In each edition of web_crawlr we have exclusive original content every day. On Saturday our Video Producer Kyle Calise explores the origins and history of the most iconic memes online in his “Meme History” column. If you want to read columns like this a day before everyone else, subscribe to web_crawlr to get your daily scoop of internet culture delivered straight to your inbox.
The term “Thanks Obama” appeared as an online trend at least on Twitter as early as late 2008—even before he was inaugurated president. And in those early days, users set the rules for how it would be used as a meme—unsurprisingly, his supporters use it with sincerity, and his detractors with sarcasm.
But it might have stayed small scale had it not been for an independent conservative political blog in December of 2009. In what may have been the original “Thanks Obama” meme, the blog “Authentic Connecticut Republican” turned it into an image macro for the first time.
Use of the word “thanks” in this case was obviously sarcastic because in the post, the author claims that the 44th president spent people’s lunch money, allowance, inheritance, paychecks, and retirement savings.
This gave it more visibility, ultimately gaining more traction over time, and ultimately, it was used as a punch line of sorts in a short comedy sketch by YouTube channel “FilmCow” a year and a half later, in March of 2011.
By August of that year, it was trending on quickmeme, and it went on to become as popular as other memes of the day including Scumbag Steve, First World Problems, Business Cat, and more.
As you might expect, the popularity of “Thanks Obama” peaks at moments related to his presidency.
The last week of January 2013 was a busy one for the White House because it included two mass shootings, while almost simultaneously Obama outlined a new vision for immigration reform.
In October of that year, the United States federal government shut down due to a political standoff around Obamacare, and in January 2017, he left office after 8 years and two terms.
But the highest peak ever in search interest for “Thanks Obama” had to do with a video and associated article posted to BuzzFeed. In a February 2015 segment called “Things People Do and Doesn’t Talk About,” Obama himself appeared on-camera, promoting Healthcare.gov. They too got in on the joke.
After Donald Trump‘s first State of the Union address, Twitter users began un-ironically saying “Thanks, Obama” en masse, in a rebrand of sorts. They pointed out that a lot of the things Trump took credit for in the speech actually happened as a result of the Obama administration.
Over the years, Thanks Obama has gotten its own Tumblr blog and subreddit. It also sparked a spin-off hashtag, #ThanksMichelleObama, in which people complain about the low quality of school lunches.
While not “Thanks Obama” verbatim, though in the same spirit, it also got a spoof of John Cleese’s famous “What have the Romans ever done for us?” speech. Posted to Imgur in April of 2020, it ultimately gained over 11.8 million views.
No matter which side of the aisle you fall on, you’ve got to admit Thanks Obama is a pretty catchy phrase. It’s a pretty natural tendency to look for a scapegoat, and maybe even more so to want to vindicate someone we adore and admire. As for all the fun this meme has created, maybe the best thing we can say is “Thanks Obama.”
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