President Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize

Nobel Committee Shocks World by Awarding Obama's "Extraordinary" Diplomacy Less than 1 Year into 1st Term

(CBS/AP)  Updated at 11:15 a.m. Eastern.

President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples," the Norwegian Nobel Committee said, citing his outreach to the Muslim world and attempts to curb nuclear proliferation.

The committee said Mr. Obama's efforts to promote a "global response to global challenges" cemented their decision.

CBS News White House correspondent Peter Maer reports that White House press secretary Robert Gibbs emailed a one-word reaction to the news Friday morning: "Wow."

The White House was clearly just as shocked by the announcment as the reporters gathered in Oslo, reports Maer.

It was Gibbs who eventually told Mr. Obama he had won the prestigious Prize - about 45 minutes after the announcement at 6 a.m. EDT, reports CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante.

The committee praised Mr. Obama's effort to create a "new international climate" of diplomacy.

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CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller reports that Mr. Obama is only the third U.S. President to win the Nobel Peace Prize while still in office. Theodore Roosevelt won it in 1906 and Woodrow Wilson in 1919.

Former President Jimmy Carter also won the prize in 2002, adds Knoller, but that was more than two decades after he left office.

Defending their surprising decision, the committee chairman said they sought not just to reward the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, but to "enhance" the recipient's actions - to promote peace.

"We do hope that this can contribute a little bit to enhance what he is trying to do."

"It is a clear statement to the world that we want to advocate and promote," the efforts undertaken by Mr. Obama.

"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," Thorbjoern Jagland, chairman of the Nobel Committee said. "In the past year Obama has been a key person for important initiatives in the U.N. for nuclear disarmament and to set a completely new agenda for the Muslim world and East-West relations."

He added that the committee endorsed "Obama's appeal that 'Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges."'

Mr. Obama's name had been mentioned in speculation before the award but many Nobel watchers believed it was too early to award the president.

"The Prize has to be seen as a political statement by the Nobel committee - meant to hail the change in U.S. policy represented by President Obama's approach to foreign policy as opposed to that of his predecessor George W. Bush," says Knoller, who notes that Mr. Obama took office less than 10 days before the Feb. 1 deadline for Nobel Prize nominations.

"This is a Prize meant as an expression of hope that President Obama's speeches and policy statements will translate into actual accomplishments," adds Knoller. "The Prize is honoring an expression of aspirations for peace, rather the achievement of it."

That decision by the Nobel Committee, however, is a caluclated risk. Knoller says the members may be discredited for awarding the Prize for aspirations, rather than accomplishments.

"I don't think anybody expected this," CBS News chief Washington correspondent and "Face the Nation" host Bob Schieffer said on Friday's "Early Show". In his mind, the prize decision was more of a commentary on the previous administration than the current U.S. President.

"It's almost as if they're saying, 'We're giving you this prize for winning the election,'" said Schieffer.

The committee said it attached special importance to Mr. Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.

"Obama has as president created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play."

In his 1895 will, Alfred Nobel stipulated that the peace prize should go "to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations and the abolition or reduction of standing armies and the formation and spreading of peace congresses."

Unlike the other Nobel Prizes, which are awarded by Swedish institutions, he said the peace prize should be given out by a five-member committee elected by the Norwegian Parliament. Sweden and Norway were united under the same crown at the time of Nobel's death.

The committee has taken a wide interpretation of Nobel's guidelines, expanding the prize beyond peace mediation to include efforts to combat poverty, disease and climate change.

[avoter66]

Well, I must have timed out on typing my comment.. I don't think Obama should have received the Nobel Peace Prize... He was only in office 28 days approx, when the committe selected him... I was under the impression, that people devoted their lives to helping people. I don't think he had time to help anyone.. I do not believe he is in the same class as Mother Teresa, Jimmy Carter, Herbert Hoover, or Martin Luther King, Jr. I am not a Republican, nor did I vote for George W. Bush..I belive people should hold off on thinking that Obama is the second coming of Christ, until he shows his true colors.

[violist47]

Here they are, the Nobel Peace Prize winners for the past 20 years. I think it's important to get the bigger picture. Then you notice that the peace prize has been shared many times, for example by Arafat with Rabin and Peres. Mandela with de Klerk. All in all, the awards have been spread through many countries and organizations. Remember, it's about WORLD PEACE, not American politics. Obama has given the world hope, not just the U.S. Now he needs the strength to fulfill that hope.

# 2009 - Barack Obama
# 2008 - Martti Ahtisaari
# 2007 - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Al Gore
# 2006 - Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Bank
# 2005 - International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei
# 2004 - Wangari Maathai
# 2003 - Shirin Ebadi
# 2002 - Jimmy Carter
# 2001 - United Nations, Kofi Annan
# 2000 - Kim Dae-jung
# 1999 - Médecins Sans Frontières
# 1998 - John Hume, David Trimble
# 1997 - International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Jody Williams
# 1996 - Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, José Ramos-Horta
# 1995 - Joseph Rotblat, Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs
# 1994 - Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres, Yitzhak Rabin
# 1993 - Nelson Mandela, F.W. de Klerk
# 1992 - Rigoberta Menchú Tum
# 1991 - Aung San Suu Kyi
# 1990 - Mikhail Gorbachev
# 1989 - The 14th Dalai Lama

[aakashgandhi0]

I do agree that the award was given out of the blue--some may view this as an impulsive move of the Nobel committee, an undeserved award for Obama.

But it all boils down to how much stock you put into the Nobel Prize. I respect most Nobel Prize decisions, therefore I respect the committee and their decision.

But don't take my word for it: look at their track history and judge for yourself. Look objectively, w/o personal bias, and judge the validity of the awards based on the VAST MAJORITY rather than individual instances. Then--and and only then--could your fairly say "I agree" or "I disagree."

[the74blaster]

I have two comments.

My first one is that awarding it to Obama was a total surprise considering he had been president for 10 days before being nominated. Its ard to accomplish anything significant with a new job, let alone having accomplishments recognized by the Nobel Prize Committee.

My second comment is that we should be recognizing that the Nobel Prize Committee felt that Obama deserved the Nobel Peace Prize. Does it really matter if he is a republican or democrat?

[Escrick]

I spent 23 years in Europe, and I am absolutely bemused by comments from the left as well as the right (politically) who seem to not only begrudge the award to the President but who are belittling it also. Bob Schieffer has not helped with his ignorant opinion piece at the end of his program today. Those of you against the award have not bothered to learn about its history. Those of you against it obviously do not understand how much of the world feels about havng a U.S. president who actually listens to others, who has banned torture, who is willing to negotiate, who is trying reduce nuclear proliferation, and who accepts the reality of climate change. We are showing ourselves up to be ignorant of history and other countries. We are behaving like ugly, arrogant Americans.

[hmmIwonder]

First of all, "it takes a wise man to discover a wise man." And it takes a wise Nobel Committee to pick a man of wisdom. Only the intelligent knows what is intelligence; only the sincere knows what is sincerity; and only the good knows what is goodness.

What is peace if it is not for "world peace"? Can one be sincere about peace but not "world peace"? Why talk about "world peace" with anger, jealousy, and hate in your mind, heart, and soul???

"From the Son of Heaven down to the mass of the people, all must consider the cultivation of the person the root of everything besides."

A cultivated person is one who is truthful, sincere, and faithful to himself, his family, his countrymen, and the world.

"Given the sincerity, there will be intelligence; given the intelligence, there will be sincerity."

Who else?

[korg12]

I'm not surprised obama won a nobel peace prize if al gore can win anybody can win

[johndevinejr]

by skyk-2009 October 9, 2009 7:56 AM EDT
michaelm07, I guess you aren't informed enough to know what the people of the world are thinking and what the leaders of the countries of the world are thinking. You do realize that there is a WORLD out there don't you? It is NOT flat either! ROFLMAO


republicans are not aware of anyone in the world but themselves. They see themselves as the "Real Americans", a title that they bestowed on themselves. They are frightened of other cultures and believe that only the conservative Christians are "Real Americans". Everyone else is attacking them, and therefore their way of life.....what they believe is the real America.

But their knee jerk belligerence is not what America is all about. They have fallen by the wayside.

The most important thing we can do is go to the poles and make sure none of these republicans gets into power again, for they do not recognize the damage they have done and will do it again and again.

[wittawn]

all i have to say to that is IM PROUD TO BE A MEXICAN WHERE AT LEAST I KNOW IM FREE thats right i changed the the song becauser I CAN good luck you bunch of FOOOOOLS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ja ja ja ja ja ja ja

[katem111]

Mr. Schieffer,

You have missed the point of the Nobel Peace Prize committee .
Give Me A Break!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please Note the " Process verses Content " in regard to our President.

At the announcement of the Peace Prize, the Committee member spoke of the contribution to the world of President Obama's promotion of diplomacy in word and action. President Obama has gifted the world with
the belief that peace and respect and talking and action CAN make a difference . A very important beginning.

Most people who tuned in to, or attended the inauguration , felt the real peace and hope to the marrow.

Please think more on this .I am surprised you have joined the ranks of the
negative . I am all for free speech and respect this.. but something is missing in thinking more deeply
re this particular Peace Prize.

[CMOberon]

As Americans we should all be proud of the fact that a sitting US President has been selected as a Nobel Peace Prize winner. Wether you agree with his current "stratigies" on anything, this is a great honor we should all be proud of, blacks, whites, republicans, democrates, the old and the young. Our President was chosen. To infer the the Nobel Committee made this choice lightly or that this honor is less than it should be is wrong. You rock "B", I for one am Proud of you.

[tucano2]

Heck, the Prez has no idea how to achieve peace in his own house or in this country, let alone the more troubled areas of humankind. The NPP has been cheapened and demeaned.

[Esonnyeddie]

Remember Hitler had the power to sway people..Charm-etc.
President Barack Obama does too. Could it be the NEW WORLD ORDER HE WANTS????

[parkerjmp503]

The nobel prize has always been a political prize. Of course President Obama has done nothing to deserve it, he said so himself. If it causes even a few from other nations to have a higher opinion of the US, I'm glad he got it.
In the end, though, if it comes down to liking the US or respecting the US, I choose respect. Maybe we can have both. If so, great.

[Esonnyeddie]

I'm so sick and tired of hearing how the Republicans are the bad party, etc. etc. etc. In the short time that President Barack Obama has been in officee he has and is trying to change everything the Republican party stands for.
We are not discriminating against the Gay/Lesbian/ By community. We only believe that marriage is sacred and should be as God's wants it. Between a man and a woman. It was never stated to be between same sex marriages. If we are to change God's laws we will have to answer to Him.
I do not agree with President Obama about marriages between the homosexuals, but I do believe that discrimination is not right. In other words, we can LOVE the Sinner, but hate the sin. AMen

[jumanji57]

It looks like the Noble Prize for Peace has turned into a Political Oscar.
No offense meant, but Mr. Obama definitely did not deserve this prize.
NOT YET. Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mr. O still has a long way to go.

[VicenteRodolfo]

I think it's wonderful that President Obama received this recognition. He has truly brought US back to the status America deserves. Those who spew sour grapes are still smarting from the loss and can't or won't accept Barack Obama as our president. Just think - Our president received the Nobel Peace Prize just by saying what needed to be said to the other countries of the world. He has reached out to friends and enemies to come to the table and talk over the issues confronting our species. His actions are a far cry and 180 degrees from the previous administration. The eloquence and tone of his speeches speak louder than Brush Himoff and all the other right-winged talking heads. Congratulations President Obama. You deserve the prize.

[missheidi]

What a head scratcher this was. This obama is one slick talker. This man does not know the meaning of "honesty" as he has lied about everyone of his campaign pledges. Maybe you dum demos can be hoodwinked but the rest of us with brains know this guy has got to be called out on every one of his lies.

[nestofkin]

A big one for the president,not realy for what he has done,but for what the civilized world desire from the American people-a president bent on pursuing world peace and understanding through dialogue and fairness.It is a prize for hope with a plea attached to it,simply put,LET THERE BE PEACE.Can he handle it?he needs our support if we want the answer to be positive.The policy that warrants a noble peace prize winner to avoid meeting another noble peace prize winner has to be reviewed,that is one of the reasons why the president has been called to action by the prize.

[Aquarius123456]

I do not want Obama's Health Care Reform. I believe it is a waste of money, and it will not facilitate lower health care costs. Moreover, access to affordable health care will not necessarily be improved; in fact, rationing of health care is the more likely result. Finally, according to Obama, there is overridinig support for the Healthcare Reform as presented in HR 3200; I do not agree with this claim. The majority of person polled do not want Obama's alleged Healthcare Reform proposals. Secondly, I just learned about Obama receiving the Nobel Prize for peace. What has he done specifically to merit this prestigious award? I cannot believe that the Committee was not tampered with or influenced by individuals who want to advance President Obama's political position purusant to the next general election. Excemplary civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King ane their accomplishments are devalued and degraded by this outrage. Moreover, Winston Churchill, a great man who led Britain during World War II never received a Nobel Peace Prize yet Obama has managed to receive the aware without doing any specific act/s; popularity and charm are not the requirements for receiving a Nobel Peace Prize.