Was Theodore Roosevelt the first sitting U.S. President to win the Nobel Peace Prize?
President Barack Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize OSLO — President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in a stunning decision designed to encourage his initiatives to reduce nuclear arms, ease tensions with the Muslim world and stress diplomacy and cooperation rather than unilateralism. Nobel observers were shocked by the unexpected choice so early in the Obama presidency, which began less than two weeks before the Feb. 1 nomination deadline. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama woke up to the news a little before 6 a.m. EDT. The White House had no immediate comment on the announcement, which took the administration by surprise. The Norwegian Nobel Committee decided not to inform Obama before the announcement because it didn’t want to wake him up, committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland said. “Waking up a president in the middle of the night, this isn’t really something you do,” Jagland said. The Nobel Committee lauded the change in global mood wrought by Oba
CNN) — President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, a stunning decision that comes just eight months into his presidency. The Norwegian Nobel Committee said it honored Obama for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” The decision appeared to catch most observers by surprise. The president had not been mentioned as among front-runners for the prize, and the roomful of reporters gasped when Thorbjorn Jagland, chairman of the Nobel committee, uttered Obama’s name. Nominations for the prize had to be postmarked by February 1 — only 12 days after Obama took office. The committee sent out its solicitation for nominations last September — two months before Obama was elected president. The president, who was awakened to be told he had won, said he was humbled to be selected, according to an administration official. Obama will make a statement Friday at 10:30 a.m. ET from the Rose Garden, administration officials
Here is the complete list of American Nobel Peace Prize winners. 1906, Theodore Roosevelt 1912, Elihu Root 1919, Woodrow Wilson 1925, Charles G. Dawes 1929, Frank B. Kellogg 1931, Jane Addams 1931, Nicholas Murray Butler 1945, Cordell Hull 1946, Emily Greene Balch advertising 1946, John R. Mott 1950, Ralph Bunche 1953, George C. Marshall 1962, Linus Pauling 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. 1970, Norman Borlaug 1973, Henry Kissinger 1986, Elie Wiesel 1997, Jody Williams 2002, Jimmy Carter 2007, Al Gore 2009, Barack Obama Sources: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2010029906_apeunobeluswinnersglance.
