WASHINGTON — President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples," a honor that came less than nine months after he made United States history by becoming the country's first African-American president.



The award, announced in Oslo by the Nobel Committee while much of official Washington — including the president — was still asleep, cited in particular the president's efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons.

"He has created a new international climate," the committee said.

For Mr. Obama, one of the nation's youngest presidents, the award is an extraordinary recognition that puts him in the company of world leaders such as Mikhail Gorbachev, who won for helping to bring an end to the cold war, and Nelson Mandela, who sought an end to apartheid. But it is also a potential political liability at home; already, Republicans are criticizing the president, contending he won more for his "star power" than his actual achievements.

In a late-morning appearance in the Rose Garden, Mr. Obama said that he was "surprised and humbled" by the award, and that he did not feel he deserved to be in the company of some of the "transformative" figures who had previously won it.

"Let me be clear, I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations," the president said.

The news shocked people in Oslo — where an audible gasp escaped the audience when the decision was announced — and in Washington, where top advisers to Mr. Obama said they had no idea it was coming. The president was awakened shortly before 6 a.m. by his press secretary, Robert Gibbs, who delivered the news.

"There has been no discussion, nothing at all," said Rahm Emanuel, the president's chief of staff, in a brief early morning telephone interview. (NYT)