Taking his place alongside such luminaries as Nelson Mandela (who spent years in prison for his fight against apartheid), Elie Wiesel (who witnessed firsthand, and retold in his stories the horrors of the Holocaust), and Mother Theresa (who gave up comfort and security to dedicate her life to helping the poor and downtrodden), the newly-elected President Barack Obama said he was “surprised and deeply humbled.” Many viewed it more as a subtle swipe by the Nobel committee at his predecessor, George W. Bush, deeply unpopular in Europe, but Obama still had a solid record of accomplishments, which the committee emphasized in their announcement.

On this day, December 10, in 2009, not a year into his first term as president, Barack Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Nobel committee noted Obama brought a renewed emphasis on international dialogue. “Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts,” with a preference for going through the United Nations to achieve these negotiations, they said in a press release. “Thanks to Obama’s initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting. “