--- title: President Obama Admits the 'Worst Mistake' of His Presidency description: Says the aftermath of the Libya intervention was the administration's biggest mistake canonical: https://time.com/4288634/president-obama-worst-mistake/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-11T15:41:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T16:37:44.564Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Obama Admits the 'Worst Mistake' of His Presidency og:description: He says the aftermath of the Libya intervention was the administration's biggest mistake og:url: https://time.com/4288634/president-obama-worst-mistake/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1978b3fa46261374/69888e84e20a8780baa90587/519668848.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Obama Discusses U.S. Supreme Court At University Of Chicago Law School og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Obama Admits the 'Worst Mistake' of His Presidency twitter:description: He says the aftermath of the Libya intervention was the administration's biggest mistake twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1978b3fa46261374/69888e84e20a8780baa90587/519668848.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Obama Admits the 'Worst Mistake' of His Presidency > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Apr 11, 2016 3:41 PM UTC  President Barack Obama speaks at the University of Chicago Law School on April 7, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. Joshua Lott—Getty Images President Barack Obama speaks at the University of Chicago Law School on April 7, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. Joshua Lott—Getty Images Joshua Lott—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Apr 11, 2016 3:41 PM UTC President Barack Obama said the [worst mistake of his presidency](http://video.foxnews.com/v/4839779084001/exclusive-president-barack-obama-on-fox-news-sunday/?#sp=show-clips) was failing to prepare for the aftermath Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s ousting. “Probably failing to plan for the day after what I think was the right thing to do in intervening in Libya,” Obama said in an interview with _Fox News_‘ Chris Wallace [that aired Sunday](http://video.foxnews.com/v/4839779084001/exclusive-president-barack-obama-on-fox-news-sunday/?#sp=show-clips). Though the president still thinks that getting involved in Libya was the right call, he told [the _Atlantic_](http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/04/the-obama-doctrine/471525/)‘s Jeffrey Goldberg in a lengthy profile it “didn’t work.” “We averted large-scale civilian casualties, we prevented what almost surely would have been a prolonged and bloody civil conflict,” Obama said of the U.S.’s efforts to prevent mass slaughter in Libya. “And despite all that, Libya is a mess.” Obama also criticized European leaders for their follow-through in Libya in the _Atlantic_ interview, though British Prime Minister David Cameron said he has no regrets about intervening. “Do I regret that Britain played our role in getting rid of Qaddafi and coming to the aid of that nation when Qaddafi was going to murder his own citizens in Benghazi? No, I don’t,” Cameron [said in 2015](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron/11418021/I-dont-regret-helping-overthrow-Gaddafi-says-David-Cameron-after-Coptic-Christian-beheadings.html). In the _Fox_ interview, Obama was also asked about his greatest accomplishment as president, to which he responded, “saving the economy from a great depression.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4288634/president-obama-worst-mistake/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4288634/president-obama-worst-mistake/"},"headline":"President Obama Admits the 'Worst Mistake' of His Presidency","datePublished":"2016-04-11T15:41:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:37:44.564Z","description":"He says the aftermath of the Libya intervention was the administration's biggest mistake","url":"https://time.com/4288634/president-obama-worst-mistake/","keywords":["Barack Obama","Benghazi","Libya","President Obama"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1978b3fa46261374/69888e84e20a8780baa90587/519668848.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1978b3fa46261374/69888e84e20a8780baa90587/519668848.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Obama Discusses U.S. Supreme Court At University Of Chicago Law School","caption":"Obama Discusses U.S. Supreme Court At University Of Chicago Law School","creditText":"Joshua Lott—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4288634/president-obama-worst-mistake/","name":"President Obama Admits the 'Worst Mistake' of His Presidency"}}]}] ```