Look back: 25 great 'Oprah' moments

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Oprah WinfreyLiberace's last TV appearance (1986)Racism in Forsyth County (1987)Oprah sheds light on the AIDS crisis (1987)'Diet Dreams Come True' (1988)Michael Jackson interview (1993)Oprah's Book Club launches (1996)Oprah's mad cow problem (1996)Ellen DeGeneres comes out as a lesbian (1997)Oprah and Dr. Phil (1998)The Mattie Stepanek interview (2001)Oprah's 'Favorite Things' episode (2002)Oprah and Dr. Oz (2004)The brand-new car giveaway (2004)Tom Cruise loves Katie Holmes (2005)Tracey Gold comes clean (2005)Oprah Winfrey endorses Barack Obama (2006)James Frey is in the hot seat (2006)Roadtrip! (2006)Oprah reveals 'The Secret' (2007)Tommy Hilfiger and the racist rumor (2007)Pregnant man Thomas Beatie (2008)Mackenzie Phillips talks about incestuous relationship (2009)Surprise flash mob featuring the Black Eyed Peas (2009)Sarah Palin visits Oprah (2009)Sarah Ferguson opens up about bribery scandal (2010)

After publicly announcing her desire for Barack Obama to make a run for the White House on "Larry King Live," Winfrey invited the then-Illinois senator and his wife on her show and repeated her endorsement. She also praised Obama's book, "The Audacity of Hope," which probably helped it skyrocket to the top of the bestseller charts.<br>
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Winfrey was a fixture on Obama's campaign trail when he ran for president in 2008. Afraid of looking biased, Winfrey declined to interview any White House hopefuls on her show during that election season after Obama officially threw his hat in the ring.<br>
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"When I decided that I was going to take my first public stance in support of a candidate, I made the decision not to use my show as a platform for any of the candidates," she <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/07/uselections2008.sarahpalin1">said in a statement</a> after receiving flak for declining to interview Republican vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin.<br>
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<i>Photo: Winfrey, right, interviews President Obama and his wife Michelle again in spring 2011 for an episode that aired that May. It was their first joint interview with her since 2006.</i>

Oprah Winfrey endorses Barack Obama (2006)

( Larry Downing / Reuters )

After publicly announcing her desire for Barack Obama to make a run for the White House on "Larry King Live," Winfrey invited the then-Illinois senator and his wife on her show and repeated her endorsement. She also praised Obama's book, "The Audacity of Hope," which probably helped it skyrocket to the top of the bestseller charts.

Winfrey was a fixture on Obama's campaign trail when he ran for president in 2008. Afraid of looking biased, Winfrey declined to interview any White House hopefuls on her show during that election season after Obama officially threw his hat in the ring.

"When I decided that I was going to take my first public stance in support of a candidate, I made the decision not to use my show as a platform for any of the candidates," she said in a statement after receiving flak for declining to interview Republican vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin.

Photo: Winfrey, right, interviews President Obama and his wife Michelle again in spring 2011 for an episode that aired that May. It was their first joint interview with her since 2006.

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