🕷️ Crawler Inspector

URL Lookup

Direct Parameter Lookup

Raw Queries and Responses

1. Shard Calculation

Query:

Response:

Calculated Shard: 84 (from laksa022)

2. Crawled Status Check

Query:

curl -X POST \
  'http://laksa084.int.ahrefs:8124/' \
  -H 'Content-Type: text/plain' \
  -H 'X-ClickHouse-Database: crawler3' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YXBpOg==' \
  -d 'SELECT getAhrefsURLFromUnparsed(src_unparsed) AS found_url, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(download_stamp), 0) AS crawl_time, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(props_url_first_seen), 0) AS first_indexed_time, download_http_code AS http_code, src_unparsed AS src_unparsed, src_root_hash AS src_root_hash, history_drop_reason AS history_drop_reason, meta_title AS meta_title, meta_descriptions AS meta_descriptions, attrs_boilerpipe_text AS attrs_boilerpipe_text, attrs_markdown AS attrs_markdown, attrs_readable_markdown AS attrs_readable_markdown, meta_canonical AS meta_canonical FROM crawler3.page_info_local FINAL PREWHERE (src_root_hash, src_unparsed) IN ((getAhrefsRootHashFromUnparsed(getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/10/world/10nobel.html\')), getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/10/world/10nobel.html\'))) FORMAT JSONEachRow'

Response:

{"found_url":"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2009\/10\/10\/world\/10nobel.html","crawl_time":1771910714,"first_indexed_time":1487369317,"http_code":200,"src_unparsed":"com,nytimes!www,\/2009\/10\/10\/world\/10nobel.html s443","src_root_hash":"4566504020376537684","history_drop_reason":null,"meta_title":"Surprise Nobel for Obama Stirs Praise and Doubts - The New York Times","meta_descriptions":["The Nobel Peace Prize, which President Obama described as a “call to action,” was an extraordinary recognition for so early in a presidential term and a potential political liability at home."],"attrs_boilerpipe_text":"Advertisement\nSKIP ADVERTISEMENT\nPresident Obama in the Oval Office on Friday. He got news of the award when his press secretary awakened him with a call.\nCredit...\nMatthew Cavanaugh\/European Pressphoto Agency\nOct. 9, 2009\nPARIS  The choice of Barack Obama on Friday as the recipient of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, less than nine months into his eventful presidency, was an unexpected honor that elicited praise and puzzlement around the globe.\nNormally the prize has been presented, even controversially, for accomplishment. This prize, to a 48-year-old freshman president, for\n“extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,”\nseemed a kind of prayer and encouragement by the Nobel committee for future endeavor and more consensual American leadership.\nBut the prize quickly loomed as a potential political liability  perhaps more burden than glory  for Mr. Obama. Republicans contended that he had won more for his star power and oratorical skills than for his actual achievements, and even some Democrats privately questioned whether he deserved it.\nThe Nobel committee’s embrace of Mr. Obama was viewed as a rejection of the unpopular tenure, in Europe especially, of his predecessor, George W. Bush.\nBut the committee, based in Norway, stressed that it made its decision based on Mr. Obama’s actual efforts toward nuclear disarmament as well as American engagement with the world relying more on diplomacy and dialogue.\n“The question we have to ask is who has done the most in the previous year to enhance peace in the world,” the Nobel committee chairman, Thorbjorn Jagland, said in Oslo after the announcement. “And who has done more than Barack Obama?”\nStill, Mr. Obama, who was described as “very surprised” when he received the news, said he himself was not quite convinced, adding that the award “deeply humbled” him.\n“To be honest,”\nthe president said in the Rose Garden\n, “I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who have been honored by this prize, men and women who’ve inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.”\nHe said, though, that he would “accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations to confront the challenges of the 21st century.” Mr. Obama plans to travel to Oslo to accept the award on Dec. 10. He will donate the prize money of $1.4 million to charity, the White House said.\nMr. Obama, only the third sitting American president to win the award, is suddenly put in the company of world leaders like Mikhail S. Gorbachev, who won for helping end the cold war, and Nelson Mandela, who sought an end to apartheid.\nBut less prominent figures have also won the award.\nThe reaction inside the administration was one of restraint, perhaps reflecting the awkwardness of winning a major prize amid a worldwide debate about whether it was deserved.\nRepublicans in Washington, reacting in disbelief, sought to portray Mr. Obama as unworthy. In an official statement, Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, said, “The real question Americans are asking is, ‘What has President Obama actually accomplished?’ “\nBut there was much praise as well, even if Mr. Obama’s allies worried that the prize might be a liability and even if much of the praise came from Europe, giving ammunition to conservatives who say Mr. Obama cares too much about opinion there.\nPresident Nicolas Sarkozy of France said the award marked “America’s return to the hearts of the world’s peoples,” while Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said it was an “incentive to the president and to us all” to do more for peace.\n“In a short time he has been able to set a new tone throughout the world and to create a readiness for dialogue,” she said.\nFor a world that at times felt pushed around by a more unilateralist Bush administration, the prize for Mr. Obama seemed wrapped in gratitude for his willingness to listen and negotiate, as well as for his positions on climate change and nuclear disarmament.\nLast year’s laureate, former President Martti Ahtisaari of Finland, saw the award as an endorsement of Mr. Obama’s goal of achieving Middle East peace.\n“Of course, this puts pressure on Obama,” he said. “The world expects that he will also achieve something.”\nThe prize, announced as official Washington  including the president  was asleep, caught the White House off guard.\nThe first word of it came in the form of an e-mail message to the White House staff from the White House Situation Room, which monitors events worldwide around the clock, at 5:09 a.m. It carried the subject line “item of interest.”\nShortly before 6 a.m., the White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, telephoned Mr. Obama, awakening him to share the news.\n“There has been no discussion, nothing at all,” said the White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel.\nThe award comes at a time of considerable challenges for the president, with few sweeping achievements so far.\nOn the domestic front, he is pressing Congress to overhaul the nation’s health care system. In foreign affairs, he is wrestling with his advisers over how to chart a new course in Afghanistan and has been working, with little movement, to restart peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians.\nThe Rose Garden appearance was an example of Mr. Obama’s heavy workload; it was squeezed into a day that already included his regular intelligence and economic briefings, a private meeting with a senator, lunch with the vice president, a major speech outlining plans for a new consumer protection agency and a strategy session on Afghanistan with his national security team.\nAnnouncing the award, the Nobel committee cited Mr. Obama “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples” and said that he had “created a new climate in international politics.”\nIn a four-paragraph statement, it praised Mr. Obama for his tone, his preference for negotiation and multilateral diplomacy and his vision of a cooperative world of shared values, shorn of nuclear weapons.\n“Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future,” the committee said. “His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world’s population.”\nThe other sitting American presidents to be given the award were Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, for negotiating an end to a war between Russia and Japan, and Woodrow Wilson in 1919, for the Treaty of Versailles.\nFormer President Jimmy Carter won in 2002 for his efforts over decades to spread peace and development. Mr. Carter called the award to Mr. Obama “a bold statement of international support for his vision and commitment.”\nFormer Vice President Al Gore won in 2007, sharing the prize with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, for his work on climate change. Mr. Gore called Mr. Obama’s award “well deserved” on Friday.\nMr. Obama has generated considerable goodwill overseas, with polls showing him hugely popular, and he has made a series of speeches with arching ambition. He has vowed to pursue a world without nuclear weapons; reached out to the Muslim world, delivering a major speech in Cairo in June; and sought to restart peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, at the expense of offending some of his Jewish supporters.\nBut he has had to devote a great deal of his time to the economic crisis and other domestic issues, and many of his policy efforts are only beginning.\nIn addition to the challenges in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the situation in Iraq is extremely fragile; North Korea has staged missile tests; Iran continues to enrich uranium in defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions, though it recently agreed to restart nuclear talks; Israel has resisted a settlement freeze; and Saudi Arabia has refused to make new gestures toward the Israelis.\nAhmed Youssef, a Hamas spokesman, congratulated Mr. Obama but said the prize was based only on good intentions. Muhammad al-Sharif, a politically independent Gazan, was incredulous. “Has Israel stopped building the settlements?” he asked. “Has Obama achieved a Palestinian state yet?”\nThe Nobel committee did not tell Mr. Obama in advance of the announcement, said its chairman, Mr. Jagland. “Waking up a president in the middle of the night,” he said, “this isn’t really something you do.”\nSteven Erlanger reported from Paris, and Sheryl Gay Stolberg from Washington. Reporting was contributed by Walter Gibbs from Oslo, Alan Cowell from London, Nicholas Kulish from Berlin, Isabel Kershner from Jerusalem, and Taghreed El-Khodary from Gaza.\nA version of this article appears in print on\nOct. 10, 2009\n, Section A, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: Surprise Nobel for Obama Stirs Praise and Doubts\n.\nOrder Reprints\n|\nToday’s Paper\n|\nSubscribe\nRelated Content\nMore in World\nImage by Gilberto Gallo\/Reuters\nLaetitia Vancon for The New York Times\nAlfredo Estrella\/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images\nImage by Gregorio Borgia\/Associated Press\nEditors’ Picks\nDmitry Kostyukov for The New York Times\nPaul Hurd\/Alamy\nTrending in The Times\nCaroline Gutman for The New York Times\nNetflix\nBryan Birks for The New York Times\nGavin John for The New York Times\nMila Teshaieva for The New York Times\nPhoto illustration by Adam Glanzman for The New York Times\nEugene Hoshiko\/Associated Press\nPool photo by Chris Torres\nChristopher Capozziello for The New York Times\nJaimi Joy\/Reuters\nAdvertisement\nSKIP ADVERTISEMENT","attrs_markdown":"[Skip to content](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2009\/10\/10\/world\/10nobel.html#site-content)[Skip to site index](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2009\/10\/10\/world\/10nobel.html#site-index)\n\nSearch & Section Navigation\n\nSection Navigation\n\nSearch\n\n[World](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/world)\n\n[Log in](https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Fsubscription%2Fonboarding-offer%3FcampaignId%3D7JFJX%26EXIT_URI%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.nytimes.com%252F2009%252F10%252F10%252Fworld%252F10nobel.html&asset=masthead)\n\nTuesday, February 24, 2026\n\n[Today’s Paper](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/todayspaper)\n\n[World](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/world)\\|Surprise Nobel for Obama Stirs Praise and Doubts\n\nhttps:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2009\/10\/10\/world\/10nobel.html\n\n- Share full article\n- 2\\.7k\n\nAdvertisement\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2009\/10\/10\/world\/10nobel.html#after-top)\n\nSupported by\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2009\/10\/10\/world\/10nobel.html#after-sponsor)\n# Surprise Nobel for Obama Stirs Praise and Doubts\n- Share full article\n- 2\\.7k\n\n![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2009\/10\/10\/world\/10obama_600.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n\nPresident Obama in the Oval Office on Friday. He got news of the award when his press secretary awakened him with a call.Credit...Matthew Cavanaugh\/European Pressphoto Agency\n\nBy [Steven Erlanger](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/steven-erlanger) and [Sheryl Gay Stolberg](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/sheryl-gay-stolberg)\n\n- Oct. 9, 2009\n\nPARIS  The choice of Barack Obama on Friday as the recipient of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, less than nine months into his eventful presidency, was an unexpected honor that elicited praise and puzzlement around the globe.\n\nNormally the prize has been presented, even controversially, for accomplishment. This prize, to a 48-year-old freshman president, for [“extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,”](http:\/\/nobelprize.org\/nobel_prizes\/peace\/laureates\/2009\/press.html \"Official announcement\") seemed a kind of prayer and encouragement by the Nobel committee for future endeavor and more consensual American leadership.\n\nBut the prize quickly loomed as a potential political liability  perhaps more burden than glory  for Mr. Obama. Republicans contended that he had won more for his star power and oratorical skills than for his actual achievements, and even some Democrats privately questioned whether he deserved it.\n\nThe Nobel committee’s embrace of Mr. Obama was viewed as a rejection of the unpopular tenure, in Europe especially, of his predecessor, George W. Bush.\n\nBut the committee, based in Norway, stressed that it made its decision based on Mr. Obama’s actual efforts toward nuclear disarmament as well as American engagement with the world relying more on diplomacy and dialogue.\n\n“The question we have to ask is who has done the most in the previous year to enhance peace in the world,” the Nobel committee chairman, Thorbjorn Jagland, said in Oslo after the announcement. “And who has done more than Barack Obama?”\n\nStill, Mr. Obama, who was described as “very surprised” when he received the news, said he himself was not quite convinced, adding that the award “deeply humbled” him.\n\n“To be honest,” [the president said in the Rose Garden](http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2009\/10\/09\/us\/politics\/09obama-text.html \"Times article\"), “I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who have been honored by this prize, men and women who’ve inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.”\n\nHe said, though, that he would “accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations to confront the challenges of the 21st century.” Mr. Obama plans to travel to Oslo to accept the award on Dec. 10. He will donate the prize money of \\$1.4 million to charity, the White House said.\n\n## Editors’ Picks\n[![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/23\/multimedia\/20cul-comedy-amini-03-bhjc\/20cul-comedy-amini-03-bhjc-thumbLarge.jpg)The Most Popular Comedian You’ve Probably Never Heard Of](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/20\/arts\/max-amini-comedy.html)\n\n[![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/19\/well\/19WELL-ONLINE-OZEMPIC-image\/19WELL-ONLINE-OZEMPIC-image-thumbLarge.jpg)What to Know Before Buying Weight Loss Drugs Online](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/21\/well\/buying-weight-loss-drugs-online.html)\n\n[![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/19\/multimedia\/19trav-hours-savannah-pgcj\/19trav-hours-savannah-pgcj-thumbLarge.jpg)36 Hours in Savannah, Ga.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2026\/02\/19\/travel\/things-to-do-savannah.html)\n\nAdvertisement\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2009\/10\/10\/world\/10nobel.html#after-pp_edpick)\n\nMr. Obama, only the third sitting American president to win the award, is suddenly put in the company of world leaders like Mikhail S. Gorbachev, who won for helping end the cold war, and Nelson Mandela, who sought an end to apartheid.\n\nBut less prominent figures have also won the award.\n\nThe reaction inside the administration was one of restraint, perhaps reflecting the awkwardness of winning a major prize amid a worldwide debate about whether it was deserved.\n\nRepublicans in Washington, reacting in disbelief, sought to portray Mr. Obama as unworthy. In an official statement, Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, said, “The real question Americans are asking is, ‘What has President Obama actually accomplished?’ “\n\nBut there was much praise as well, even if Mr. Obama’s allies worried that the prize might be a liability and even if much of the praise came from Europe, giving ammunition to conservatives who say Mr. Obama cares too much about opinion there.\n\nPresident Nicolas Sarkozy of France said the award marked “America’s return to the hearts of the world’s peoples,” while Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said it was an “incentive to the president and to us all” to do more for peace.\n\n“In a short time he has been able to set a new tone throughout the world and to create a readiness for dialogue,” she said.\n\nFor a world that at times felt pushed around by a more unilateralist Bush administration, the prize for Mr. Obama seemed wrapped in gratitude for his willingness to listen and negotiate, as well as for his positions on climate change and nuclear disarmament.\n\nLast year’s laureate, former President Martti Ahtisaari of Finland, saw the award as an endorsement of Mr. Obama’s goal of achieving Middle East peace.\n\n“Of course, this puts pressure on Obama,” he said. “The world expects that he will also achieve something.”\n\nThe prize, announced as official Washington  including the president  was asleep, caught the White House off guard.\n\nThe first word of it came in the form of an e-mail message to the White House staff from the White House Situation Room, which monitors events worldwide around the clock, at 5:09 a.m. It carried the subject line “item of interest.”\n\nShortly before 6 a.m., the White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, telephoned Mr. Obama, awakening him to share the news.\n\n“There has been no discussion, nothing at all,” said the White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel.\n\nThe award comes at a time of considerable challenges for the president, with few sweeping achievements so far.\n\nOn the domestic front, he is pressing Congress to overhaul the nation’s health care system. In foreign affairs, he is wrestling with his advisers over how to chart a new course in Afghanistan and has been working, with little movement, to restart peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians.\n\nThe Rose Garden appearance was an example of Mr. Obama’s heavy workload; it was squeezed into a day that already included his regular intelligence and economic briefings, a private meeting with a senator, lunch with the vice president, a major speech outlining plans for a new consumer protection agency and a strategy session on Afghanistan with his national security team.\n\nAnnouncing the award, the Nobel committee cited Mr. Obama “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples” and said that he had “created a new climate in international politics.”\n\nIn a four-paragraph statement, it praised Mr. Obama for his tone, his preference for negotiation and multilateral diplomacy and his vision of a cooperative world of shared values, shorn of nuclear weapons.\n\n“Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future,” the committee said. “His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world’s population.”\n\nThe other sitting American presidents to be given the award were Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, for negotiating an end to a war between Russia and Japan, and Woodrow Wilson in 1919, for the Treaty of Versailles.\n\nFormer President Jimmy Carter won in 2002 for his efforts over decades to spread peace and development. Mr. Carter called the award to Mr. Obama “a bold statement of international support for his vision and commitment.”\n\nFormer Vice President Al Gore won in 2007, sharing the prize with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, for his work on climate change. Mr. Gore called Mr. Obama’s award “well deserved” on Friday.\n\nMr. Obama has generated considerable goodwill overseas, with polls showing him hugely popular, and he has made a series of speeches with arching ambition. He has vowed to pursue a world without nuclear weapons; reached out to the Muslim world, delivering a major speech in Cairo in June; and sought to restart peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, at the expense of offending some of his Jewish supporters.\n\nBut he has had to devote a great deal of his time to the economic crisis and other domestic issues, and many of his policy efforts are only beginning.\n\nIn addition to the challenges in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the situation in Iraq is extremely fragile; North Korea has staged missile tests; Iran continues to enrich uranium in defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions, though it recently agreed to restart nuclear talks; Israel has resisted a settlement freeze; and Saudi Arabia has refused to make new gestures toward the Israelis.\n\nAhmed Youssef, a Hamas spokesman, congratulated Mr. Obama but said the prize was based only on good intentions. Muhammad al-Sharif, a politically independent Gazan, was incredulous. “Has Israel stopped building the settlements?” he asked. “Has Obama achieved a Palestinian state yet?”\n\nThe Nobel committee did not tell Mr. Obama in advance of the announcement, said its chairman, Mr. Jagland. “Waking up a president in the middle of the night,” he said, “this isn’t really something you do.”\n\nSteven Erlanger reported from Paris, and Sheryl Gay Stolberg from Washington. Reporting was contributed by Walter Gibbs from Oslo, Alan Cowell from London, Nicholas Kulish from Berlin, Isabel Kershner from Jerusalem, and Taghreed El-Khodary from Gaza.\n\nA version of this article appears in print on Oct. 10, 2009, Section A, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: Surprise Nobel for Obama Stirs Praise and Doubts. [Order Reprints](https:\/\/nytimes.wrightsmedia.com\/) \\| [Today’s Paper](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/todayspaper) \\| [Subscribe](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscriptions\/Multiproduct\/lp8HYKU.html?campaignId=48JQY)\n\nSee more on: [Barack Obama](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/topic\/person\/barack-obama)\n\nRead 2,661 comments\n\n- Share full article\n- 2\\.7k\n\n### Related Coverage\n[Past Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Oct. 9, 2009](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2009\/10\/09\/world\/09nobel-list.html?action=click&module=RelatedCoverage&pgtype=Article&region=Footer)\n\n[From 205 Names, Panel Chose the Most Visible Oct. 9, 2009 ![From 205 Names, Panel Chose the Most Visible](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2009\/10\/09\/world\/09oslo-75.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2009\/10\/10\/world\/10oslo.html?action=click&module=RelatedCoverage&pgtype=Article&region=Footer)\n\n[World Reacts With Cheer and Caution Oct. 9, 2009 ![World Reacts With Cheer and Caution](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2009\/10\/09\/world\/09nobel-75.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2009\/10\/10\/world\/10reax.html?action=click&module=RelatedCoverage&pgtype=Article&region=Footer)\n\nShow All\n\n***\n## Around the World With The Times\n### Our reporters across the globe take you into the field.\n***\n- **Polyamory in Brazil:** More people in a still largely conservative and religious nation [are rejecting monogamy as they seek new definitions of romance, and of family](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/14\/world\/americas\/brazil-polyamory-non-monogamy-catholic.html).\n- **Beirut Beneath Drones:** More than a year into a cease-fire, [the mechanical whir of Israeli drones above the Lebanese capital](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/14\/world\/middleeast\/beirut-drones-sound-israel-airstrikes.html) is a reminder that, in many ways, the war never really ended.\n- **Kenya Bans Cash Bouquets:** Floral arrangements crafted from carefully-folded, colorful bank notes [had become a popular symbol of love in Nairobi](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/13\/world\/africa\/kenya-money-bouquets-valentines-day.html).\n- **A Shift in Chinese Taste:** Malaysian durian farmers [saw immense profits over the last decade as China](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/10\/world\/asia\/durian-malaysia-china-demand.html) snapped up the fruit. But things have changed.\n\n## Related Content\n### [More in World](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/world)\n- [Mayhem Rocks Mexico After Most-Wanted Cartel Boss Is Killed](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/22\/world\/americas\/jalisco-new-generation-cartel-leader-killed.html)\n  \n  ![Agentes de policía aseguran una zona en la que miembros del crimen organizado incendiaron vehículos en Zapopan, México, el domingo.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/22\/espanol\/22int-mexico-cartel-mcpt-ES-copy1\/22int-mexico-cartel-mcpt-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Image by Gilberto Gallo\/Reuters\n- [Europe’s New Way of War](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/23\/world\/europe-defense-us-ukraine-mexico-tariffs.html)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/24\/multimedia\/24int-theworld-europe-war-promo\/24int-theworld-europe-war-promo-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Laetitia Vancon for The New York Times\n- [Mexico Killed ‘El Mencho.’ What’s Next for the Drug Cartel He Led?](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/23\/world\/americas\/el-mencho-killed-mexico-cartel.html)\n  \n  ![Security forces patrolling in Mexico City after the killing of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes on Sunday.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/23\/multimedia\/23-mexico-cartel-analysis-lcpz\/23-mexico-cartel-analysis-lcpz-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Alfredo Estrella\/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images\n- [St. Francis’ Remains, Rarely Seen, Go on Display in Assisi](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/22\/world\/europe\/italy-saint-francis-remains-assisi.html)\n  \n  ![Believers lined up to see the bones of St. Francis at the basilica bearing his name in Assisi, Italy, on Sunday.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/22\/multimedia\/22int-italy-bones-vhkq\/22int-italy-bones-vhkq-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Image by Gregorio Borgia\/Associated Press\n\n### Editors’ Picks\n- [An Ugly Building in a Beautiful City Gets a Much-Debated Makeover](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/23\/world\/europe\/tour-montparnasse-paris-makeover-piano.html)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/23\/multimedia\/23int-france-montparnasse-promo-hpzc\/23int-france-montparnasse-promo-hpzc-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Dmitry Kostyukov for The New York Times\n- [Bill Gates Continues to Pare Down His Lakeside Compound Near Seattle](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/19\/realestate\/bill-gates-continues-to-pare-down-his-lakeside-compound-near-seattle.html)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/17\/multimedia\/00re-big-ticet-bclw\/00re-big-ticet-bclw-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Paul Hurd\/Alamy\n\n### Trending in The Times\n- [Kennedy Center Performance Canceled After Substance Poured on Ice Rink](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/21\/arts\/design\/kennedy-center-protest-ice-rink.html)\n  \n  ![The Canadian figure-skating troupe Le Patin Libre performing at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts this month.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/21\/multimedia\/21cul-kencen-protest-photo-fqgp\/21cul-kencen-protest-photo-fqgp-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Caroline Gutman for The New York Times\n- [The Never-Ending Trial of Tyra Banks](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/23\/arts\/television\/tyra-banks-americas-next-top-model.html)\n  \n  ![Tyra Banks sitting for an interview in “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model.”](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/23\/arts\/23cul-antm-notebook\/23cul-antm-notebook-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Netflix\n- [Do You Back Into a Parking Spot or Back Out?](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/21\/style\/parking-backing-in-headfirst.html)\n  \n  ![In 2020, AAA updated its curriculum to advise drivers to back into parking spaces. ](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/22\/multimedia\/12BACKING-IN-jwhz\/12BACKING-IN-jwhz-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Bryan Birks for The New York Times\n- [Fat Signing Bonuses, and Concierge Service, for Family Doctors](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/22\/world\/canada\/fat-signing-bonuses-and-concierge-service-for-family-doctors.html)\n  \n  ![The town of Stettler, Alberta’s economy is predominantly driven by the agriculture and oil industries, and is the largest town for surrounding communities.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/13\/world\/00int-canada-family-doctors-promo\/00int-canada-family-doctors-04-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Gavin John for The New York Times\n- [Opinion: Ukraine Has Passed a Point of No Return](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/22\/opinion\/ukraine-russia-war-four-years.html)\n  \n  ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/18\/multimedia\/00gessen-04-jzkq\/00gessen-04-jzkq-square640-v2.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Mila Teshaieva for The New York Times\n- [A.I. Isn’t Coming for Every White-Collar Job. At Least Not Yet.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/20\/technology\/ai-coding-software-jobs.html)\n  \n  ![Though powerful, code generators still require extensive oversight, according to researchers and programmers.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/18\/multimedia\/00biz-ai-code-05-hvlk\/00biz-ai-code-05-hvlk-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Photo illustration by Adam Glanzman for The New York Times\n- [How China Is Stoking Fear About Travel to Japan](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/20\/world\/asia\/china-travel-japan-fear.html)\n  \n  ![Visitors on a street decorated for the Lunar New Year at China Town in Yokohama near Tokyo on Tuesday.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/20\/multimedia\/20int-japan-china-qwfl\/20int-japan-china-qwfl-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Eugene Hoshiko\/Associated Press\n- [Nick Reiner Pleads Not Guilty in the Killing of His Parents](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/23\/arts\/nick-reiner-plea.html)\n  \n  ![Nick Reiner waived his right to a speedy trial on Monday, two months after he was charged with first-degree murder.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/25\/multimedia\/23cul-reiner-hearing-lkmv\/23cul-reiner-hearing-lkmv-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Pool photo by Chris Torres\n- [Blizzard Warnings Issued for Swath of East Coast, Including N.Y.C.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/21\/us\/blizzard-warnings-northeast-new-york.html)\n  \n  ![A snowstorm in Manchester, Conn., in January 2025.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/21\/multimedia\/21xp-northeaststorm-01-lwhc\/21xp-northeaststorm-01-lwhc-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Christopher Capozziello for The New York Times\n- [Catherine, Princess of Wales, and a Projection of Royal Unity](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/02\/23\/style\/catherine-william-princess-of-wales-bafta-dress.html)\n  \n  ![The Prince and Princess of Wales arriving at the BAFTAS with Jane Millichip, the chief executive of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and Ken Olisa, the Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London, on Sunday.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/23\/multimedia\/23ST-KATEBAFTA1-kqlv\/23ST-KATEBAFTA1-kqlv-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Jaimi Joy\/Reuters\n\nAdvertisement\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2009\/10\/10\/world\/10nobel.html#after-bottom)\n\n## Site Index\n[Go to Home Page »](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/)\n\nNews\n\n- [Home Page](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/)\n- [U.S.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/us)\n- [World](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/world)\n- [Politics](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/politics)\n- [New York](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/nyregion)\n- [Education](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/education)\n- [Sports](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/sports)\n- [Business](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/business)\n- [Tech](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/technology)\n- [Science](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/science)\n- [Weather](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/weather)\n- [The Great Read](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/the-great-read)\n- [Obituaries](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/obituaries)\n- [Headway](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/headway)\n- [Visual Investigations](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/visual-investigations)\n- [The Magazine](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/magazine)\n\nArts\n\n- [Book Review](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/books\/review)\n- [Best Sellers Book List](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/books\/best-sellers\/)\n- [Dance](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/arts\/dance)\n- [Movies](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/movies)\n- [Music](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/arts\/music)\n- [Pop Culture](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/pop-culture)\n- [Television](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/arts\/television)\n- [Theater](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/theater)\n- [Visual Arts](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/arts\/design)\n\nLifestyle\n\n- [Health](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/health)\n- [Well](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/well)\n- [Food](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/food)\n- [Restaurant Reviews](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/reviews\/dining)\n- [Love](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/fashion\/weddings)\n- [Travel](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/travel)\n- [Style](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/style)\n- [Fashion](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/fashion)\n- [Real Estate](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/realestate)\n- [T Magazine](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/t-magazine)\n\nOpinion\n\n- [Today's Opinion](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion)\n- [Columnists](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion\/columnists)\n- [Editorials](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion\/editorials)\n- [Guest Essays](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion\/contributors)\n- [Op-Docs](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/column\/op-docs)\n- [Letters](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion\/letters)\n- [Sunday Opinion](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion\/sunday)\n- [Opinion Video](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/opinion-video)\n- [Opinion Audio](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/series\/opinion-audio)\n\nMore\n\n- [Audio](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/podcasts)\n- [Games](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/crosswords)\n- [Cooking](https:\/\/cooking.nytimes.com\/)\n- [Wirecutter](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/wirecutter\/)\n- [The Athletic](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/)\n- [Jobs](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/jobs)\n- [Video](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/video)\n- [Graphics](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/graphics)\n- [Trending](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/trending\/)\n- [Live Events](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/nyt-events)\n- [Corrections](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/corrections)\n- [Reader Center](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/reader-center)\n- [TimesMachine](https:\/\/timesmachine.nytimes.com\/browser)\n- [The Learning Network](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/learning)\n- [School of The NYT](https:\/\/nytedu.com\/)\n- [inEducation](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/nytimesineducation)\n\n### News\n- [Home Page](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/)\n- [U.S.](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/us)\n- [World](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/world)\n- [Politics](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/politics)\n- [New York](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/nyregion)\n- [Education](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/education)\n- [Sports](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/sports)\n- [Business](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/business)\n- [Tech](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/technology)\n- [Science](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/science)\n- [Weather](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/weather)\n- [The Great Read](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/the-great-read)\n- [Obituaries](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/obituaries)\n- [Headway](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/headway)\n- [Visual Investigations](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/visual-investigations)\n- [The Magazine](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/magazine)\n\n### Arts\n- [Book Review](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/books\/review)\n- [Best Sellers Book List](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/books\/best-sellers\/)\n- [Dance](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/arts\/dance)\n- [Movies](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/movies)\n- [Music](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/arts\/music)\n- [Pop Culture](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/pop-culture)\n- [Television](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/arts\/television)\n- [Theater](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/theater)\n- [Visual Arts](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/arts\/design)\n\n### Lifestyle\n- [Health](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/health)\n- [Well](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/well)\n- [Food](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/food)\n- [Restaurant Reviews](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/reviews\/dining)\n- [Love](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/fashion\/weddings)\n- [Travel](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/travel)\n- [Style](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/style)\n- [Fashion](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/fashion)\n- [Real Estate](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/realestate)\n- [T Magazine](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/t-magazine)\n\n### Opinion\n- [Today's Opinion](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion)\n- [Columnists](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion\/columnists)\n- [Editorials](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion\/editorials)\n- [Guest Essays](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion\/contributors)\n- [Op-Docs](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/column\/op-docs)\n- [Letters](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion\/letters)\n- [Sunday Opinion](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/opinion\/sunday)\n- [Opinion Video](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/opinion-video)\n- [Opinion Audio](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/series\/opinion-audio)\n\n### More\n- [Audio](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/podcasts)\n- [Games](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/crosswords)\n- [Cooking](https:\/\/cooking.nytimes.com\/)\n- [Wirecutter](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/wirecutter\/)\n- [The Athletic](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/)\n- [Jobs](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/jobs)\n- [Video](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/video)\n- [Graphics](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/graphics)\n- [Trending](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/trending\/)\n- [Live Events](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/nyt-events)\n- [Corrections](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/corrections)\n- [Reader Center](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/reader-center)\n- [TimesMachine](https:\/\/timesmachine.nytimes.com\/browser)\n- [The Learning Network](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/learning)\n- [School of The NYT](https:\/\/nytedu.com\/)\n- [inEducation](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/spotlight\/nytimesineducation)\n\n### Account\n- [Subscribe](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription)\n- [Manage My Account](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/account)\n- [Home Delivery](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription\/home-delivery)\n- [Gift Subscriptions](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/gift)\n\n- [Group Subscriptions](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription\/groups?Pardot_Campaign_Code_Form_Input=89FQX)\n- [Gift Articles](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/gift-articles)\n- [Email Newsletters](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/newsletters)\n\n- [NYT Licensing](https:\/\/nytlicensing.com\/)\n- [Replica Edition](https:\/\/nytimes.pressreader.com\/)\n- [Times Store](https:\/\/store.nytimes.com\/)\n\n## Site Information Navigation\n- [© 2026 The New York Times Company](https:\/\/help.nytimes.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/115014792127-Copyright-Notice)\n\n- [NYTCo](https:\/\/www.nytco.com\/)\n- [Contact Us](https:\/\/help.nytimes.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/115015385887-Contact-The-New-York-Times)\n- [Accessibility](https:\/\/help.nytimes.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/115015727108-Accessibility)\n- [Work with us](https:\/\/www.nytco.com\/careers\/)\n- [Advertise](https:\/\/advertising.nytimes.com\/)\n- [T Brand Studio](https:\/\/advertising.nytimes.com\/custom-content\/)\n- [Privacy Policy](https:\/\/help.nytimes.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/10940941449492-The-New-York-Times-Company-Privacy-Policy)\n- [Cookie Policy](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/privacy\/cookie-policy)\n- [Terms of Service](https:\/\/help.nytimes.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/115014893428-Terms-of-Service)\n- [Terms of Sale](https:\/\/help.nytimes.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/115014893968-Terms-of-Sale)\n- [Site Map](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/sitemap\/)\n- [Canada](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/ca\/)\n- [International](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/international\/)\n- [Help](https:\/\/help.nytimes.com\/hc\/en-us)\n- [Subscriptions](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription?campaignId=37WXW)","attrs_readable_markdown":"Advertisement\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2009\/10\/10\/world\/10nobel.html#after-top)\n\n![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2009\/10\/10\/world\/10obama_600.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n\nPresident Obama in the Oval Office on Friday. He got news of the award when his press secretary awakened him with a call.Credit...Matthew Cavanaugh\/European Pressphoto Agency\n\n- Oct. 9, 2009\n\nPARIS  The choice of Barack Obama on Friday as the recipient of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, less than nine months into his eventful presidency, was an unexpected honor that elicited praise and puzzlement around the globe.\n\nNormally the prize has been presented, even controversially, for accomplishment. This prize, to a 48-year-old freshman president, for [“extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,”](http:\/\/nobelprize.org\/nobel_prizes\/peace\/laureates\/2009\/press.html \"Official announcement\") seemed a kind of prayer and encouragement by the Nobel committee for future endeavor and more consensual American leadership.\n\nBut the prize quickly loomed as a potential political liability  perhaps more burden than glory  for Mr. Obama. Republicans contended that he had won more for his star power and oratorical skills than for his actual achievements, and even some Democrats privately questioned whether he deserved it.\n\nThe Nobel committee’s embrace of Mr. Obama was viewed as a rejection of the unpopular tenure, in Europe especially, of his predecessor, George W. Bush.\n\nBut the committee, based in Norway, stressed that it made its decision based on Mr. Obama’s actual efforts toward nuclear disarmament as well as American engagement with the world relying more on diplomacy and dialogue.\n\n“The question we have to ask is who has done the most in the previous year to enhance peace in the world,” the Nobel committee chairman, Thorbjorn Jagland, said in Oslo after the announcement. “And who has done more than Barack Obama?”\n\nStill, Mr. Obama, who was described as “very surprised” when he received the news, said he himself was not quite convinced, adding that the award “deeply humbled” him.\n\n“To be honest,” [the president said in the Rose Garden](http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2009\/10\/09\/us\/politics\/09obama-text.html \"Times article\"), “I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who have been honored by this prize, men and women who’ve inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.”\n\nHe said, though, that he would “accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations to confront the challenges of the 21st century.” Mr. Obama plans to travel to Oslo to accept the award on Dec. 10. He will donate the prize money of \\$1.4 million to charity, the White House said.\n\nMr. Obama, only the third sitting American president to win the award, is suddenly put in the company of world leaders like Mikhail S. Gorbachev, who won for helping end the cold war, and Nelson Mandela, who sought an end to apartheid.\n\nBut less prominent figures have also won the award.\n\nThe reaction inside the administration was one of restraint, perhaps reflecting the awkwardness of winning a major prize amid a worldwide debate about whether it was deserved.\n\nRepublicans in Washington, reacting in disbelief, sought to portray Mr. Obama as unworthy. In an official statement, Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, said, “The real question Americans are asking is, ‘What has President Obama actually accomplished?’ “\n\nBut there was much praise as well, even if Mr. Obama’s allies worried that the prize might be a liability and even if much of the praise came from Europe, giving ammunition to conservatives who say Mr. Obama cares too much about opinion there.\n\nPresident Nicolas Sarkozy of France said the award marked “America’s return to the hearts of the world’s peoples,” while Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said it was an “incentive to the president and to us all” to do more for peace.\n\n“In a short time he has been able to set a new tone throughout the world and to create a readiness for dialogue,” she said.\n\nFor a world that at times felt pushed around by a more unilateralist Bush administration, the prize for Mr. Obama seemed wrapped in gratitude for his willingness to listen and negotiate, as well as for his positions on climate change and nuclear disarmament.\n\nLast year’s laureate, former President Martti Ahtisaari of Finland, saw the award as an endorsement of Mr. Obama’s goal of achieving Middle East peace.\n\n“Of course, this puts pressure on Obama,” he said. “The world expects that he will also achieve something.”\n\nThe prize, announced as official Washington  including the president  was asleep, caught the White House off guard.\n\nThe first word of it came in the form of an e-mail message to the White House staff from the White House Situation Room, which monitors events worldwide around the clock, at 5:09 a.m. It carried the subject line “item of interest.”\n\nShortly before 6 a.m., the White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, telephoned Mr. Obama, awakening him to share the news.\n\n“There has been no discussion, nothing at all,” said the White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel.\n\nThe award comes at a time of considerable challenges for the president, with few sweeping achievements so far.\n\nOn the domestic front, he is pressing Congress to overhaul the nation’s health care system. In foreign affairs, he is wrestling with his advisers over how to chart a new course in Afghanistan and has been working, with little movement, to restart peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians.\n\nThe Rose Garden appearance was an example of Mr. Obama’s heavy workload; it was squeezed into a day that already included his regular intelligence and economic briefings, a private meeting with a senator, lunch with the vice president, a major speech outlining plans for a new consumer protection agency and a strategy session on Afghanistan with his national security team.\n\nAnnouncing the award, the Nobel committee cited Mr. Obama “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples” and said that he had “created a new climate in international politics.”\n\nIn a four-paragraph statement, it praised Mr. Obama for his tone, his preference for negotiation and multilateral diplomacy and his vision of a cooperative world of shared values, shorn of nuclear weapons.\n\n“Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future,” the committee said. “His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world’s population.”\n\nThe other sitting American presidents to be given the award were Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, for negotiating an end to a war between Russia and Japan, and Woodrow Wilson in 1919, for the Treaty of Versailles.\n\nFormer President Jimmy Carter won in 2002 for his efforts over decades to spread peace and development. Mr. Carter called the award to Mr. Obama “a bold statement of international support for his vision and commitment.”\n\nFormer Vice President Al Gore won in 2007, sharing the prize with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, for his work on climate change. Mr. Gore called Mr. Obama’s award “well deserved” on Friday.\n\nMr. Obama has generated considerable goodwill overseas, with polls showing him hugely popular, and he has made a series of speeches with arching ambition. He has vowed to pursue a world without nuclear weapons; reached out to the Muslim world, delivering a major speech in Cairo in June; and sought to restart peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, at the expense of offending some of his Jewish supporters.\n\nBut he has had to devote a great deal of his time to the economic crisis and other domestic issues, and many of his policy efforts are only beginning.\n\nIn addition to the challenges in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the situation in Iraq is extremely fragile; North Korea has staged missile tests; Iran continues to enrich uranium in defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions, though it recently agreed to restart nuclear talks; Israel has resisted a settlement freeze; and Saudi Arabia has refused to make new gestures toward the Israelis.\n\nAhmed Youssef, a Hamas spokesman, congratulated Mr. Obama but said the prize was based only on good intentions. Muhammad al-Sharif, a politically independent Gazan, was incredulous. “Has Israel stopped building the settlements?” he asked. “Has Obama achieved a Palestinian state yet?”\n\nThe Nobel committee did not tell Mr. Obama in advance of the announcement, said its chairman, Mr. Jagland. “Waking up a president in the middle of the night,” he said, “this isn’t really something you do.”\n\nSteven Erlanger reported from Paris, and Sheryl Gay Stolberg from Washington. Reporting was contributed by Walter Gibbs from Oslo, Alan Cowell from London, Nicholas Kulish from Berlin, Isabel Kershner from Jerusalem, and Taghreed El-Khodary from Gaza.\n\nA version of this article appears in print on Oct. 10, 2009, Section A, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: Surprise Nobel for Obama Stirs Praise and Doubts. [Order Reprints](https:\/\/nytimes.wrightsmedia.com\/) \\| [Today’s Paper](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/todayspaper) \\| [Subscribe](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscriptions\/Multiproduct\/lp8HYKU.html?campaignId=48JQY)\n\n## Related Content\n[More in World](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/section\/world)\n\n- ![Agentes de policía aseguran una zona en la que miembros del crimen organizado incendiaron vehículos en Zapopan, México, el domingo.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/22\/espanol\/22int-mexico-cartel-mcpt-ES-copy1\/22int-mexico-cartel-mcpt-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Image by Gilberto Gallo\/Reuters\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/24\/multimedia\/24int-theworld-europe-war-promo\/24int-theworld-europe-war-promo-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Laetitia Vancon for The New York Times\n- ![Security forces patrolling in Mexico City after the killing of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes on Sunday.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/23\/multimedia\/23-mexico-cartel-analysis-lcpz\/23-mexico-cartel-analysis-lcpz-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Alfredo Estrella\/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images\n- ![Believers lined up to see the bones of St. Francis at the basilica bearing his name in Assisi, Italy, on Sunday.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/22\/multimedia\/22int-italy-bones-vhkq\/22int-italy-bones-vhkq-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Image by Gregorio Borgia\/Associated Press\n\nEditors’ Picks\n\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/23\/multimedia\/23int-france-montparnasse-promo-hpzc\/23int-france-montparnasse-promo-hpzc-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Dmitry Kostyukov for The New York Times\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/17\/multimedia\/00re-big-ticet-bclw\/00re-big-ticet-bclw-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)\n  \n  Paul Hurd\/Alamy\n\nTrending in The Times\n\n- ![The Canadian figure-skating troupe Le Patin Libre performing at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts this month.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/21\/multimedia\/21cul-kencen-protest-photo-fqgp\/21cul-kencen-protest-photo-fqgp-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Caroline Gutman for The New York Times\n- ![Tyra Banks sitting for an interview in “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model.”](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/23\/arts\/23cul-antm-notebook\/23cul-antm-notebook-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Netflix\n- ![In 2020, AAA updated its curriculum to advise drivers to back into parking spaces. ](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/22\/multimedia\/12BACKING-IN-jwhz\/12BACKING-IN-jwhz-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Bryan Birks for The New York Times\n- ![The town of Stettler, Alberta’s economy is predominantly driven by the agriculture and oil industries, and is the largest town for surrounding communities.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/13\/world\/00int-canada-family-doctors-promo\/00int-canada-family-doctors-04-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Gavin John for The New York Times\n- ![](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/18\/multimedia\/00gessen-04-jzkq\/00gessen-04-jzkq-square640-v2.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Mila Teshaieva for The New York Times\n- ![Though powerful, code generators still require extensive oversight, according to researchers and programmers.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/18\/multimedia\/00biz-ai-code-05-hvlk\/00biz-ai-code-05-hvlk-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Photo illustration by Adam Glanzman for The New York Times\n- ![Visitors on a street decorated for the Lunar New Year at China Town in Yokohama near Tokyo on Tuesday.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/20\/multimedia\/20int-japan-china-qwfl\/20int-japan-china-qwfl-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Eugene Hoshiko\/Associated Press\n- ![Nick Reiner waived his right to a speedy trial on Monday, two months after he was charged with first-degree murder.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/25\/multimedia\/23cul-reiner-hearing-lkmv\/23cul-reiner-hearing-lkmv-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Pool photo by Chris Torres\n- ![A snowstorm in Manchester, Conn., in January 2025.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/21\/multimedia\/21xp-northeaststorm-01-lwhc\/21xp-northeaststorm-01-lwhc-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Christopher Capozziello for The New York Times\n- ![The Prince and Princess of Wales arriving at the BAFTAS with Jane Millichip, the chief executive of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and Ken Olisa, the Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London, on Sunday.](https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2026\/02\/23\/multimedia\/23ST-KATEBAFTA1-kqlv\/23ST-KATEBAFTA1-kqlv-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350)\n  \n  Jaimi Joy\/Reuters\n\nAdvertisement\n\n[SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2009\/10\/10\/world\/10nobel.html#after-bottom)","meta_canonical":null}

3. Robots.txt Check

Query:

Response:

4. Spam/Ban Check

Query:

Response:

5. Seen Status Check

ℹ️ Skipped - page is already crawled

📄

INDEXABLE

✅

CRAWLED

1 month ago

🤖

ROBOTS ALLOWED

Page Info Filters

Filter	Status	Condition	Details
HTTP status	PASS	`download_http_code = 200`	HTTP 200
Age cutoff	PASS	`download_stamp > now() - 6 MONTH`	1.5 months ago
History drop	PASS	`isNull(history_drop_reason)`	No drop reason
Spam/ban	PASS	`fh_dont_index != 1 AND ml_spam_score = 0`	ml_spam_score=0
Canonical	PASS	`meta_canonical IS NULL OR = '' OR = src_unparsed`	Not set

Page Details

Property	Value
URL	https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/10/world/10nobel.html
Last Crawled	2026-02-24 05:25:14 (1 month ago)
First Indexed	2017-02-17 22:08:37 (9 years ago)
HTTP Status Code	200
Meta Title	Surprise Nobel for Obama Stirs Praise and Doubts - The New York Times
Meta Description	The Nobel Peace Prize, which President Obama described as a “call to action,” was an extraordinary recognition for so early in a presidential term and a potential political liability at home.
Meta Canonical	null
Boilerpipe Text	Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT President Obama in the Oval Office on Friday. He got news of the award when his press secretary awakened him with a call. Credit... Matthew Cavanaugh/European Pressphoto Agency Oct. 9, 2009 PARIS The choice of Barack Obama on Friday as the recipient of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, less than nine months into his eventful presidency, was an unexpected honor that elicited praise and puzzlement around the globe. Normally the prize has been presented, even controversially, for accomplishment. This prize, to a 48-year-old freshman president, for “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,” seemed a kind of prayer and encouragement by the Nobel committee for future endeavor and more consensual American leadership. But the prize quickly loomed as a potential political liability perhaps more burden than glory for Mr. Obama. Republicans contended that he had won more for his star power and oratorical skills than for his actual achievements, and even some Democrats privately questioned whether he deserved it. The Nobel committee’s embrace of Mr. Obama was viewed as a rejection of the unpopular tenure, in Europe especially, of his predecessor, George W. Bush. But the committee, based in Norway, stressed that it made its decision based on Mr. Obama’s actual efforts toward nuclear disarmament as well as American engagement with the world relying more on diplomacy and dialogue. “The question we have to ask is who has done the most in the previous year to enhance peace in the world,” the Nobel committee chairman, Thorbjorn Jagland, said in Oslo after the announcement. “And who has done more than Barack Obama?” Still, Mr. Obama, who was described as “very surprised” when he received the news, said he himself was not quite convinced, adding that the award “deeply humbled” him. “To be honest,” the president said in the Rose Garden , “I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who have been honored by this prize, men and women who’ve inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.” He said, though, that he would “accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations to confront the challenges of the 21st century.” Mr. Obama plans to travel to Oslo to accept the award on Dec. 10. He will donate the prize money of $1.4 million to charity, the White House said. Mr. Obama, only the third sitting American president to win the award, is suddenly put in the company of world leaders like Mikhail S. Gorbachev, who won for helping end the cold war, and Nelson Mandela, who sought an end to apartheid. But less prominent figures have also won the award. The reaction inside the administration was one of restraint, perhaps reflecting the awkwardness of winning a major prize amid a worldwide debate about whether it was deserved. Republicans in Washington, reacting in disbelief, sought to portray Mr. Obama as unworthy. In an official statement, Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, said, “The real question Americans are asking is, ‘What has President Obama actually accomplished?’ “ But there was much praise as well, even if Mr. Obama’s allies worried that the prize might be a liability and even if much of the praise came from Europe, giving ammunition to conservatives who say Mr. Obama cares too much about opinion there. President Nicolas Sarkozy of France said the award marked “America’s return to the hearts of the world’s peoples,” while Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said it was an “incentive to the president and to us all” to do more for peace. “In a short time he has been able to set a new tone throughout the world and to create a readiness for dialogue,” she said. For a world that at times felt pushed around by a more unilateralist Bush administration, the prize for Mr. Obama seemed wrapped in gratitude for his willingness to listen and negotiate, as well as for his positions on climate change and nuclear disarmament. Last year’s laureate, former President Martti Ahtisaari of Finland, saw the award as an endorsement of Mr. Obama’s goal of achieving Middle East peace. “Of course, this puts pressure on Obama,” he said. “The world expects that he will also achieve something.” The prize, announced as official Washington including the president was asleep, caught the White House off guard. The first word of it came in the form of an e-mail message to the White House staff from the White House Situation Room, which monitors events worldwide around the clock, at 5:09 a.m. It carried the subject line “item of interest.” Shortly before 6 a.m., the White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, telephoned Mr. Obama, awakening him to share the news. “There has been no discussion, nothing at all,” said the White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel. The award comes at a time of considerable challenges for the president, with few sweeping achievements so far. On the domestic front, he is pressing Congress to overhaul the nation’s health care system. In foreign affairs, he is wrestling with his advisers over how to chart a new course in Afghanistan and has been working, with little movement, to restart peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. The Rose Garden appearance was an example of Mr. Obama’s heavy workload; it was squeezed into a day that already included his regular intelligence and economic briefings, a private meeting with a senator, lunch with the vice president, a major speech outlining plans for a new consumer protection agency and a strategy session on Afghanistan with his national security team. Announcing the award, the Nobel committee cited Mr. Obama “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples” and said that he had “created a new climate in international politics.” In a four-paragraph statement, it praised Mr. Obama for his tone, his preference for negotiation and multilateral diplomacy and his vision of a cooperative world of shared values, shorn of nuclear weapons. “Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future,” the committee said. “His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world’s population.” The other sitting American presidents to be given the award were Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, for negotiating an end to a war between Russia and Japan, and Woodrow Wilson in 1919, for the Treaty of Versailles. Former President Jimmy Carter won in 2002 for his efforts over decades to spread peace and development. Mr. Carter called the award to Mr. Obama “a bold statement of international support for his vision and commitment.” Former Vice President Al Gore won in 2007, sharing the prize with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, for his work on climate change. Mr. Gore called Mr. Obama’s award “well deserved” on Friday. Mr. Obama has generated considerable goodwill overseas, with polls showing him hugely popular, and he has made a series of speeches with arching ambition. He has vowed to pursue a world without nuclear weapons; reached out to the Muslim world, delivering a major speech in Cairo in June; and sought to restart peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, at the expense of offending some of his Jewish supporters. But he has had to devote a great deal of his time to the economic crisis and other domestic issues, and many of his policy efforts are only beginning. In addition to the challenges in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the situation in Iraq is extremely fragile; North Korea has staged missile tests; Iran continues to enrich uranium in defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions, though it recently agreed to restart nuclear talks; Israel has resisted a settlement freeze; and Saudi Arabia has refused to make new gestures toward the Israelis. Ahmed Youssef, a Hamas spokesman, congratulated Mr. Obama but said the prize was based only on good intentions. Muhammad al-Sharif, a politically independent Gazan, was incredulous. “Has Israel stopped building the settlements?” he asked. “Has Obama achieved a Palestinian state yet?” The Nobel committee did not tell Mr. Obama in advance of the announcement, said its chairman, Mr. Jagland. “Waking up a president in the middle of the night,” he said, “this isn’t really something you do.” Steven Erlanger reported from Paris, and Sheryl Gay Stolberg from Washington. Reporting was contributed by Walter Gibbs from Oslo, Alan Cowell from London, Nicholas Kulish from Berlin, Isabel Kershner from Jerusalem, and Taghreed El-Khodary from Gaza. A version of this article appears in print on Oct. 10, 2009 , Section A, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: Surprise Nobel for Obama Stirs Praise and Doubts . Order Reprints \| Today’s Paper \| Subscribe Related Content More in World Image by Gilberto Gallo/Reuters Laetitia Vancon for The New York Times Alfredo Estrella/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Image by Gregorio Borgia/Associated Press Editors’ Picks Dmitry Kostyukov for The New York Times Paul Hurd/Alamy Trending in The Times Caroline Gutman for The New York Times Netflix Bryan Birks for The New York Times Gavin John for The New York Times Mila Teshaieva for The New York Times Photo illustration by Adam Glanzman for The New York Times Eugene Hoshiko/Associated Press Pool photo by Chris Torres Christopher Capozziello for The New York Times Jaimi Joy/Reuters Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
Markdown	[Skip to content](https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/10/world/10nobel.html#site-content)[Skip to site index](https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/10/world/10nobel.html#site-index) Search & Section Navigation Section Navigation Search [World](https://www.nytimes.com/section/world) [Log in](https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&client_id=vi&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Fsubscription%2Fonboarding-offer%3FcampaignId%3D7JFJX%26EXIT_URI%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.nytimes.com%252F2009%252F10%252F10%252Fworld%252F10nobel.html&asset=masthead) Tuesday, February 24, 2026 [Today’s Paper](https://www.nytimes.com/section/todayspaper) [World](https://www.nytimes.com/section/world)\\|Surprise Nobel for Obama Stirs Praise and Doubts https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/10/world/10nobel.html - Share full article - 2\.7k Advertisement [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/10/world/10nobel.html#after-top) Supported by [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/10/world/10nobel.html#after-sponsor) # Surprise Nobel for Obama Stirs Praise and Doubts - Share full article - 2\.7k ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2009/10/10/world/10obama_600.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) President Obama in the Oval Office on Friday. He got news of the award when his press secretary awakened him with a call.Credit...Matthew Cavanaugh/European Pressphoto Agency By [Steven Erlanger](https://www.nytimes.com/by/steven-erlanger) and [Sheryl Gay Stolberg](https://www.nytimes.com/by/sheryl-gay-stolberg) - Oct. 9, 2009 PARIS The choice of Barack Obama on Friday as the recipient of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, less than nine months into his eventful presidency, was an unexpected honor that elicited praise and puzzlement around the globe. Normally the prize has been presented, even controversially, for accomplishment. This prize, to a 48-year-old freshman president, for [“extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,”](http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2009/press.html "Official announcement") seemed a kind of prayer and encouragement by the Nobel committee for future endeavor and more consensual American leadership. But the prize quickly loomed as a potential political liability perhaps more burden than glory for Mr. Obama. Republicans contended that he had won more for his star power and oratorical skills than for his actual achievements, and even some Democrats privately questioned whether he deserved it. The Nobel committee’s embrace of Mr. Obama was viewed as a rejection of the unpopular tenure, in Europe especially, of his predecessor, George W. Bush. But the committee, based in Norway, stressed that it made its decision based on Mr. Obama’s actual efforts toward nuclear disarmament as well as American engagement with the world relying more on diplomacy and dialogue. “The question we have to ask is who has done the most in the previous year to enhance peace in the world,” the Nobel committee chairman, Thorbjorn Jagland, said in Oslo after the announcement. “And who has done more than Barack Obama?” Still, Mr. Obama, who was described as “very surprised” when he received the news, said he himself was not quite convinced, adding that the award “deeply humbled” him. “To be honest,” [the president said in the Rose Garden](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/us/politics/09obama-text.html "Times article"), “I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who have been honored by this prize, men and women who’ve inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.” He said, though, that he would “accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations to confront the challenges of the 21st century.” Mr. Obama plans to travel to Oslo to accept the award on Dec. 10. He will donate the prize money of \$1.4 million to charity, the White House said. ## Editors’ Picks [![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/23/multimedia/20cul-comedy-amini-03-bhjc/20cul-comedy-amini-03-bhjc-thumbLarge.jpg)The Most Popular Comedian You’ve Probably Never Heard Of](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/20/arts/max-amini-comedy.html) [![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/19/well/19WELL-ONLINE-OZEMPIC-image/19WELL-ONLINE-OZEMPIC-image-thumbLarge.jpg)What to Know Before Buying Weight Loss Drugs Online](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/21/well/buying-weight-loss-drugs-online.html) [![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/19/multimedia/19trav-hours-savannah-pgcj/19trav-hours-savannah-pgcj-thumbLarge.jpg)36 Hours in Savannah, Ga.](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/02/19/travel/things-to-do-savannah.html) Advertisement [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/10/world/10nobel.html#after-pp_edpick) Mr. Obama, only the third sitting American president to win the award, is suddenly put in the company of world leaders like Mikhail S. Gorbachev, who won for helping end the cold war, and Nelson Mandela, who sought an end to apartheid. But less prominent figures have also won the award. The reaction inside the administration was one of restraint, perhaps reflecting the awkwardness of winning a major prize amid a worldwide debate about whether it was deserved. Republicans in Washington, reacting in disbelief, sought to portray Mr. Obama as unworthy. In an official statement, Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, said, “The real question Americans are asking is, ‘What has President Obama actually accomplished?’ “ But there was much praise as well, even if Mr. Obama’s allies worried that the prize might be a liability and even if much of the praise came from Europe, giving ammunition to conservatives who say Mr. Obama cares too much about opinion there. President Nicolas Sarkozy of France said the award marked “America’s return to the hearts of the world’s peoples,” while Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said it was an “incentive to the president and to us all” to do more for peace. “In a short time he has been able to set a new tone throughout the world and to create a readiness for dialogue,” she said. For a world that at times felt pushed around by a more unilateralist Bush administration, the prize for Mr. Obama seemed wrapped in gratitude for his willingness to listen and negotiate, as well as for his positions on climate change and nuclear disarmament. Last year’s laureate, former President Martti Ahtisaari of Finland, saw the award as an endorsement of Mr. Obama’s goal of achieving Middle East peace. “Of course, this puts pressure on Obama,” he said. “The world expects that he will also achieve something.” The prize, announced as official Washington including the president was asleep, caught the White House off guard. The first word of it came in the form of an e-mail message to the White House staff from the White House Situation Room, which monitors events worldwide around the clock, at 5:09 a.m. It carried the subject line “item of interest.” Shortly before 6 a.m., the White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, telephoned Mr. Obama, awakening him to share the news. “There has been no discussion, nothing at all,” said the White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel. The award comes at a time of considerable challenges for the president, with few sweeping achievements so far. On the domestic front, he is pressing Congress to overhaul the nation’s health care system. In foreign affairs, he is wrestling with his advisers over how to chart a new course in Afghanistan and has been working, with little movement, to restart peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. The Rose Garden appearance was an example of Mr. Obama’s heavy workload; it was squeezed into a day that already included his regular intelligence and economic briefings, a private meeting with a senator, lunch with the vice president, a major speech outlining plans for a new consumer protection agency and a strategy session on Afghanistan with his national security team. Announcing the award, the Nobel committee cited Mr. Obama “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples” and said that he had “created a new climate in international politics.” In a four-paragraph statement, it praised Mr. Obama for his tone, his preference for negotiation and multilateral diplomacy and his vision of a cooperative world of shared values, shorn of nuclear weapons. “Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future,” the committee said. “His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world’s population.” The other sitting American presidents to be given the award were Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, for negotiating an end to a war between Russia and Japan, and Woodrow Wilson in 1919, for the Treaty of Versailles. Former President Jimmy Carter won in 2002 for his efforts over decades to spread peace and development. Mr. Carter called the award to Mr. Obama “a bold statement of international support for his vision and commitment.” Former Vice President Al Gore won in 2007, sharing the prize with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, for his work on climate change. Mr. Gore called Mr. Obama’s award “well deserved” on Friday. Mr. Obama has generated considerable goodwill overseas, with polls showing him hugely popular, and he has made a series of speeches with arching ambition. He has vowed to pursue a world without nuclear weapons; reached out to the Muslim world, delivering a major speech in Cairo in June; and sought to restart peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, at the expense of offending some of his Jewish supporters. But he has had to devote a great deal of his time to the economic crisis and other domestic issues, and many of his policy efforts are only beginning. In addition to the challenges in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the situation in Iraq is extremely fragile; North Korea has staged missile tests; Iran continues to enrich uranium in defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions, though it recently agreed to restart nuclear talks; Israel has resisted a settlement freeze; and Saudi Arabia has refused to make new gestures toward the Israelis. Ahmed Youssef, a Hamas spokesman, congratulated Mr. Obama but said the prize was based only on good intentions. Muhammad al-Sharif, a politically independent Gazan, was incredulous. “Has Israel stopped building the settlements?” he asked. “Has Obama achieved a Palestinian state yet?” The Nobel committee did not tell Mr. Obama in advance of the announcement, said its chairman, Mr. Jagland. “Waking up a president in the middle of the night,” he said, “this isn’t really something you do.” Steven Erlanger reported from Paris, and Sheryl Gay Stolberg from Washington. Reporting was contributed by Walter Gibbs from Oslo, Alan Cowell from London, Nicholas Kulish from Berlin, Isabel Kershner from Jerusalem, and Taghreed El-Khodary from Gaza. A version of this article appears in print on Oct. 10, 2009, Section A, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: Surprise Nobel for Obama Stirs Praise and Doubts. [Order Reprints](https://nytimes.wrightsmedia.com/) \\| [Today’s Paper](https://www.nytimes.com/section/todayspaper) \\| [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscriptions/Multiproduct/lp8HYKU.html?campaignId=48JQY) See more on: [Barack Obama](https://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/barack-obama) Read 2,661 comments - Share full article - 2\.7k ### Related Coverage [Past Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Oct. 9, 2009](https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/world/09nobel-list.html?action=click&module=RelatedCoverage&pgtype=Article&region=Footer) [From 205 Names, Panel Chose the Most Visible Oct. 9, 2009 ![From 205 Names, Panel Chose the Most Visible](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2009/10/09/world/09oslo-75.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)](https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/10/world/10oslo.html?action=click&module=RelatedCoverage&pgtype=Article&region=Footer) [World Reacts With Cheer and Caution Oct. 9, 2009 ![World Reacts With Cheer and Caution](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2009/10/09/world/09nobel-75.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale)](https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/10/world/10reax.html?action=click&module=RelatedCoverage&pgtype=Article&region=Footer) Show All * ## Around the World With The Times ### Our reporters across the globe take you into the field. * - Polyamory in Brazil: More people in a still largely conservative and religious nation [are rejecting monogamy as they seek new definitions of romance, and of family](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/14/world/americas/brazil-polyamory-non-monogamy-catholic.html). - Beirut Beneath Drones: More than a year into a cease-fire, [the mechanical whir of Israeli drones above the Lebanese capital](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/14/world/middleeast/beirut-drones-sound-israel-airstrikes.html) is a reminder that, in many ways, the war never really ended. - Kenya Bans Cash Bouquets: Floral arrangements crafted from carefully-folded, colorful bank notes [had become a popular symbol of love in Nairobi](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/world/africa/kenya-money-bouquets-valentines-day.html). - A Shift in Chinese Taste: Malaysian durian farmers [saw immense profits over the last decade as China](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/world/asia/durian-malaysia-china-demand.html) snapped up the fruit. But things have changed. ## Related Content ### [More in World](https://www.nytimes.com/section/world) - [Mayhem Rocks Mexico After Most-Wanted Cartel Boss Is Killed](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/22/world/americas/jalisco-new-generation-cartel-leader-killed.html) ![Agentes de policía aseguran una zona en la que miembros del crimen organizado incendiaron vehículos en Zapopan, México, el domingo.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/22/espanol/22int-mexico-cartel-mcpt-ES-copy1/22int-mexico-cartel-mcpt-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Image by Gilberto Gallo/Reuters - [Europe’s New Way of War](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/world/europe-defense-us-ukraine-mexico-tariffs.html) ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/24/multimedia/24int-theworld-europe-war-promo/24int-theworld-europe-war-promo-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Laetitia Vancon for The New York Times - [Mexico Killed ‘El Mencho.’ What’s Next for the Drug Cartel He Led?](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/world/americas/el-mencho-killed-mexico-cartel.html) ![Security forces patrolling in Mexico City after the killing of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes on Sunday.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/23/multimedia/23-mexico-cartel-analysis-lcpz/23-mexico-cartel-analysis-lcpz-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Alfredo Estrella/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images - [St. Francis’ Remains, Rarely Seen, Go on Display in Assisi](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/22/world/europe/italy-saint-francis-remains-assisi.html) ![Believers lined up to see the bones of St. Francis at the basilica bearing his name in Assisi, Italy, on Sunday.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/22/multimedia/22int-italy-bones-vhkq/22int-italy-bones-vhkq-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Image by Gregorio Borgia/Associated Press ### Editors’ Picks - [An Ugly Building in a Beautiful City Gets a Much-Debated Makeover](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/world/europe/tour-montparnasse-paris-makeover-piano.html) ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/23/multimedia/23int-france-montparnasse-promo-hpzc/23int-france-montparnasse-promo-hpzc-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Dmitry Kostyukov for The New York Times - [Bill Gates Continues to Pare Down His Lakeside Compound Near Seattle](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/19/realestate/bill-gates-continues-to-pare-down-his-lakeside-compound-near-seattle.html) ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/17/multimedia/00re-big-ticet-bclw/00re-big-ticet-bclw-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Paul Hurd/Alamy ### Trending in The Times - [Kennedy Center Performance Canceled After Substance Poured on Ice Rink](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/21/arts/design/kennedy-center-protest-ice-rink.html) ![The Canadian figure-skating troupe Le Patin Libre performing at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts this month.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/21/multimedia/21cul-kencen-protest-photo-fqgp/21cul-kencen-protest-photo-fqgp-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Caroline Gutman for The New York Times - [The Never-Ending Trial of Tyra Banks](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/arts/television/tyra-banks-americas-next-top-model.html) ![Tyra Banks sitting for an interview in “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model.”](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/23/arts/23cul-antm-notebook/23cul-antm-notebook-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Netflix - [Do You Back Into a Parking Spot or Back Out?](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/21/style/parking-backing-in-headfirst.html) ![In 2020, AAA updated its curriculum to advise drivers to back into parking spaces. ](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/22/multimedia/12BACKING-IN-jwhz/12BACKING-IN-jwhz-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Bryan Birks for The New York Times - [Fat Signing Bonuses, and Concierge Service, for Family Doctors](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/22/world/canada/fat-signing-bonuses-and-concierge-service-for-family-doctors.html) ![The town of Stettler, Alberta’s economy is predominantly driven by the agriculture and oil industries, and is the largest town for surrounding communities.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/13/world/00int-canada-family-doctors-promo/00int-canada-family-doctors-04-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Gavin John for The New York Times - [Opinion: Ukraine Has Passed a Point of No Return](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/22/opinion/ukraine-russia-war-four-years.html) ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/18/multimedia/00gessen-04-jzkq/00gessen-04-jzkq-square640-v2.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Mila Teshaieva for The New York Times - [A.I. Isn’t Coming for Every White-Collar Job. At Least Not Yet.](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/20/technology/ai-coding-software-jobs.html) ![Though powerful, code generators still require extensive oversight, according to researchers and programmers.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/18/multimedia/00biz-ai-code-05-hvlk/00biz-ai-code-05-hvlk-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Photo illustration by Adam Glanzman for The New York Times - [How China Is Stoking Fear About Travel to Japan](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/20/world/asia/china-travel-japan-fear.html) ![Visitors on a street decorated for the Lunar New Year at China Town in Yokohama near Tokyo on Tuesday.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/20/multimedia/20int-japan-china-qwfl/20int-japan-china-qwfl-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Eugene Hoshiko/Associated Press - [Nick Reiner Pleads Not Guilty in the Killing of His Parents](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/arts/nick-reiner-plea.html) ![Nick Reiner waived his right to a speedy trial on Monday, two months after he was charged with first-degree murder.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/25/multimedia/23cul-reiner-hearing-lkmv/23cul-reiner-hearing-lkmv-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Pool photo by Chris Torres - [Blizzard Warnings Issued for Swath of East Coast, Including N.Y.C.](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/21/us/blizzard-warnings-northeast-new-york.html) ![A snowstorm in Manchester, Conn., in January 2025.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/21/multimedia/21xp-northeaststorm-01-lwhc/21xp-northeaststorm-01-lwhc-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Christopher Capozziello for The New York Times - [Catherine, Princess of Wales, and a Projection of Royal Unity](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/style/catherine-william-princess-of-wales-bafta-dress.html) ![The Prince and Princess of Wales arriving at the BAFTAS with Jane Millichip, the chief executive of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and Ken Olisa, the Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London, on Sunday.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/23/multimedia/23ST-KATEBAFTA1-kqlv/23ST-KATEBAFTA1-kqlv-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Jaimi Joy/Reuters Advertisement [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/10/world/10nobel.html#after-bottom) ## Site Index [Go to Home Page »](https://www.nytimes.com/) News - [Home Page](https://www.nytimes.com/) - [U.S.](https://www.nytimes.com/section/us) - [World](https://www.nytimes.com/section/world) - [Politics](https://www.nytimes.com/section/politics) - [New York](https://www.nytimes.com/section/nyregion) - [Education](https://www.nytimes.com/section/education) - [Sports](https://www.nytimes.com/section/sports) - [Business](https://www.nytimes.com/section/business) - [Tech](https://www.nytimes.com/section/technology) - [Science](https://www.nytimes.com/section/science) - [Weather](https://www.nytimes.com/section/weather) - [The Great Read](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/the-great-read) - [Obituaries](https://www.nytimes.com/section/obituaries) - [Headway](https://www.nytimes.com/section/headway) - [Visual Investigations](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/visual-investigations) - [The Magazine](https://www.nytimes.com/section/magazine) Arts - [Book Review](https://www.nytimes.com/section/books/review) - [Best Sellers Book List](https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/) - [Dance](https://www.nytimes.com/section/arts/dance) - [Movies](https://www.nytimes.com/section/movies) - [Music](https://www.nytimes.com/section/arts/music) - [Pop Culture](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/pop-culture) - [Television](https://www.nytimes.com/section/arts/television) - [Theater](https://www.nytimes.com/section/theater) - [Visual Arts](https://www.nytimes.com/section/arts/design) Lifestyle - [Health](https://www.nytimes.com/section/health) - [Well](https://www.nytimes.com/section/well) - [Food](https://www.nytimes.com/section/food) - [Restaurant Reviews](https://www.nytimes.com/reviews/dining) - [Love](https://www.nytimes.com/section/fashion/weddings) - [Travel](https://www.nytimes.com/section/travel) - [Style](https://www.nytimes.com/section/style) - [Fashion](https://www.nytimes.com/section/fashion) - [Real Estate](https://www.nytimes.com/section/realestate) - [T Magazine](https://www.nytimes.com/section/t-magazine) Opinion - [Today's Opinion](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion) - [Columnists](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/columnists) - [Editorials](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/editorials) - [Guest Essays](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/contributors) - [Op-Docs](https://www.nytimes.com/column/op-docs) - [Letters](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/letters) - [Sunday Opinion](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/sunday) - [Opinion Video](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/opinion-video) - [Opinion Audio](https://www.nytimes.com/series/opinion-audio) More - [Audio](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/podcasts) - [Games](https://www.nytimes.com/crosswords) - [Cooking](https://cooking.nytimes.com/) - [Wirecutter](https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/) - [The Athletic](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/) - [Jobs](https://www.nytimes.com/section/jobs) - [Video](https://www.nytimes.com/video) - [Graphics](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/graphics) - [Trending](https://www.nytimes.com/trending/) - [Live Events](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/nyt-events) - [Corrections](https://www.nytimes.com/section/corrections) - [Reader Center](https://www.nytimes.com/section/reader-center) - [TimesMachine](https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/browser) - [The Learning Network](https://www.nytimes.com/section/learning) - [School of The NYT](https://nytedu.com/) - [inEducation](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/nytimesineducation) ### News - [Home Page](https://www.nytimes.com/) - [U.S.](https://www.nytimes.com/section/us) - [World](https://www.nytimes.com/section/world) - [Politics](https://www.nytimes.com/section/politics) - [New York](https://www.nytimes.com/section/nyregion) - [Education](https://www.nytimes.com/section/education) - [Sports](https://www.nytimes.com/section/sports) - [Business](https://www.nytimes.com/section/business) - [Tech](https://www.nytimes.com/section/technology) - [Science](https://www.nytimes.com/section/science) - [Weather](https://www.nytimes.com/section/weather) - [The Great Read](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/the-great-read) - [Obituaries](https://www.nytimes.com/section/obituaries) - [Headway](https://www.nytimes.com/section/headway) - [Visual Investigations](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/visual-investigations) - [The Magazine](https://www.nytimes.com/section/magazine) ### Arts - [Book Review](https://www.nytimes.com/section/books/review) - [Best Sellers Book List](https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/) - [Dance](https://www.nytimes.com/section/arts/dance) - [Movies](https://www.nytimes.com/section/movies) - [Music](https://www.nytimes.com/section/arts/music) - [Pop Culture](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/pop-culture) - [Television](https://www.nytimes.com/section/arts/television) - [Theater](https://www.nytimes.com/section/theater) - [Visual Arts](https://www.nytimes.com/section/arts/design) ### Lifestyle - [Health](https://www.nytimes.com/section/health) - [Well](https://www.nytimes.com/section/well) - [Food](https://www.nytimes.com/section/food) - [Restaurant Reviews](https://www.nytimes.com/reviews/dining) - [Love](https://www.nytimes.com/section/fashion/weddings) - [Travel](https://www.nytimes.com/section/travel) - [Style](https://www.nytimes.com/section/style) - [Fashion](https://www.nytimes.com/section/fashion) - [Real Estate](https://www.nytimes.com/section/realestate) - [T Magazine](https://www.nytimes.com/section/t-magazine) ### Opinion - [Today's Opinion](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion) - [Columnists](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/columnists) - [Editorials](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/editorials) - [Guest Essays](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/contributors) - [Op-Docs](https://www.nytimes.com/column/op-docs) - [Letters](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/letters) - [Sunday Opinion](https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/sunday) - [Opinion Video](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/opinion-video) - [Opinion Audio](https://www.nytimes.com/series/opinion-audio) ### More - [Audio](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/podcasts) - [Games](https://www.nytimes.com/crosswords) - [Cooking](https://cooking.nytimes.com/) - [Wirecutter](https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/) - [The Athletic](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/) - [Jobs](https://www.nytimes.com/section/jobs) - [Video](https://www.nytimes.com/video) - [Graphics](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/graphics) - [Trending](https://www.nytimes.com/trending/) - [Live Events](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/nyt-events) - [Corrections](https://www.nytimes.com/section/corrections) - [Reader Center](https://www.nytimes.com/section/reader-center) - [TimesMachine](https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/browser) - [The Learning Network](https://www.nytimes.com/section/learning) - [School of The NYT](https://nytedu.com/) - [inEducation](https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/nytimesineducation) ### Account - [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription) - [Manage My Account](https://www.nytimes.com/account) - [Home Delivery](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription/home-delivery) - [Gift Subscriptions](https://www.nytimes.com/gift) - [Group Subscriptions](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription/groups?Pardot_Campaign_Code_Form_Input=89FQX) - [Gift Articles](https://www.nytimes.com/gift-articles) - [Email Newsletters](https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters) - [NYT Licensing](https://nytlicensing.com/) - [Replica Edition](https://nytimes.pressreader.com/) - [Times Store](https://store.nytimes.com/) ## Site Information Navigation - [© 2026 The New York Times Company](https://help.nytimes.com/hc/en-us/articles/115014792127-Copyright-Notice) - [NYTCo](https://www.nytco.com/) - [Contact Us](https://help.nytimes.com/hc/en-us/articles/115015385887-Contact-The-New-York-Times) - [Accessibility](https://help.nytimes.com/hc/en-us/articles/115015727108-Accessibility) - [Work with us](https://www.nytco.com/careers/) - [Advertise](https://advertising.nytimes.com/) - [T Brand Studio](https://advertising.nytimes.com/custom-content/) - [Privacy Policy](https://help.nytimes.com/hc/en-us/articles/10940941449492-The-New-York-Times-Company-Privacy-Policy) - [Cookie Policy](https://www.nytimes.com/privacy/cookie-policy) - [Terms of Service](https://help.nytimes.com/hc/en-us/articles/115014893428-Terms-of-Service) - [Terms of Sale](https://help.nytimes.com/hc/en-us/articles/115014893968-Terms-of-Sale) - [Site Map](https://www.nytimes.com/sitemap/) - [Canada](https://www.nytimes.com/ca/) - [International](https://www.nytimes.com/international/) - [Help](https://help.nytimes.com/hc/en-us) - [Subscriptions](https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=37WXW)
Readable Markdown	Advertisement [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/10/world/10nobel.html#after-top) ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2009/10/10/world/10obama_600.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) President Obama in the Oval Office on Friday. He got news of the award when his press secretary awakened him with a call.Credit...Matthew Cavanaugh/European Pressphoto Agency - Oct. 9, 2009 PARIS The choice of Barack Obama on Friday as the recipient of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, less than nine months into his eventful presidency, was an unexpected honor that elicited praise and puzzlement around the globe. Normally the prize has been presented, even controversially, for accomplishment. This prize, to a 48-year-old freshman president, for [“extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,”](http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2009/press.html "Official announcement") seemed a kind of prayer and encouragement by the Nobel committee for future endeavor and more consensual American leadership. But the prize quickly loomed as a potential political liability perhaps more burden than glory for Mr. Obama. Republicans contended that he had won more for his star power and oratorical skills than for his actual achievements, and even some Democrats privately questioned whether he deserved it. The Nobel committee’s embrace of Mr. Obama was viewed as a rejection of the unpopular tenure, in Europe especially, of his predecessor, George W. Bush. But the committee, based in Norway, stressed that it made its decision based on Mr. Obama’s actual efforts toward nuclear disarmament as well as American engagement with the world relying more on diplomacy and dialogue. “The question we have to ask is who has done the most in the previous year to enhance peace in the world,” the Nobel committee chairman, Thorbjorn Jagland, said in Oslo after the announcement. “And who has done more than Barack Obama?” Still, Mr. Obama, who was described as “very surprised” when he received the news, said he himself was not quite convinced, adding that the award “deeply humbled” him. “To be honest,” [the president said in the Rose Garden](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/us/politics/09obama-text.html "Times article"), “I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who have been honored by this prize, men and women who’ve inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace.” He said, though, that he would “accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations to confront the challenges of the 21st century.” Mr. Obama plans to travel to Oslo to accept the award on Dec. 10. He will donate the prize money of \$1.4 million to charity, the White House said. Mr. Obama, only the third sitting American president to win the award, is suddenly put in the company of world leaders like Mikhail S. Gorbachev, who won for helping end the cold war, and Nelson Mandela, who sought an end to apartheid. But less prominent figures have also won the award. The reaction inside the administration was one of restraint, perhaps reflecting the awkwardness of winning a major prize amid a worldwide debate about whether it was deserved. Republicans in Washington, reacting in disbelief, sought to portray Mr. Obama as unworthy. In an official statement, Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee, said, “The real question Americans are asking is, ‘What has President Obama actually accomplished?’ “ But there was much praise as well, even if Mr. Obama’s allies worried that the prize might be a liability and even if much of the praise came from Europe, giving ammunition to conservatives who say Mr. Obama cares too much about opinion there. President Nicolas Sarkozy of France said the award marked “America’s return to the hearts of the world’s peoples,” while Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said it was an “incentive to the president and to us all” to do more for peace. “In a short time he has been able to set a new tone throughout the world and to create a readiness for dialogue,” she said. For a world that at times felt pushed around by a more unilateralist Bush administration, the prize for Mr. Obama seemed wrapped in gratitude for his willingness to listen and negotiate, as well as for his positions on climate change and nuclear disarmament. Last year’s laureate, former President Martti Ahtisaari of Finland, saw the award as an endorsement of Mr. Obama’s goal of achieving Middle East peace. “Of course, this puts pressure on Obama,” he said. “The world expects that he will also achieve something.” The prize, announced as official Washington including the president was asleep, caught the White House off guard. The first word of it came in the form of an e-mail message to the White House staff from the White House Situation Room, which monitors events worldwide around the clock, at 5:09 a.m. It carried the subject line “item of interest.” Shortly before 6 a.m., the White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, telephoned Mr. Obama, awakening him to share the news. “There has been no discussion, nothing at all,” said the White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel. The award comes at a time of considerable challenges for the president, with few sweeping achievements so far. On the domestic front, he is pressing Congress to overhaul the nation’s health care system. In foreign affairs, he is wrestling with his advisers over how to chart a new course in Afghanistan and has been working, with little movement, to restart peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. The Rose Garden appearance was an example of Mr. Obama’s heavy workload; it was squeezed into a day that already included his regular intelligence and economic briefings, a private meeting with a senator, lunch with the vice president, a major speech outlining plans for a new consumer protection agency and a strategy session on Afghanistan with his national security team. Announcing the award, the Nobel committee cited Mr. Obama “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples” and said that he had “created a new climate in international politics.” In a four-paragraph statement, it praised Mr. Obama for his tone, his preference for negotiation and multilateral diplomacy and his vision of a cooperative world of shared values, shorn of nuclear weapons. “Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future,” the committee said. “His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world’s population.” The other sitting American presidents to be given the award were Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, for negotiating an end to a war between Russia and Japan, and Woodrow Wilson in 1919, for the Treaty of Versailles. Former President Jimmy Carter won in 2002 for his efforts over decades to spread peace and development. Mr. Carter called the award to Mr. Obama “a bold statement of international support for his vision and commitment.” Former Vice President Al Gore won in 2007, sharing the prize with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, for his work on climate change. Mr. Gore called Mr. Obama’s award “well deserved” on Friday. Mr. Obama has generated considerable goodwill overseas, with polls showing him hugely popular, and he has made a series of speeches with arching ambition. He has vowed to pursue a world without nuclear weapons; reached out to the Muslim world, delivering a major speech in Cairo in June; and sought to restart peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, at the expense of offending some of his Jewish supporters. But he has had to devote a great deal of his time to the economic crisis and other domestic issues, and many of his policy efforts are only beginning. In addition to the challenges in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the situation in Iraq is extremely fragile; North Korea has staged missile tests; Iran continues to enrich uranium in defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions, though it recently agreed to restart nuclear talks; Israel has resisted a settlement freeze; and Saudi Arabia has refused to make new gestures toward the Israelis. Ahmed Youssef, a Hamas spokesman, congratulated Mr. Obama but said the prize was based only on good intentions. Muhammad al-Sharif, a politically independent Gazan, was incredulous. “Has Israel stopped building the settlements?” he asked. “Has Obama achieved a Palestinian state yet?” The Nobel committee did not tell Mr. Obama in advance of the announcement, said its chairman, Mr. Jagland. “Waking up a president in the middle of the night,” he said, “this isn’t really something you do.” Steven Erlanger reported from Paris, and Sheryl Gay Stolberg from Washington. Reporting was contributed by Walter Gibbs from Oslo, Alan Cowell from London, Nicholas Kulish from Berlin, Isabel Kershner from Jerusalem, and Taghreed El-Khodary from Gaza. A version of this article appears in print on Oct. 10, 2009, Section A, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: Surprise Nobel for Obama Stirs Praise and Doubts. [Order Reprints](https://nytimes.wrightsmedia.com/) \\| [Today’s Paper](https://www.nytimes.com/section/todayspaper) \\| [Subscribe](https://www.nytimes.com/subscriptions/Multiproduct/lp8HYKU.html?campaignId=48JQY) ## Related Content [More in World](https://www.nytimes.com/section/world) - ![Agentes de policía aseguran una zona en la que miembros del crimen organizado incendiaron vehículos en Zapopan, México, el domingo.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/22/espanol/22int-mexico-cartel-mcpt-ES-copy1/22int-mexico-cartel-mcpt-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Image by Gilberto Gallo/Reuters - ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/24/multimedia/24int-theworld-europe-war-promo/24int-theworld-europe-war-promo-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Laetitia Vancon for The New York Times - ![Security forces patrolling in Mexico City after the killing of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes on Sunday.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/23/multimedia/23-mexico-cartel-analysis-lcpz/23-mexico-cartel-analysis-lcpz-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Alfredo Estrella/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images - ![Believers lined up to see the bones of St. Francis at the basilica bearing his name in Assisi, Italy, on Sunday.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/22/multimedia/22int-italy-bones-vhkq/22int-italy-bones-vhkq-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Image by Gregorio Borgia/Associated Press Editors’ Picks - ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/23/multimedia/23int-france-montparnasse-promo-hpzc/23int-france-montparnasse-promo-hpzc-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Dmitry Kostyukov for The New York Times - ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/17/multimedia/00re-big-ticet-bclw/00re-big-ticet-bclw-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) Paul Hurd/Alamy Trending in The Times - ![The Canadian figure-skating troupe Le Patin Libre performing at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts this month.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/21/multimedia/21cul-kencen-protest-photo-fqgp/21cul-kencen-protest-photo-fqgp-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Caroline Gutman for The New York Times - ![Tyra Banks sitting for an interview in “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model.”](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/23/arts/23cul-antm-notebook/23cul-antm-notebook-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Netflix - ![In 2020, AAA updated its curriculum to advise drivers to back into parking spaces. ](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/22/multimedia/12BACKING-IN-jwhz/12BACKING-IN-jwhz-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Bryan Birks for The New York Times - ![The town of Stettler, Alberta’s economy is predominantly driven by the agriculture and oil industries, and is the largest town for surrounding communities.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/13/world/00int-canada-family-doctors-promo/00int-canada-family-doctors-04-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Gavin John for The New York Times - ![](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/18/multimedia/00gessen-04-jzkq/00gessen-04-jzkq-square640-v2.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Mila Teshaieva for The New York Times - ![Though powerful, code generators still require extensive oversight, according to researchers and programmers.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/18/multimedia/00biz-ai-code-05-hvlk/00biz-ai-code-05-hvlk-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Photo illustration by Adam Glanzman for The New York Times - ![Visitors on a street decorated for the Lunar New Year at China Town in Yokohama near Tokyo on Tuesday.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/20/multimedia/20int-japan-china-qwfl/20int-japan-china-qwfl-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Eugene Hoshiko/Associated Press - ![Nick Reiner waived his right to a speedy trial on Monday, two months after he was charged with first-degree murder.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/25/multimedia/23cul-reiner-hearing-lkmv/23cul-reiner-hearing-lkmv-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Pool photo by Chris Torres - ![A snowstorm in Manchester, Conn., in January 2025.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/21/multimedia/21xp-northeaststorm-01-lwhc/21xp-northeaststorm-01-lwhc-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Christopher Capozziello for The New York Times - ![The Prince and Princess of Wales arriving at the BAFTAS with Jane Millichip, the chief executive of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and Ken Olisa, the Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London, on Sunday.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2026/02/23/multimedia/23ST-KATEBAFTA1-kqlv/23ST-KATEBAFTA1-kqlv-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale&width=350) Jaimi Joy/Reuters Advertisement [SKIP ADVERTISEMENT](https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/10/world/10nobel.html#after-bottom)
Shard	84 (laksa)
Root Hash	4566504020376537684
Unparsed URL	com,nytimes!www,/2009/10/10/world/10nobel.html s443