Press Release 2009
President Obama awarded Nobel Peace Prize 2009
U.S. Embassy, October 9, 2009
The U.S. Embassy in Oslo is deeply honored that President Barack Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009. He joins three other American presidents who have also received the Peace Prize.
In the announcement of the prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee recognizes President Obama’s agenda of open dialogue and negotiation to address pressing and difficult issues such as disarmament, climate change, and human rights. They recognize his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.
In the nine months since he took office, President Obama has done much to promote peace. He has built new channels of communication which had previously broken down. He has traveled the world on a mission of engagement, and his words speak for themselves. In his September 23, 2009 speech to the United Nations, he said, “it is my deeply held belief that in the year 2009 – more than at any other point in human history – the interests of nations and peoples are shared [...] We must embrace a new era of engagement based on mutual interest and mutual respect, and our work must begin now.”