President Obama's approval ratings were nearly at 60 percent at the time of his farewell speech. The Democratic Party would no longer control the presidency once Trump was inaugurated on January 20, 2017, and they did not have a majority of seats in either chamber of the United States Congress, and in the state legislatures and governorships.

However, Hillary Clinton would unexpectedly lose the general election to Republican nominee Donald Trump on November 8, after failing to receive enough votes in the Electoral College, despite receiving a plurality of the national popular vote. He addressed the 2016 Democratic National Convention on July 27 in support of Clinton as the Democratic Party's nominee, and continued to campaign for her throughout the 2016 general election campaign season. In June 2016, Obama endorsed his former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, to succeed him as president. In the 2016 presidential election, Obama was ineligible to seek reelection to a third term due to the restrictions of the Twenty-second Amendment. Republicans took control of the Senate after the 2014 elections, and Obama continued to grapple with Congressional Republicans over government spending, immigration, judicial nominations, and other issues. Democrats controlled both houses of Congress until Republicans won a majority in the House of Representatives in the 2010 elections. Obama also authorized the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, signed the New START treaty with Russia, signed the Paris Agreement, and negotiated rapprochements with Iran and Cuba. During his presidency, his administration addressed the 2007-2008 global financial crisis (including a major stimulus package), oversaw the passage and implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, partially extended Bush tax cuts, took executive action on immigration reform, and took steps to combat climate change and carbon emissions. Obama served as the first African American President of the United States for two terms, first elected in 2008 and reelected in 2012.

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