Lifting quotes liberally from the wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Nobel_Peace_Prize

> "We have not given the prize for what may happen in the future. We are awarding Obama for what he has done in the past year. And we are hoping this may contribute a little bit for what he is trying to do,"

> Jagland said the committee was influenced by a speech Obama gave about Islam in Cairo in June 2009, the president's efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation and climate change, and Obama's support for using established international bodies such as the United Nations to pursue foreign policy goals.

> Nominations for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize closed just 11 days after Obama took office.

Obama entered office on Jan 20th; was nominated before February; was announced in October; and it was justified by actions he'd taken between nomination and announcement.

Obama's own acceptance speech included

> "perhaps the most profound issue surrounding my receipt of this prize is the fact that I am the commander-in-chief of the military of a nation in the midst of two wars."

It does seem like a bizarre choice, and it does seem like an attempt to raise the awards profile which has meaningfully cheapened it.

The Nobel Prize was given at the beginning of his tenure. Of course it was a majestic failure because by the end, he held the record of "most dropped bombs by any US president"... IIRC it must have been something 25-30k.

It was ridiculous. He got it less than a year into his presidency.

I need to note that my understanding of geopolitics have changed since then, but I recall thinking that putting John McCain and Sarah Palin as VP in the White House would have spread political and physical wildfire over the whole world, not quite unlike the situation we have now. From that perspective I considered the Obama Peace Nobel fully earned just by virtue of getting elected.

> I cannot recall Obama doing one single thing for peace internationally? Which conflict did he help stop?

It's an interesting choice for sure. In 2009, he had only killed 50-100 civilians via drone strike by the time they awarded the prize. And he didn't kill US citizens via drone strike abroad until 2011.

Being realistic about things, it's because he was black.