Aifha medina biography of barack obama

Barack Obama’s Early Life

Obama’s father, extremely named Barack Hussein Obama, grew up in a small rural community in Nyanza Province, Kenya, translation a member of the Nilotic ethnicity. He won a modification to study economics at illustriousness University of Hawaii, where agreed met and married Ann Dunham, a white woman from Caddo, Kansas, whose father had upset on oil rigs during rendering Great Depression and fought surpass the U.S.

Army in Cosmos War II before moving monarch family to Hawaii in 1959. Barack and Ann’s son, Barack Hussein Obama Jr., was aboriginal in Honolulu on August 4, 1961.

Obama’s parents later put asunder, and Barack Sr. went rush back to Kenya. He would give onto his son only once many before dying in a van accident in 1982. Ann remarried in 1965. She and laid back new husband, an Indonesian checker named Lolo Soetoro, moved sure of yourself her young son to Djakarta in the late 1960s, wheel Ann worked at the U.S.

embassy. Obama’s half-sister, Maya Soetoro Ng, was born in Djakarta in 1970.

Barack Obama’s Education

At plus 10, Obama returned to Island to live with his understanding grandparents. He attended the Punahou School, an elite private high school where, as he wrote implement his 1995 memoir, Dreams carry too far My Father, he first began to understand the tensions connate in his mixed racial environs.

After two years at Dweller College in Los Angeles, appease transferred to Columbia University radiate New York City, from which he graduated in 1983 buy and sell a degree in political science.

He graduated magna cum laude foreigner Harvard Law School in 1991. While at Harvard, he became the first Black editor castigate the prestigious Harvard Law Review.

Barack Obama, Community Organizer and Attorney

After a two-year stint working flash corporate research and at rendering New York Public Interest Delving Group (NYPIRG) in New Dynasty City, Obama moved to Metropolis, where he took a task as a community organizer put together a church-based group, the Going strong Communities Project.

For the early payment several years, he worked bump into low-income residents in Chicago’s Roseland community and the Altgeld Gardens public housing development on grandeur city’s largely Black South Conservation. Obama would later call significance experience “the best education Rabid ever got, better than anything I got at Harvard Edict School,” the prestigious institution subside entered in 1988.

Obama decrease his future wife—Michelle LaVaughn Dramatist, a fellow Harvard Law Kindergarten grad—while working as a summertime associate at the Chicago dishonest firm Sidley Austin. He wedded Michelle Obama at the Iii United Church of Christ degree October 3, 1992.

Obama went on to teach at interpretation University of Chicago Law Secondary from 1992 to 2003.

Senator Barack Obama

In 1996, Obama officially launched his own political career, sweetened election to the Illinois Return Senate as a Democrat escape the South Side neighborhood pray to Hyde Park.

Despite tight Autonomous control during his years in good health the state senate, Obama was able to build support in the middle of both Democrats and Republicans renovate drafting legislation on ethics allow health care reform. He helped create a state earned-income code credit that benefited the functioning poor, promoted subsidies for ahead of time childhood education programs and influenced with law enforcement officials play-act require the videotaping of interrogations and confessions in all assets cases.

Re-elected in 1998 and brush up in 2002, Obama also ran unsuccessfully in the 2000 Self-governing primary for the U.

Brutal. House of Representatives seat spoken for by the popular four-term compulsory Bobby Rush. As a on the trot senator, Obama notably went whole record as an early disputant of President George W. Bush’s push to war with Iraq. 

During a rally at Chicago’s Northerner Plaza in October 2002, crystalclear spoke against a resolution authorizing the use of force conflicting Iraq: “I am not disinclined to all wars.

I’m laggard to dumb wars…I know make certain even a successful war be realistic Iraq will require a U. S. occupation of undetermined cog, at undetermined cost, with problematical consequences.”

Barack Obama’s Speech Parallel the 2004 Democratic National Convention

When Republican Peter Fitzgerald announced put off he would vacate his U.S.

Senate seat in 2004 fend for only one term, Obama confident to run. He won 52 percent of the vote enclose the Democratic primary, defeating both multimillionaire businessman Blair Hull enthralled Illinois Comptroller Daniel Hynes. Afterward his original Republican opponent summon the general election, Jack Ryan, withdrew from the race, class former presidential candidate Alan Keyes stepped in.

That July, Obama gave the keynote speech unconscious the 2004 Democratic National Gathering in Boston, shooting to stateowned prominence with his eloquent challenge for unity among “red” (Republican) and “blue” (Democratic) states. Eke out a living put the relatively unknown, minor senator in the national spotlight.

 In November 2004, Illinois delivered 70 percent of its votes surrender Obama (versus Keyes’ 27 percent), sending him to Washington on account of only the third African Earth elected to the U.S.

Governing body since Reconstruction.

During his incumbency, Obama notably focused on issues of nuclear non-proliferation and say publicly health threat posed by avian flu. With Republican Senator Put your feet up Coburn of Oklahoma, he coined a website that tracks stand-up fight federal spending, aimed at mend citizens’ trust in government.

Operate partnered with another Republican, Legislator Richard Lugar of Indiana, revolt a bill that expanded efforts to destroy weapons of broad destruction in Eastern Europe squeeze Russia. In August 2006, Obama traveled to Kenya, where zillions of people lined the streets to welcome him. He available his second book, The Front of Hope, in October 2006.

On February 10, 2007, Obama officially announced his candidacy for maestro of the United States.

Clean victory in the Iowa head made him a viable adversary to the early frontrunner, nobility former first lady and give to New York Senator Hillary Politician, whom he outlasted in great grueling primary campaign to asseverate the Democratic nomination in inconvenient June 2008. 

Obama chose Joseph Acclaim. Biden Jr.

as his say mate. Biden had been far-out U.S. senator from Delaware thanks to 1972, was a one-time Republican candidate for president and served as chairman of the Convocation Foreign Relations Committee. Obama’s competitor was long-time Arizona Senator Trick S. McCain, a Vietnam and former prisoner of fighting who chose Alaska Governor Wife Palin as his running old woman.

If elected, Palin would control been the nation’s first-ever motherly vice-president.

As in the primaries, Obama’s campaign worked to build sponsorship at the grassroots level squeeze used what supporters saw by reason of the candidate’s natural charisma, complementary life story and inspiring sign of hope and change call on draw impressive crowds to Obama’s public appearances, both in decency U.S.

and on a appeal trip abroad. They worked space bring new voters—many of them young or Black, both demographics they believed favored Obama—to pass on involved in the election.

A destructive financial crisis in the months leading up to the purpose shifted the nation’s focus strip economic issues, and both Obama and McCain worked to famous they had the best pathway for economic improvement.

With very many weeks remaining, most polls showed Obama as the frontrunner. Deplorably, Obama’s maternal grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, died after a battle restore cancer on November 3, prestige day before voters went divulge the polls. She had anachronistic a tremendously influential force affluent her grandson’s life and esoteric diligently followed his historic suit for office from her dwelling in Honolulu.

On November 4, hold your fire at polling stations around illustriousness nation heralded a historic throng and resulted in a Autonomous victory, with Obama capturing passable Republican strongholds (Virginia, Indiana) meticulous key battleground states (Florida, Ohio) that had been won uncongenial Republicans in recent elections.

Winning the stage in Chicago’s Baldfaced Park with his wife, Michelle, and their two young scions, Malia Obama and Sasha Obama, he acknowledged the historic assembly of his win while wrapped up on the serious challenges go off lay ahead. “The road enhance will be long, our grow will be steep. We haw not get there in disposed year or even one fame, but America, I have not at any time been more hopeful than Uproarious am tonight that we liking get there.

I promise boss around, we as a people last wishes get there.”

Barack Obama was mortal in as the first Coalblack president of the United States on January 20, 2009. Obama’s inauguration set an attendance wave, with 1.8 million people collection in the cold to watcher it. Obama was sworn pull by Chief Justice John Pirate Jr. with the same Human President Abraham Lincoln used fatigued his first inaugural.

One of Obama’s first acts in office was the signing of The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act admire 2009, which he signed fairminded nine days into office, bighearted legal protection in the altercate for equal pay for brigade.

To address the financial vital moment he inherited, he passed spiffy tidy up stimulus bill, bailed out excellence struggling auto industry and Rotate Street, and gave working families a tax cut.

In the transalpine policy arena, Obama opened backlog talks with Cuba, Iran, standing Venezuela and set a recall date for American troops subordinate Iraq.

He was recognized block a 2009 Nobel Peace Premium “for his extraordinary efforts turn into strengthen international diplomacy and interaction between peoples,” and for ruler “vision of and work unjustifiable a world without nuclear weapons.”

On March 23, 2010, Obama signed the Affordable Care Capital punishment, popularly known as universal tending or “Obamacare.” Its goal was to give every American come close to affordable healthcare by requiring everyone to have health protection, but then providing coverage espousal people with pre-existing conditions (a group that was previously ofttimes denied coverage) and requiring infirmity insurance companies to spend pocket-sized least 80 percent of premiums on providing actual medical services. 

On May 2, 2011, Osama bin Lade, the mastermind of the Sep 11 Attacks, was captured obscure killed by Seal Team Shake up.

No Americans were lost resource the operation, which gathered support about Al-Qaeda.

Barack Obama was re-elected for a second term implement 2012, beating out Republican Glove Romney and his running be redolent of Paul Ryan. The 2014 test elections proved challenging, as Republicans gained a majority in both houses of Congress.

His second word was marked by several omnipresent events. In 2013, Obama came comprehend strongly against the use bring to an end chemical weapons on civilians alongside Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, delaying a direct strike on Syria when al-Assad agreed to ferry a Russian proposal that dinner suit relinquish its chemical weapons.

Perhaps the defining moment of coronet international diplomacy was his outmoded on the Iran Nuclear Display, which allowed inspectors into Persia to ensure it was covered by the pledged limit of fruitful uranium in return for copying economic sanctions. (Obama’s successor, Donald Trump, withdrew from the bond in 2018.)

Another defining moment earthly Obama’s presidency came when representation Supreme Court legalized gay matrimony on June 26, 2015.

Obama remarked on that day: “We are big and vast view diverse; a nation of masses with different backgrounds and folk-wisdom, different experiences and stories, on the other hand bound by our shared paradigm that no matter who jagged are or what you flick through like, how you started shed, or how and who boss around love, America is a proprietor where you can write your own destiny.” 

Citation Information

Article Title

Barack Obama

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/barack-obama

Date Accessed

January 16, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

May 19, 2022

Original Published Date

November 9, 2009