President Obama's 7 visits to Arizona

For a guy who didn't win Arizona in either the 2008 or 2012 elections, President Barack Obama sure has made himself at home here.

Counting this week's visit to Phoenix, he has made seven official visits to Arizona.

Here's a look back at Obama's travels in and around the Grand Canyon State.

1. February 2009: His first presidential visit

Obama, less than a month after he took his historic oath of office, traveled to the Valley as the nation sunk into recession to talk about mortgage relief programs. At Mesa's Dobson High School, he told a crowd of more than 1,000 and a national TV audience: "This plan will not save every home, but it will give millions of families resigned to financial ruin a chance to rebuild."

2. May 2009: ASU commencement speech

Obama spoke to Arizona State University's graduating class in a trip shadowed by controversy over the school's decision not to award him an honorary degree because he had yet to establish a large enough body of work.

More than 60,000 people filled Sun Devil Stadium on a hot May day to hear Obama. He riffed on the dustup as he talked about passionate young people following their dreams. "A whole bunch of them didn't get honorary degrees," he said. "But they changed the course of history, and so can you, ASU, so can you, Class of 2009."

3. August 2009: Veterans and the Grand Canyon

During a visit to address a Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention in Phoenix, the first family took a day trip to the Grand Canyon.

Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha spent about three hours sight-seeing on the South Rim, causing tourists to turn their attention away from the state's most famous landmark. "Last time I was here was when I was 11 years old," the president said.

4. January 2011: Tucson memorial

Obama traveled to Tucson to speak at a memorial service following the assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords — an attack that killed six people and wounded 13 others, including the three-term Arizona Democratic congresswoman.

Speaking to a crowd of 13,000 in the McKale Center on the University of Arizona campus, and another 13,000 at Arizona Stadium, Obama said, "There is nothing I can say that will fill the sudden hole torn in your hearts. But know this: The hopes of a nation are here tonight. We mourn with you for the fallen."

5. January 2012: Intel

Obama visited Intel in Chandler following his State of the Union address, using the company's under-construction $5 billion microchip-manufacturing plant as a backdrop to emphasize the need to expand domestic manufacturing.

6. August 2013: Revisting housing

Obama visited the Valley to again speak about housing, telling a crowd at Desert Vista High School in Ahwatukee Foothills that after 4 1/2 years, "our housing market is beginning to heal." He noted prices and sales were on the rise and foreclosures were declining.

He called homeownership part of his "better bargain for the middle class," which also included better jobs, education and more affordable health care.

7. January 2015: Another housing announcement

President Barack Obama delivered a speech at Central High in which unveiled a plan to make homeownership more affordable. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development officials said the president's plan would save the average home buyer $900 a year on mortgage insurance and open the door to 250,000 first-time home buyers.