And also let's not forget that he:
Increased protections for the unemployed who are seeking a government job.
Presidential Memorandum -- Enhancing Safeguards to Prevent the Undue Denial of Federal Employment Opportunities to the Unemployed and Those Facing Financial Difficulty Through no Fault of Their Own | whitehouse.gov
Updated and modernized overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
Presidential Memorandum -- Updating and Modernizing Overtime Regulations | whitehouse.gov
Signed and implemented the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, to improve nutrition in schools and make children healthier.
Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act | Food and Nutrition Service
To make college more affordable and accountable, will begin rating colleges with regard to affordability and value.
Obama proposes college-rating system in bid to increase affordability - The Washington Post
Initiated a reform of federal job training programs, to make them more relevant to the current economy and the job market.
Presidential Memorandum -- Job-Driven Training for Workers | whitehouse.gov
Under Obama, the bottom 95% of taxpayers pay lower federal income taxes than at any time in the last 50 years, including under Reagan, or either Bush.
http://bit.ly/1w1W8Ns
Signed a presidential memorandum authorizing six weeks paid leave for all federal employees with a new baby and encouraged Congress to do the same for all workers.
http://bit.ly/18613XA
2014 marked the first time since 1984 that unemployment dropped in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. 1.usa.gov/1E25u0C
Took steps to improve workplace safety by creating an Advisory Board to study workers’ exposure to toxic substances.
http://1.usa.gov/1M4s8IG
Changed overtime rules to make it far more difficult for employers to avoid paying overtime to workers.
http://politi.co/1KHfiBe
Changed rules for federal contractors, guaranteeing that all workers earn paid leave; this should affect about 300,000 workers.
http://1.usa.gov/1LcHZWl
Signed a Hague Convention Agreement to make it easier to collect child support from parents wherever they are in the world.
http://bit.ly/2cI38wB
Negotiated a law to finally replace “No Child Left Behind” and remove much of the onerous government “oversight” that caused children to stagnate, not improve, academically.
http://bit.ly/1Up9pMl
Addressed Civil Rights and Equality
Formed a commission to examine and make recommendations for fixing the broken voting system.
http://wapo.st/16K0D
Created a Civil Rights Division in the Justice Department that has become a very strong voice for Black people.
http://bit.ly/1ObO7TI
At a press conference August 9, 2013, gave up some executive power, promising to create adversarial process in FISA regarding NSA surveillance.
http://1.usa.gov/1dQmnyQ
Proposed rules to enhance Fair Housing Laws, to give HUD and other enforcement agencies more enforcement power.
http://bit.ly/1qkz4uQ
Ordered a review of capital punishment policies after several botched executions.
http://nyti.ms/RDJp58
Approved $1.2 billion discrimination settlement with black farmers who had proved USDA bias.
http://huff.to/1Nol9Ab
Appointed Kareem Dale as the first ever Special Assistant to the President for Disability Policy.
http://1.usa.gov/fi5IY0
Concentrated immigration enforcement on those who commit crimes, and vowed to stop breaking up families.
http://1.usa.gov/1uTZ8gV
Streamlined the visa process, to make it more responsive and humane for those who want to be here legally.
http://1.usa.gov/1tgDRti
Took steps to tighten the reins when it comes to providing local law enforcement agencies with military-style equipment and exercising more control over the equipment they receive.
http://1.usa.gov/1ATWV3K
Changed fair housing rules to make more affordable housing available to more people.
http://cnn.it/1JcR3qB
Helped Democrats in Congress pass and signed the Civil Rights History Act.
http://bit.ly/th0JC8
Created a Policing Task Force to deal with the problems that led to the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
http://nbcnews.to/1T17PON
His Justice Department investigated the Ferguson Police Department twice and slammed them for their racism and exploitive practices.
http://nbcnews.to/1q9jTpf
Established the White House Council of Native American Affairs, to improve government-to-government relations with Native American nations.
http://1.usa.gov/1cIEeEv
Limited local police acquisitions of military-style equipment, to reduce the likelihood of overkill.
http://n.pr/1NGkBjT
Signed Blue Alert Law, which provides police officers with more information when they are threatened.
http://bit.ly/1NGksga
Blocked the sale of Apache tribal land to foreign mining company, over Republican objections.
http://bit.ly/1RYpmfihttp://bit.ly/1RYpmfi
Settled with the City of Cleveland over civil rights and excessive force violations.
http://nbcnews.to/24GRQNw
Reviewed the practices of the Philadelphia Police Department and made 91 recommendations to prevent civil rights and excessive force violations.
http://on.msnbc.com/1q9ktmX
Signed a law to modernize the way the federal government refers to minorities, removing certain archaic terms from the vocabulary.
http://bit.ly/291BeIL
Took steps to treat opioid addiction as a health issue rather than purely as a law enforcement issue.
http://bit.ly/2ccokd3
Signed a law to better protect children in tribal foster care.
http://strib.mn/293Gyky
Blocked an oil pipeline in South Dakota that would have devastated sacred Sioux land.
http://theatln.tc/2cmmmqb
Improved Workers’ Rights
He issued final rules that require all employers to prominently post employees’ rights where all employees or prospective employees can see it, including all websites and intranets.
http://1.usa.gov/qu2EhQ
Obama’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission clarified and strengthened rules prohibiting discrimination against pregnant workers.
http://alj.am/1mo0kjV
Required companies who bid on federal contracts larger than $500,000 to publicly disclose all previous violations of labor law, including unpaid claims for back wages.
http://1.usa.gov/V54qY3
Made it illegal for federal contractors with more than $1 million in contracts to force employees into arbitration in workplace discrimination accusations.
http://1.usa.gov/V54qY3
Vetoed Republican bill that would have blocked new NLRB rules that were designed to speed up the time it takes workers to unionize.
http://reut.rs/1agujMO He also added a Memorandum of Disagreement to make his reasons for the veto clear and made a major statement in support of unions.
http://1.usa.gov/1NG7RuA
Cracked down on companies that were previously denying sick pay, vacation and health insurance, and Social Security and Medicare tax payments through abuse of the employee classification of independent contractor.
http://nyti.ms/fOGLcj
Signed law that bans imports of goods produced through forced labor.
http://nbcnews.to/1RuJu2y
Protected the Rights of LGBT People
Signed and implemented the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which made it a federal crime to assault anyone based on his or her sexual orientation or gender identity.
http://bit.ly/gsMSJ7
Oversaw and implemented the repeal of the reprehensible “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy.
http://bit.ly/fdahuHhttp://bit.ly/mZV4Pz
Extended benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees.
http://1.usa.gov/g2RLCj
Appointed more openly gay officials than anyone in history.
http://bit.ly/g1lA7D
Appointed first openly transgender Cabinet Official in History.
http://bit.ly/58zUp7
Advocated that United Nations adopt a policy supporting gay rights worldwide.
http://lat.ms/pQe1RS
As soon as the Supreme Court invalidated the Defense of Marriage Act, he moved to extend federal benefits to same-sex couples.
http://wapo.st/1avDjue
Issued an order requiring hospitals to allow visitation by same-sex couples.
http://reut.rs/llNJek
Changed HUD rules to prohibit gender and sexual orientation-based discrimination in housing bit.ly/9RxEnP
Changed his mind and publicly expressed support for same-sex marriage.
http://bit.ly/JsiFKp
Issued a Presidential Memorandum reaffirming the rights of gay couples to make medical decisions for each other.
http://1.usa.gov/aUueGT
Appointed several prominent gay athletes and others, and plans to show US government’s commitment to gay rights to anti-gay Russia.
http://on.cpsj.com/1fckN9h
Department of Agriculture propagated new rules to better enforce non-discrimination when it comes to USDA investigations and to extend non-discrimination to gender identity.
http://bit.ly/1yChJhi
Banned all federal contractors from discriminating against gay workers.
http://1.usa.gov/1ok1gfH
Persevered with his campaign to turn “gay marriage” into “marriage” and won in the Supreme Court.
http://cbsloc.al/1M4qLKb
Improved Conditions for Women
Establishing the White House Council on Women and Girls to ensure that all Cabinet and Cabinet-level agencies consider the effect of their policies and programs on women and families.
http://bit.ly/e1puTk http://1.usa.gov/rFfqMM
Implemented the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which restored basic protections against pay discrimination for women and other workers.
http://bit.ly/fT3Cxg
Eliminated federal funding for abstinence-only education, and rescinded the global gag rule.
http://bit.ly/eCFAI1 http://bit.ly/f92drF
Improved the Paycheck Fairness Act, making it possible for employees to talk about their salaries without retaliation, and ordering salary data collection, so as to make it harder for employers to pay women less.
http://huff.to/1nwVOWf
Signed an Executive Order pledging support for efforts to end the global problem of violence against women and girls.
http://1.usa.gov/MHTRVU
Shattered another glass ceiling by naming Janet Yellen chair of the Federal Reserve beginning Feb. 1, 2014.
http://usat.ly/1gqMBfk
Expanded funding for the Violence Against Women Act.
http://1.usa.gov/dSbI0x
Ordered companies with 100 employees or more to disclose pay data based on race and gender, to address the pay gap.
http://theatln.tc/1Q04XPL