Did obama award himself nobel prize

1. How the Nobel Peace Prize is decided — not by nominees

The Nobel Peace Prize is selected by the Norwegian Nobel Committee from nominations submitted by qualified nominators; the committee alone makes the award and announces it publicly, a process that is institutional and external to any potential recipient’s control ^{[2] [1]}. In 2009 the committee cited Obama’s “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,” language that reflects the committee’s judgment rather than any action by the White House itself ^[1]. Nominations for that year closed shortly after Obama took office, underscoring that the prize was part of the committee’s independent timetable, not something orchestrated by the president ^[2].

2. What actually happened in 2009: announcement, acceptance and speech

The Nobel Committee announced the 2009 laureate in October, and President Obama accepted the prize in person at a December ceremony in Oslo, where he gave a 36‑minute speech acknowledging both the honor and controversy surrounding the decision ^{[2] [5]}. Official Nobel materials and press accounts record the timeline: the committee awarded the prize; Obama traveled to Oslo to accept it; he did not create or control the award process ^{[1] [5]}.

3. Why the “self‑award” claim surfaces — political reinterpretation and misinformation

The claim that Obama “gave himself” the prize derives from political rhetoric and misinterpretation of the optics — he was a sitting U.S. president who received a high‑profile international honor less than a year into his term, which fueled accusations that the prize was premature or politically motivated ^{[3] [5]}. Critics on the political right and some commentators framed the award as an undeserved accolade, while others argued the committee intended it as an aspirational “call to action” rather than recognition of concrete achievements ^{[3] [5]}. Those political narratives sometimes morph into falsehoods that attribute the award to Obama himself; the documentary record contradicts that.

4. Institutional critique and after‑the‑fact regret

Even within Nobel circles and among observers there has been second‑guessing: former Nobel secretary Geir Lundestad later wrote that the 2009 award “failed to achieve what the committee hoped it would,” reflecting internal and external regret about the timing and downstream effects of the choice ^[4]. Commentators and think‑tank writers have also called for revocation or criticized the award on substantive grounds, but those are opinions about the committee’s judgment, not evidence that Obama engineered or self‑bestowed the prize ^{[6] [3]}.

5. Political fallout and U.S. diplomatic reactions

The Obama administration’s own reaction was mixed: some U.S. officials privately found the award awkward and even rebuked Norway publicly for putting the administration in an uncomfortable diplomatic spot, which further demonstrates that the prize was an external decision the White House had not solicited or controlled ^[7]. Obama himself expressed humility and discomfort at receiving the prize so early in his presidency and later donated a portion of the prize money, gestures consistent with an unsolicited honor rather than a self‑conferred one ^[8].

6. Bottom line and limits of available reporting

Bottom line: the assertion that Barack Obama awarded himself the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize is contradicted by the procedural facts and contemporary records — the Norwegian Nobel Committee selected and conferred the prize and Obama accepted it ^{[1] [2]}. The sources provided document controversy, criticism, and retrospective regret about the choice ^{[4] [3]}, but none suggest any factual basis for a claim that Obama or his administration unilaterally gave him the prize. If additional documentary evidence alleging direct White House orchestration exists, it is not present in the supplied reporting, and this analysis is limited to the cited sources ^{[2] [1]}.