President Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize
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.
© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. 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.
Obama 'Humbled' by Nobel Prize
Politics of Obama's Nobel Win
Unplugged: Translating Obama's Nobel Win
Nobel Peace Prize Photos
Obama: Nobel Prize a "Call To Action"
Analysis: Nobel Peace Prize Doesn't Help Obama
Obama's Next "Most Important Speech"
Obama's Nobel Win: A "Mission Accomplished" Moment? Nobel Peace Prize Shocks Bloggers: "This is Insane"
DNC: Republicans Siding With Terrorists on Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize: Placing a Wager on Peace
Nobel Notables
What's Your Opinion?
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."
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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.
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# 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 - M?decins Sans Fronti?res
# 1998 - John Hume, David Trimble
# 1997 - International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Jody Williams
# 1996 - Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, Jos? 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 Mench? Tum
# 1991 - Aung San Suu Kyi
# 1990 - Mikhail Gorbachev
# 1989 - The 14th Dalai Lama
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."
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?
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?
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.
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.