The second decade of the 21st century was heavily under the influence of President

Barack Obama, who broke ground for several social and political movements as the first Black

President of the United States of America. President Obama was elected in 2008, defeating

Republican Senator John McCain with 365 electoral college votes to McCain’s 173. Obama also

won the popular vote for the election. Barack Obama served two terms as President from 2008 to

2016. The most notable achievement of the Obama Administration was the Patient Protection

and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. The Affordable Care Act was designed to

“Make affordable health insurance available to more people... Expand the Medicare program...

[and] Support innovative medical care delivery methods designed to lower the costs of health

care generally” (Healthcare.gov, n.d.). The act was passed in 2010 and shaped the rest of

Obama’s presidency. We will examine the elections that took place from 2010 to 2020, primary

and midterm, and determine how our government changed throughout every election and how

that subsequently affected our daily lives.

The midterm election of 2010 saw a shift in party control of the House of

Representatives. Republicans gained 63 seats in the House of Representatives, surpassing the 39

needed to claim control of the House (New York Times, n.d.) 1. Republicans also gained five

seats in the Senate; falling short of the ten needed to have a party majority (New York Times,

n.d.)2. Many attributed the rise in Republican popularity to the initial reaction to the Affordable

Care Act, which has undergone multiple amendments both Republican and Democrat motivated

but has not yet been repealed. The Affordable Care Act was criticized because the program did

see an increase in individuals’ taxes as a higher percentage was given to Medicare and

Americans did not want to pay more in taxes, especially while still in recovery from one of the

greatest recessions in U.S. History. One way that Democrats and Republicans differ is in their
views on the role of the government, especially when it comes to social programs and their effect

on taxes. Republicans support a less-involved government, promote competition, and allow the

capitalistic market freer reign. Democrats support a more-involved government that introduces

programs and acts that allow more Americans to find themselves on an even playing field

socially, economically, and politically. Both parties have their pros and cons and battle for power

over our government constantly, not just during election season. The needs of the people and the

state of the economy and world during an election season influence which party comes into

power and how long that party stays in power.

The presidential election of 2012 saw the reelection of President Obama against his

opponent Senator Mitt Romney. Obama received 332 electoral votes while Romney received

206. Obama also narrowly won the popular vote 51% to Romney’s 47%. Obama’s second term

as President of the United States saw some of the most major events to happen in America since

the terrorist attacks that took place on September 11, 2001. On December 14, 2012, a gunman

killed 27 people and injured two more at an elementary school in Connecticut before killing

himself. The tragedy has been coined as the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. On April

15, 2013, two terrorists detonated bombs at the finish line of a marathon taking place in Boston,

Massachusetts. In July of 2013, a group that gained support through a trending hashtag entered

the political scene after a Black teenager is shot to death by a White man in a gated community.

“Black Lives Matter started in 2013... In response to the 2012 acquittal of George Zimmerman

for shooting and killing Black teenager Trayvon Martin, three activists – Opal Tometi, Alicia

Garza and Patrisse Cullors – protested the verdict on social media, along with many others”

(Konadu & Gyamfi, 2021). The movement caught the public’s eye very quickly because the
country was already experiencing a redefinition of race in America due to the election of the first

Black president.

The midterm election of 2014 granted Republicans control over the Senate with eight

seats won though only six were needed to secure the party’s majority (New York Times, 2014) 3.

Many would say that the loss of his party’s control in Congress saddened the president, however,

Obama seemed hopeful for a new experience in cooperation. “’It's time for us to take of

business,’ he said. ‘We can and will make progress if we do it together.’ Obama also used his

address to tout his record and suggested some of the public anxiety about the direction of the

country was simply due to economic growth not being felt yet.” (Campbell, 2014). One of the

last major events to occur during Obama’s presidency was the Supreme Court case of Obergefell

v. Hodges. The ruling of the case was decided upon by Supreme Court Justices Sotomayor,

Ginsburg, Kagan, Breyer, Kennedy, Roberts, Scalia, Alito, and Thomas in a 5-4 decision that

determined that same-sex marriage was also protected by the 14th amendment and the legality of

same-sex marriage could not be denied in any of the 50 states. “The Court also held that the First

Amendment protects the rights of religious organizations to adhere to their principles, but it does

not allow states to deny same-sex couples the right to marry on the same terms as those for

opposite-sex couples” (Obergefell v. Hodges, 2015). This was a breakthrough moment for

members of the LGBTQ+ community, however, they were not unmet by severe opposition and

discrimination.

The presidential election of 2016 resulted in the victory of the Republican nominee,

Donald Trump against the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton. Clinton is the wife of former

President Bill and former First Lady of the United States, and the first woman to receive the

presidential nominee of one of the major parties. Although Clinton won the popular vote, she
failed to secure more electoral college votes than Trump, losing 227 to 304. President Trump

became the first to hold the title that had no prior service in either military or government, a nod

to the feelings of the American people. Trump’s presidency was shadowed by the

conflict-avoidance actions that needed to be taken to secure the country’s safety from threats by

North Koren dictator Kim Jong-un. President Trump had multiple meetings with Kim Jong-un

throughout his presidency, most of which he shared on Twitter giving Americans more public

insight into our country’s foreign relations than ever before.

The midterm elections of 2018 saw yet another shift in the parties’ power. The election

led to Democrats gaining 40 seats in the House of Representatives (New York Times, 2019) 4,

giving the party majority control. Republicans gained two seats in the Senate and keeps their

party majority for another term (New York Times, 2019) 5. The midterm elections of 2018 had the

largest voter turnout in a century. “According to the United States Elections Project... 49.3

percent of the voting-eligible population turned out to vote this year. That is the highest voter

turnout percentage since 1914, when 50.4 percent of eligible voters went to the polls” (Stewart,

2018). Just after the midterm elections were finalized, the Trump Administration experienced the

longest government shutdown to date lasting 35 days, from December 18, 2018, to January 25,

2019. The shutdown of 2019 was put in place to speed up the process of the government

approving a budget for a wall along the southern border of the United States, a project sponsored

and advocated for by President Trump. A government shutdown usually does not end until the

reason for the shutdown is addressed and made into law, however, President Trump declared the

shutdown over on January 25, 2019, due to the length of the shutdown negatively impacting

federal employees who were going without paychecks during the shutdown. On December 18,

2019, Donald Trump becomes the third president to be impeached, on account of abuse of power
and obstruction of Congress. “The vote [to impeach] fell largely along party lines: 230 in favor,

197 against and 1 present” (History.com, 2021). The trial began on January 16, 2020, and a

decision to acquit Trump of all charges was made on February 5, 2020.

In the presidential election of 2020, Donald Trump joins the list of ten other presidents

who ran for reelection and did not win. Donald Trump loses to the Democratic nominee and

former Vice President, Joe Biden. Joe Biden won the popular vote as well as the electoral college

vote, 306 to 232. The election of 2020 took place while the world was in a state of emergency

due to the global pandemic, COVID-19. Many can attribute the results of the election to the

pandemic and its economic impacts on the country. On January 13, President Donald Trump

makes history again becoming the first president to be impeached twice. The charges laid out in

this trial included insurrection as the president was being charged with exciting a riot that took

place on January 6, just a few days prior, that was meant to interrupt the official decision of

Congress to validate the recent election results. “Unlike his first impeachment, 10 House

Republicans joined Democrats in voting in favor of impeachment. The former president was

found not guilty in the Senate trial, though seven Republican senators joined Democrats in

voting to convict” (History.com, 2021).

In conclusion, elections are especially important to the people of the United States as they

determine the shape and strategy of our government. In recent years, we have seen some of the

largest numbers of voter turnout in history. This could be contributed to the increasing number of

young people becoming politically active. Another impact of our elections is party control, and

in our bipartisan political climate, where social issues are becoming increasingly polarized,

having your party in control seems as though it is of the utmost importance. Political activism is
not just important, it is necessary in ensuring that the needs of everyone are met and that our

country continues to be a leader in a world that so desperately needs to reign in control.

 References

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1
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