A Complete Timeline Of Your Love For Barack Obama

From Harper's BAZAAR

There's not a whole lot to feel good about in Washington these days, which is maybe why glowing, post-vacation, DGAF Obama is giving us so much life. It's easy to spend all of your time and energy pining for an era when our president was an exceptional man with integrity and principles, and not a dangerously ignorant narcissist-but let's just focus on the positive. Here's a timeline of all the ways Barack Obama won your heart over the years.

July 27, 2004: His DNC keynote address

The night where it all began-"it all" being our deep and abiding love for the then-Illinois State Senator Barack Obama. "Let's face it-my presence on this stage is pretty unlikely," Obama began, describing his father's upbringing in Kenya and immigration to America, and the ways in which his own journey reflected the larger American story: "In no other country on earth is my story even possible."

"There's not a liberal America and a conservative America," Obama said, in an oft-quoted line that's bittersweet, to say the least, in 2017. "There's the United States of America." Embodying the warmth, articulacy and charisma that would eventually define his presidency, this speech was widely hailed as the highlight of the convention and the birth of a new political icon.

March 18, 2008: The "More Perfect Union" speech

At this point, Obama was still vying with Hillary Clinton for the democratic nomination, and had become embroiled in a controversy around remarks made by his longtime former pastor, Jeremiah Wright. Some pundits were suggesting that the fallout could cost him the nomination-until he made this speech, in which he warned against cynicism and empty outrage.

If we get distracted by "gaffes" and controversies instead of the actual issues affecting Americans, Obama warned, we ensure that "nothing will change." What could have been simple damage control became one of his most significant speeches of all time.

November 4, 2008: His victory speech

Taking the stage in Chicago to rapturous applause, Obama embraced his groundbreaking election win with a speech defined equally by hope and humility. Acknowledging the fallout from the financial crisis, he said: "The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you, we as a people will get there....

"I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it's been done in America for 221 years-block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand."

2009: When this little boy touched his hair

This beautiful moment only became widely known last summer, when Michelle Obama recounted it during her speech at the 2016 DNC. Early in Obama's presidency, a five-year-old black boy named Jacob Philadelphia visited the White House and asked if he could touch Obama's hair, saying "I want to know if my hair is just like yours." Obama bowed his head in response, saying "Touch it, dude!", and White House photographer Pete Souza took the snap that would become one of the most iconic symbols of Obama's time in the White House.

"We know that our words and actions matter, not just to our girls but the children across this country," Michelle Obama said at the 2016 DNC. "Kids who say, 'I saw you on TV,' 'I wrote the report on you for school.' Kids like the little black boy who looked up at my husband, his eyes wide with hope, and he wondered, 'Is my hair like yours?'"

April 2011: When he trolled birthers with a Disney reference

The 2011 White House Correspondents' Dinner was memorable at the time, and has taken on a whole new significance over the last couple of years. Donald Trump was the target of many, many jokes both from Obama and host Seth Meyers, and some have suggested it was the humiliation of that evening that persuaded Trump to run for president.

The only thing we know for sure is that Obama was on fire that night, showing off the pitch-perfect comic timing he'd soon become known for. The best moment? "I am releasing my official birth video," Obama announced… before playing the opening of The Lion King. And then clarifying, for the benefit of the Fox News table, that this was a joke.

January 19, 2012: When he sang Al Green's "Let's Stay Together"

No explanation required.

December 16, 2012: His speech at the Sandy Hook Prayer Vigil

This entry is a heartbreaking departure from some of the humorous situations on this list, but important to include nonetheless. One of the things that set Obama apart was the empathetic, candid way in which he responded to tragedy. After twenty children and six adults were fatally shot at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Obama spoke at a vigil in front of grieving parents and community members, and began by saying "I react not as a president, but as anybody else would-as a parent." As his speech went on, he wiped away tears as he mourned the "beautiful little kids" who were killed, and vowed to push for meaningful action on gun control.

April 21, 2014: When he read to kids at the White House

His rendition of Where The Wild Things Are at the Annual White House Easter Egg Roll cemented his reputation as America's Cool Dad.

January 20, 2015: His sassy State of the Union Address

"I have no more campaigns to run," said Obama during his address, to which the Republicans in the room responded with a mix of sarcastic applause and jeers. He silenced them with this deadpan ad-lib: "I know, 'cause I won both of 'em." That wink! Iconic.

June 6, 2015: His eulogy for Beau Biden

The genuine, palpable friendship between Obama and his VP Joe Biden has brought a whole lot of joy to the world over the years. One of their relationship's most moving moments was the eulogy Obama gave at the funeral of Joe Biden's son Beau, who died from brain cancer at just 46. The whole thing was made even more heartbreaking by Biden's revelation that Obama offered him financial help during Beau's illness, to ensure that Biden and his wife wouldn't have to sell their house. Great president; one-of-a-kind friend.

June 26, 2015: "Amazing Grace"

After nine people were killed in a historic African American church in Charleston, Obama gave a speech in which he honored each of the victims by name and spoke about the importance of the black church as a place of solace, strength and grace. Churches are "community centers where we organize for jobs and justice, places of scholarship and networking, places where children are loved, and fed, and kept out of harm's way ,and told that they are beautiful and smart, and taught that they matter. That's what happens at church. That's what the black church means. Our beating heart. The place where our dignity as a people is inviolate."

At the conclusion of his speech, throughout which he had repeatedly returned to the concept of grace, Obama led the congregation in an emotional rendition of "Amazing Grace." A beautiful, startling, human moment.

October 31, 2015: His sheer joy at seeing this kid dressed as the Pope

Obama + kids at the White House = consistent gold.

Feb 21, 2016: When he danced with this 106-year-old lady

This lady's name is Virginia McLaurin-she is 106 years old and still dancing, and she became everyone's new life idol in this moment – including the Obamas'. As Michelle put it: "I wanna be like you when I grow up."

May 1, 2016: "Obama out."

June 27, 2016: When he made Joe Biden a friendship bracelet

It's tough to pick out just one moment from the bromance that launched a thousand memes, but high up on the Joebama ranking has to be the time when Obama literally made his BFF a friendship bracelet. The cuteness starts around 30 seconds into the above video-and as it turns out, making a friendship bracelet is one of the five things that's harder to do than registering to vote. Which makes sense, because bracelets are fiddly and registering to vote is SUPER EASY and you should always always do it.

But were the bracelets real, or just a sight gag for a political video? Later in the summer, Biden sent his buddy a 'happy birthday' tweet that revealed them as very, very real:

July 4, 2016: When he sang 'Happy Birthday' to Malia

#DadGoals.

October 22, 2016: When he danced to Drake's "Hotline Bling"

Again, no explanation required. There's a reason why this particular event was called "Love and Happiness." 😍

November 23, 2016: When he gave Ellen the Medal of Freedom

Presenting Ellen DeGeneres with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Obama was noticeably choked up as he paid tribute to her bravery as a trailblazer for the LGBT community.

"It's easy to forget now, when we've come so far, where now marriage is equal under the law, just how much courage was required for Ellen to come out on the most public of stages almost 20 years ago," Obama said. "Just how important it was, not just to the LGBT community, but for all of us, to see somebody so full of kindness and light, somebody we liked so much, somebody who could be our neighbor or our colleague or our sister, challenge our own assumptions." So. Touching.

January 18, 2017: When he shared the perfect snow day with his kids

This picture was actually taken back in 2010, but shared by Pete Souza on Instagram in the final days of Obama's presidency, just to really hammer home everything we were about to lose. Souza explained that he never knew how to respond when people asked for his favorite picture of the president, so instead wanted to share pictures from his favorite day.

"It was a Saturday in February 2010," Souza wrote. "Washington was under siege with snow. I slept in my office overnight, knowing I probably couldn't drive to the White House the next day. And then I guessed...and yes, hoped...that the President of the United States would be a dad and play with his girls in the snow. And he did."

January 10, 2017: His farewell address

Obama's final speech as president was inspiring and gut-wrenching in equal measure, as we all wrestled with the conflicting impulses to hang on his every word in silent reverence, and to repeatedly yell "PLEASE DON'T GOOOOO" as loudly as possible.

"I am asking you to hold fast to that faith written into our founding documents; that idea whispered by slaves and abolitionists; that spirit sung by immigrants and homesteaders and those who marched for justice; that creed reaffirmed by those who planted flags from foreign battlefields to the surface of the moon; a creed at the core of every American whose story is not yet written: Yes We Can. Yes We Did."

Feb 1, 2017: When he had the chillest post-presidential vacation

Thank God for Obama's vacation photos for being a tiny beacon of light in those bleak, bleak post-inauguration weeks. After the Obamas jetted away from the White House lawn for the last time, they went straight into a vacation on the British Virgin Islands, where the former POTUS spent his time kitesurfing with Richard Branson, wearing his hat backwards and generally being chill AF.

February 14, 2017: His Valentine's Day message to Michelle

Relationship goals, always and forever.

February 24, 2017: When he returned from vacation literally glowing

The generally unflappable people of New York City were sent into a frenzy when Obama casually rocked up in Manhattan a few days after his vacation, looking like a human ad campaign for the importance of R&R. Later in his NY visit, he singlehandedly lit up Broadway when he attended a performance of Arthur Miller's The Price. Look at that glow.

A few days later, he was spotted rocking a leather jacket and some well-fitted dark-wash denim, which marked a major upgrade from his trademark dad jeans. Everything about post-presidential Obama is good and nothing hurts.

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