The closer we get to the Obamas’ departure, the more we, as a nation, have become aware of just how good we’ve had it. So we dreamed up the 12 days of Obama, a series of pieces by different writers devoted to recognizing the magnitude of some of the President and First Lady’s remarkable accomplishments over the course of the past eight years.

Read the series here.

Photographed by Annie Leibovitz, Vogue, January 2009