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| Barack Hussein Obama |
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States, the first African American to hold the office.
Born : August 4, 1961 (age 52), Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
Full name : Barack Hussein Obama II
Parents : Ann Dunham, Barack Obama Sr.
Education : Harvard
Law School (1988–1991), Columbia University (1981–1983), Occidental
College (1979–1981), Punahou School (1971–1979), State Elementary School
Menteng 01 (1970–1971), St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School
(1968–1970), Noelani Elementary School (1966–1967)
Siblings : Malik Abongo Obama, Maya Soetoro-Ng, More
Children : Natasha Obama, Malia Ann Obama
Obama
was born on August 4, 1961,[1] at Kapiʻolani Maternity &
Gynecological Hospital (now Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women and
Children) in Honolulu, Hawaii,[2][3][4] and is the first President to
have been born in Hawaii.[5] His mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, was born in
Wichita, Kansas, and was of mostly English ancestry.[6] His father,
Barack Obama, Sr., was a Luo from Nyang’oma Kogelo, Kenya. Obama's
parents met in 1960 in a Russian class at the University of Hawaiʻi at
Mānoa, where his father was a foreign student on scholarship.[7][8] The
couple married in Wailuku on Maui on February 2, 1961,[9][10] and
separated when Obama's mother moved with their newborn son to Seattle,
Washington, in late August 1961, to attend the University of Washington
for one year. In the meantime, Obama, Sr. completed his undergraduate
economics degree in Hawaii in June 1962, then left to attend graduate
school at Harvard University on a scholarship. Obama's parents divorced
in March 1964.[11] Obama Sr. returned to Kenya in 1964 where he
remarried; he visited Barack in Hawaii only once, in 1971.[12] He died
in an automobile accident in 1982.
In 1963, Dunham met Lolo
Soetoro, an Indonesian East–West Center graduate student in geography at
the University of Hawaii, and the couple were married on Molokai on
March 15, 1965.[14] After two one-year extensions of his J-1 visa, Lolo
returned to Indonesia in 1966, followed sixteen months later by his wife
and stepson in 1967, with the family initially living in a Menteng
Dalam neighborhood in the Tebet subdistrict of south Jakarta, then from
1970 in a wealthier neighborhood in the Menteng subdistrict of central
Jakarta.[15] From ages six to ten, Obama attended local
Indonesian-language schools: St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School for
two years and Besuki Public School for one and a half years,
supplemented by English-language Calvert School homeschooling by his
mother.
In 1971, Obama returned to Honolulu to live with his
maternal grandparents, Madelyn and Stanley Dunham, and with the aid of a
scholarship attended Punahou School, a private college preparatory
school, from fifth grade until his graduation from high school in
1979.[17] Obama lived with his mother and sister in Hawaii for three
years from 1972 to 1975 while his mother was a graduate student in
anthropology at the University of Hawaii.[18] Obama chose to stay in
Hawaii with his grandparents for high school at Punahou when his mother
and sister returned to Indonesia in 1975 to begin anthropology field
work.[19] His mother spent most of the next two decades in Indonesia,
divorcing Lolo in 1980 and earning a PhD in 1992, before dying in 1995
in Hawaii following treatment for ovarian cancer and uterine cancer.
Of
his early childhood, Obama recalled, "That my father looked nothing
like the people around me—that he was black as pitch, my mother white as
milk—barely registered in my mind."[8] He described his struggles as a
young adult to reconcile social perceptions of his multiracial
heritage.[21] Reflecting later on his years in Honolulu, Obama wrote:
"The opportunity that Hawaii offered—to experience a variety of cultures
in a climate of mutual respect—became an integral part of my world
view, and a basis for the values that I hold most dear."[22] Obama has
also written and talked about using alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine
during his teenage years to "push questions of who I was out of my
mind".[23] Obama was also a member of the "choom gang", a self-named
group of friends that spent time together and occasionally smoked
marijuana.
Following high school, Obama moved to Los Angeles in
1979 to attend Occidental College. In February 1981, he made his first
public speech, calling for Occidental to divest from South Africa in
response to its policy of apartheid.[26] In mid-1981, Obama traveled to
Indonesia to visit his mother and half-sister Maya, and visited the
families of college friends in Pakistan and India for three weeks.[26]
Later in 1981, he transferred to Columbia College, Columbia University
in New York City, where he majored in political science with a specialty
in international relations[27] and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in
1983. He worked for a year at the Business International Corporation,
then at the New York Public Interest Research Group.
Chicago community organizer and Harvard Law School
Two
years after graduating, Obama was hired in Chicago as director of the
Developing Communities Project (DCP), a church-based community
organization originally comprising eight Catholic parishes in Roseland,
West Pullman, and Riverdale on Chicago's South Side. He worked there as a
community organizer from June 1985 to May 1988.[30][31] He helped set
up a job training program, a college preparatory tutoring program, and a
tenants' rights organization in Altgeld Gardens.[32] Obama also worked
as a consultant and instructor for the Gamaliel Foundation, a community
organizing institute.[33] In mid-1988, he traveled for the first time in
Europe for three weeks and then for five weeks in Kenya, where he met
many of his paternal relatives for the first time.[34][35] He returned
to Kenya in 1992 with his fiancée Michelle and his half-sister
Auma.[34][36] He returned to Kenya in August 2006 for a visit to his
father's birthplace, a village near Kisumu in rural western Kenya.
In
late 1988, Obama entered Harvard Law School. He was selected as an
editor of the Harvard Law Review at the end of his first year,[38] and
president of the journal in his second year.[32][39] During his summers,
he returned to Chicago, where he worked as an associate at the law
firms of Sidley Austin in 1989 and Hopkins & Sutter in 1990.[40]
After graduating with a J.D. magna cum laude[41] from Harvard in 1991,
he returned to Chicago.[38] Obama's election as the first black
president of the Harvard Law Review gained national media
attention[32][39] and led to a publishing contract and advance for a
book about race relations,[42] which evolved into a personal memoir. The
manuscript was published in mid-1995 as Dreams from My Father.
University of Chicago Law School and civil rights attorney
In
1991, Obama accepted a two-year position as Visiting Law and Government
Fellow at the University of Chicago Law School to work on his first
book.He then taught at the University of Chicago Law School for twelve
years—as a Lecturer from 1992 to 1996, and as a Senior Lecturer from
1996 to 2004—teaching constitutional law.
From April to October
1992, Obama directed Illinois's Project Vote, a voter registration
campaign with ten staffers and seven hundred volunteer registrars; it
achieved its goal of registering 150,000 of 400,000 unregistered African
Americans in the state, leading Crain's Chicago Business to name Obama
to its 1993 list of "40 under Forty" powers to be.
In 1993, he
joined Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland, a 13-attorney law firm
specializing in civil rights litigation and neighborhood economic
development, where he was an associate for three years from 1993 to
1996, then of counsel from 1996 to 2004. His law license became inactive
in 2007.
From 1994 to 2002, Obama served on the boards of
directors of the Woods Fund of Chicago, which in 1985 had been the first
foundation to fund the Developing Communities Project; and of the Joyce
Foundation.[30] He served on the board of directors of the Chicago
Annenberg Challenge from 1995 to 2002, as founding president and
chairman of the board of directors from 1995 to 1999.
Legislative career: 1997–2008
State Senator : 1997–2004
Main article : Illinois Senate career of Barack Obama
Obama
was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1996, succeeding State Senator
Alice Palmer as Senator from Illinois's 13th District, which at that
time spanned Chicago South Side neighborhoods from Hyde Park – Kenwood
south to South Shore and west to Chicago Lawn.[48] Once elected, Obama
gained bipartisan support for legislation that reformed ethics and
health care laws.[49] He sponsored a law that increased tax credits for
low-income workers, negotiated welfare reform, and promoted increased
subsidies for childcare.[50] In 2001, as co-chairman of the bipartisan
Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, Obama supported Republican
Governor Ryan's payday loan regulations and predatory mortgage lending
regulations aimed at averting home foreclosures.
Obama was
reelected to the Illinois Senate in 1998, defeating Republican Yesse
Yehudah in the general election, and was reelected again in 2002.[52] In
2000, he lost a Democratic primary race for Illinois's 1st
congressional district in the United States House of Representatives to
four-term incumbent Bobby Rush by a margin of two to one.
In
January 2003, Obama became chairman of the Illinois Senate's Health and
Human Services Committee when Democrats, after a decade in the minority,
regained a majority.[54] He sponsored and led unanimous, bipartisan
passage of legislation to monitor racial profiling by requiring police
to record the race of drivers they detained, and legislation making
Illinois the first state to mandate videotaping of homicide
interrogations.[50][55] During his 2004 general election campaign for
U.S. Senate, police representatives credited Obama for his active
engagement with police organizations in enacting death penalty
reforms.[56] Obama resigned from the Illinois Senate in November 2004
following his election to the U.S. Senate.
U.S. Senate campaign
Main article : - United States Senate election in Illinois, 2004
County results of the 2004 U.S. Senate race in Illinois. Counties in blue were won by Obama.
In
May 2002, Obama commissioned a poll to assess his prospects in a 2004
U.S. Senate race; he created a campaign committee, began raising funds,
and lined up political media consultant David Axelrod by August 2002.
Obama formally announced his candidacy in January 2003.
Obama was
an early opponent of the George W. Bush administration's 2003 invasion
of Iraq.[59] On October 2, 2002, the day President Bush and Congress
agreed on the joint resolution authorizing the Iraq War,[60] Obama
addressed the first high-profile Chicago anti-Iraq War rally,[61] and
spoke out against the war.[62] He addressed another anti-war rally in
March 2003 and told the crowd that "it's not too late" to stop the war.
Decisions
by Republican incumbent Peter Fitzgerald and his Democratic predecessor
Carol Moseley Braun to not participate in the election resulted in
wide-open Democratic and Republican primary contests involving fifteen
candidates.[64] In the March 2004 primary election, Obama won in an
unexpected landslide—which overnight made him a rising star within the
national Democratic Party, started speculation about a presidential
future, and led to the reissue of his memoir, Dreams from My Father.[65]
In July 2004, Obama delivered the keynote address at the 2004
Democratic National Convention,[66] seen by 9.1 million viewers. His
speech was well received and elevated his status within the Democratic
Party.
Obama's expected opponent in the general election,
Republican primary winner Jack Ryan, withdrew from the race in June
2004.[68] Six weeks later, Alan Keyes accepted the Republican nomination
to replace Ryan.[69] In the November 2004 general election, Obama won
with 70 percent of the vote.
U.S. Senator : 2005–2008
Main article : United States Senate career of Barack Obama
Obama in his official portrait as a member of the United States Senate
Obama
was sworn in as a senator on January 3, 2005, becoming the only Senate
member of the Congressional Black Caucus.CQ Weekly characterized him as a
"loyal Democrat" based on analysis of all Senate votes in 2005–2007.
Obama announced on November 13, 2008, that he would resign his Senate
seat on November 16, 2008, before the start of the lame-duck session, to
focus on his transition period for the presidency.
Legislation
See also : List of bills sponsored by Barack Obama in the United States Senate
Obama
cosponsored the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act. He
introduced two initiatives that bore his name: Lugar–Obama, which
expanded the Nunn–Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction concept to
conventional weapons;and the Federal Funding Accountability and
Transparency Act of 2006, which authorized the establishment of
USAspending.gov, a web search engine on federal spending. On June 3,
2008, Senator Obama—along with Senators Tom Carper, Tom Coburn, and John
McCain—introduced follow-up legislation: Strengthening Transparency and
Accountability in Federal Spending Act of 2008.
Obama sponsored
legislation that would have required nuclear plant owners to notify
state and local authorities of radioactive leaks, but the bill failed to
pass in the full Senate after being heavily modified in committee.[78]
Regarding tort reform, Obama voted for the Class Action Fairness Act of
2005 and the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, which grants immunity from
civil liability to telecommunications companies complicit with NSA
warrantless wiretapping operations.
Gray-haired man and Obama stand,
wearing casual polo shirts. Obama wears sunglasses and holds something
slung over his right shoulder.
Obama and U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) visit a Russian facility for dismantling mobile missiles (August 2005).
In
December 2006, President Bush signed into law the Democratic Republic
of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act, marking the
first federal legislation to be enacted with Obama as its primary
sponsor.[81] In January 2007, Obama and Senator Feingold introduced a
corporate jet provision to the Honest Leadership and Open Government
Act, which was signed into law in September 2007.Obama also introduced
Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act, a bill to
criminalize deceptive practices in federal elections,[83] and the Iraq
War De-Escalation Act of 2007, neither of which was signed into law.
Later
in 2007, Obama sponsored an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act
to add safeguards for personality-disorder military discharges.[85] This
amendment passed the full Senate in the spring of 2008.[86] He
sponsored the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act supporting divestment of state
pension funds from Iran's oil and gas industry, which has not passed
committee; and co-sponsored legislation to reduce risks of nuclear
terrorism.[87] Obama also sponsored a Senate amendment to the State
Children's Health Insurance Program, providing one year of job
protection for family members caring for soldiers with combat-related
injuries.
Committees
Obama
held assignments on the Senate Committees for Foreign Relations,
Environment and Public Works and Veterans' Affairs through December
2006.[89] In January 2007, he left the Environment and Public Works
committee and took additional assignments with Health, Education, Labor,
and Pensions and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.[90] He
also became Chairman of the Senate's subcommittee on European
Affairs.[91] As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
Obama made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central
Asia and Africa. He met with Mahmoud Abbas before Abbas became President
of the Palestinian National Authority, and gave a speech at the
University of Nairobi in which he condemned corruption within the Kenyan
governmen
Presidential campaigns
2008 presidential campaign
Main articles :
United States presidential election, 2008, Barack Obama presidential
primary campaign, 2008, and Barack Obama presidential campaign, 2008
On
February 10, 2007, Obama announced his candidacy for President of the
United States in front of the Old State Capitol building in Springfield,
Illinois.[93][94] The choice of the announcement site was viewed as
symbolic because it was also where Abraham Lincoln delivered his
historic "House Divided" speech in 1858. Obama emphasized issues of
rapidly ending the Iraq War, increasing energy independence, and
providing universal health care,[96] in a campaign that projected themes
of "hope" and "change".
A large number of candidates entered the
Democratic Party presidential primaries. The field narrowed to a duel
between Obama and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton after early contests,
with the race remaining close throughout the primary process but with
Obama gaining a steady lead in pledged delegates due to better
long-range planning, superior fundraising, dominant organizing in caucus
states, and better exploitation of delegate allocation rules.On June 7,
2008, Clinton ended her campaign and endorsed Obama.
On August
23, Obama announced his selection of Delaware Senator Joe Biden as his
vice presidential running mate.[100] Obama selected Biden from a field
speculated to include former Indiana Governor and Senator Evan Bayh and
Virginia Governor Tim Kaine.[101] At the Democratic National Convention
in Denver, Colorado, Hillary Clinton called for her supporters to
endorse Obama, and she and Bill Clinton gave convention speeches in his
support.[102] Obama delivered his acceptance speech, not at the center
where the Democratic National Convention was held, but at Invesco Field
at Mile High to a crowd of over 75,000; the speech was viewed by over 38
million people worldwide.
During both the primary process and
the general election, Obama's campaign set numerous fundraising records,
particularly in the quantity of small donations.[105] On June 19, 2008,
Obama became the first major-party presidential candidate to turn down
public financing in the general election since the system was created in
1976.
John McCain was nominated as the Republican candidate and
the two engaged in three presidential debates in September and October
2008.[107] On November 4, Obama won the presidency with 365 electoral
votes to 173 received by McCain. Obama won 52.9% of the popular vote to
McCain's 45.7%.[109] He became the first African American to be elected
president.[110] Obama delivered his victory speech before hundreds of
thousands of supporters in Chicago's Grant Park.
2012 presidential campaign
Main articles : United States presidential election, 2012 and Barack Obama presidential campaign, 2012
On
April 4, 2011, Obama announced his re-election campaign for 2012 in a
video titled "It Begins with Us" that he posted on his website and filed
election papers with the Federal Election Commission. As the incumbent
president he ran virtually unopposed in the Democratic Party
presidential primaries,[116] and on April 3, 2012, Obama had secured the
2778 convention delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination.
At
the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, former
President Bill Clinton formally nominated Obama and Joe Biden as the
Democratic Party candidates for president and vice president in the
general election, in which their main opponents were Republicans Mitt
Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, and Representative Paul
Ryan of Wisconsin.
On November 6, 2012, Obama won 332 electoral
votes, exceeding the 270 required for him to be re-elected as president.
With more than 51% of the popular vote, Obama became the first
Democratic president since Franklin D. Roosevelt to twice win the
majority of the popular vote. President Obama addressed supporters and
volunteers at Chicago's McCormick Place after his reelection and said:
"Tonight you voted for action, not politics as usual. You elected us to
focus on your jobs, not ours. And in the coming weeks and months, I am
looking forward to reaching out and working with leaders of both
parties."
