President Barack Obama and The Nobel Peace Prize

Presidents Who Have Won The Nobel Peace Prize, President Obama, who has pledged to place diplomacy ahead of confrontation and reached out to a skeptical world with offers of mutual understanding, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace for what the Nobel committee called “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”

“I will accept this award as a call to action, a call to all nations to confront the challenges of the 21st century,” Obama said in a White House Rose Garden appearance. “This award must be shared with everyone who strives for justice and dignity.”

Professing humility and surprise in the awarding of the prize, the president said, “I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as a recognition of American leadership. . . .

“To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who have been honored by this prize,” Obama said, suggesting that the prize has not always “been awarded just to honor specific achievements,” but also to lend some momentum to the cause of peace.

Obama is only the third sitting U.S. president to win the Nobel Prize for Peace — President Theodore Roosevelt won the award in 1906, President Woodrow Wilson in 1919.

The president was nominated for the prize after just weeks in office, with the award after less than nine months into the president’s term a sign that the Norwegian Nobel Committee is recognizing aspirations for peace over achievements.

The committee hailed the president’s creation of “a new climate in international politics.”

President Obama's Quote

US Presidents who have won the Nobel Peace Prize:

1. Theodore Roosevelt (1905)
2. Woodrow Wilson (1919)
3. Jimmy Carter Jr (2002)
   
4. Barack Obama (2009)

More information about each award:

• Teddy Roosevelt won it in 1905 for helping to end the Russo-Japanese War.
• Woodrow Wilson won it in 1919 after pushing to join the League of Nations.
• Jimmy Carter won it in 2002- (not while he was elected in office) for humanitarian efforts.
• Barack Obama won it in 2009 for "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples".
• Al Gore is the only VP to win it for his efforts on reducing Global warming and promoting strict environmental standards.

Other Presidents who won the Nobel Peace Prize link

Nobel Peace Prize Link