurance coverageObama signed CHIP expansion legislation early in his presidency, broadening coverage for children.
Workers / Gender Equity
Restore the ability to challenge pay discriminationObama backed and signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, making it easier to challenge ongoing pay discrimination.
In Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc., the Supreme Court held that disparate-impact claims are cognizable under the Fair Housing Act, while also emphasizing limits such as a robust causality requirement and protection against imposing liability based on racial imbalance alone.
Consumer Protection / Financial Regulation
Enact a credit card bill of rightsObama signed the Credit CARD Act, which imposed tighter limits on a range of credit card pricing and billing practices.
LGBTQ Rights / Military
Repeal Don't Ask, Don't TellObama signed the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and the military later certified and implemented open service by gay and lesbian troops.
Science / Health
Ease federal restrictions on embryonic stem cell researchObama reversed Bush-era limits on federally supported embryonic stem cell research through executive action.
0 records in this status
No Promise Tracker records are currently grouped under this status.
4 records in this status
Policing / DOJ Enforcement
Ban racial profiling in federal law enforcementObama administration guidance narrowed some federal profiling practices, but it did not produce a durable statutory ban or a complete end to profiling across law-enforcement settings.
Taxes / Economy
Roll back Bush tax cuts for upper-income householdsHigher rates were restored for top earners, but the result came through a broader fiscal-cliff compromise rather than the original clean repeal framing.
Taxes / Economy
Enact a worker tax creditObama enacted worker tax relief, but the ultimate delivery was more temporary and politically altered than the original campaign framing.
Foreign Policy / Military
End combat-brigade deployment in IraqObama ended the formal U.S. combat mission and drew down combat brigades, but U.S. military involvement in Iraq did not fully end over the longer term.
2 records in this status
Housing / Foreclosure
Launch a homeowner stabilization and foreclosure-prevention effortObama launched a much larger foreclosure-relief effort than the campaign proposal, but the homeowner-stabilization effort fell far short of its stated goals and did not prevent broad housing loss.
National Security / Human Rights
Close Guantanamo Bay detention facilityObama moved early to close Guantanamo and reduced the detainee population, but the detention facility remained open at the end of his presidency.
2 records in this status
Labor / Workers
Make it easier for workers to unionizeObama backed labor-law reform that would have made union organizing easier, but the Employee Free Choice Act did not become law.
Voting Rights / Civil Rights
Ban deceptive election practices and voter intimidationObama supported stronger federal penalties and corrective mechanisms for deceptive election practices, but the core legislation never became law.