How many executive orders did Barack Obama sign during his presidency?
Executive summary
Barack Obama issued a total in the high‑200s of formal, numbered executive orders during his two terms; most contemporary data sources report 277 executive orders issued between 2009 and 2017, though an official National Archives disposition summary lists 276 through January 19, 2017, producing an understandable one‑unit discrepancy in the record [1] [2] [3]. The difference reflects archival and numbering technicalities rather than a substantive policy dispute about how many numbered orders were signed.
1. The headline number: 277 is the commonly cited total
Multiple authoritative compilations — including the Federal Register’s executive‑orders database and independent research aggregators — state that Barack Obama signed 277 executive orders during his presidency (2009–2017), and analysts have used that tally to compare Obama’s use of orders with other presidents [1] [2]. News and civic sites that track presidential activity also adopt the 277 figure when calculating averages per year and placing Obama in presidential rankings by executive‑order counts [2] [4].
2. The outlier: National Archives lists 276 through the end of the administration
The National Archives’ Executive Orders Disposition Tables historical index records that “Barack Obama issued 276 executive orders between 2009 and 2017,” a count explicitly tied to orders filed through January 19, 2017 (the last full day of the Obama administration) [3]. That official archival statement creates a visible one‑unit gap between that figure and the 277 number reported elsewhere, and the Archives makes clear its count is anchored to the disposition tables it maintains [3].
3. Why counts can differ: numbering, timing and “unnumbered” actions
Counting executive orders is not always arithmetic; the Federal Register and scholars caution that numbering practices, late publications, discovery of previously unnumbered orders and the existence of parallel categories of presidential actions (memoranda, proclamations, presidential determinations) can shift totals or create apparent discrepancies [5]. The Federal Register notes that orders are numbered consecutively when processed by the Office of the Federal Register and that publication timing can lag signing, while historians point out that unnumbered orders and retroactive assignments have produced historical counting quirks [5] [1].
4. Context: how analysts use the number and what it does — and doesn’t — show
Analysts use the total count to compare presidents, noting Obama’s rate of about 35 orders per year and placing him relatively low in per‑year usage compared with many predecessors; that calculus relies on the 277 figure and the American Presidency Project and Pew Research analyses that aggregate those datasets [2] [5]. Yet these counts do not capture the full suite of unilateral presidential tools — memoranda, proclamations and determinations — which can produce policy effects equivalent to executive orders and are tracked separately by the Federal Register and other repositories [5] [1].
5. A pragmatic conclusion and transparency about sources
For practical reporting and comparisons, the conventionally cited figure is 277 executive orders attributed to Barack Obama’s two terms, supported by the Federal Register and multiple data aggregators and analyses [1] [2]. The National Archives’ 276 figure is an explicit archival statement covering its disposition tables through January 19, 2017, and likely represents an archival/counting boundary or late cataloging difference rather than a substantive disagreement over policy actions [3]. Given the narrow technical gap and the documented complexities in documenting and numbering presidential actions, citing 277 with an explanatory note about the National Archives’ 276 count is the most accurate and transparent way to report the answer [1] [3] [5].