Obama defeated Republican opponent
Mitt Romney and his running mate
Paul Ryan in the
2012 presidential election. In his second term, Obama advocated for
gun control in the wake of the
Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, took steps to
combat climate change, signing the
Paris Agreement, a major international climate agreement, and an
executive order to limit
carbon emissions. Obama also presided over the implementation of the
Affordable Care Act and other legislation passed in his first term. He initiated
sanctions against Russia following the
invasion in Ukraine and again after
Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections, ordered
military intervention in Iraq in response to gains made by
ISIL following the 2011 withdrawal from Iraq, negotiated the
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (a nuclear agreement with Iran), and
normalized relations with Cuba. The number of
American soldiers in Afghanistan decreased during Obama's second term, though U.S. soldiers remained in the country throughout the remainder of his presidency. Obama promoted inclusion for
LGBT Americans, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to publicly support
same-sex marriage.