Barack Obama

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Personal

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American President elected in 2008, lawyer, and civil rights activist. A self-described “skinny kid with a funny name,” Obama is the child of a Kenyan man and an American woman. His parents met at the University of Hawaii where they were both students. When Barack was two, his father returned to Africa, and the young boy lived in Hawaii with his mom and grandparents. After his mother married an Indonesian, she took him with her when she moved to her new husband’s native country. Young Barack was sent back to Hawaii at age 10 to live with his grandparents. A few month's after Barack's 21st birthday, he received a call from an aunt in Nairobi informing him of his father's death. He traveled to Africa in an attempt to find his roots, a journey that is chronicled in his memoir, "Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance," published in 1995. Obama graduated in 1983 from Columbia University with a degree in political science and international relations. He worked in Chicago's inner city, helping church groups improve job-training, education and city services to the poor and then went on to law school at Harvard. In 1990, he was elected president of the Harvard Law Review, the first African-American to capture that prestigious position. After graduating magna cum laude, he helped organize voter registration in Chicago, worked as a civil rights lawyer, and lectured on constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School. In 1996, he was elected to the Illinois General Assembly as a state senator. On July 27, 2004, he burst onto the national scene when he delivered a rousing keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in Boston, MA. That year, on November 2, Obama won election to the U.S. Senate by a wide margin. When he took the oath of office on January 4, 2005, Obama became the sole African-American in the Senate at the time and only the third in that body’s history. Obama married Michelle Robinson on October 3, 1992 and they have two daughters, Malia born in 1999 and Sasha born in 2001. He published his book “The Audacity of Hope” in 2006. The Senator from Illinois announced the formation of a presidential exploratory committee on January 16, 2007 vowing to make a more complete statement on February 10, 2007. As promised, Senator Obama made the announcement of his candidacy for the Democratic Party’s nomination for President on schedule (February 10, 2007), shortly after 10 AM CST in Springfield IL (one report gave 10:13 AM as the time). On the campaign trail he has racked up an impressive number of primary and caucus wins. Exhibiting composure, thoughtfulness, a quick mind and self-deprecating humor, his debate performance earns kudos while his powerful oratory has evoked comparisons to Martin Luther King, Jr. and John F. Kennedy. Along with his life story which he touts as a representation of the American dream, his emphasis on unity, hope and civility have captured media and public attention. He became the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party in spring 2008, the actual nominee in Denver, CO on August 27, 2008 (by acclamation at 4:47 PM MDT according to the NY Times; 4:48 by PT's observation) and accepted the official nomination on August 28, 2008 in a speech that began around 8:15 MDT. Sadly his beloved grandmother died late in the evening of November 2, 2008 in Hawaii, two days before he was elected to the US Presidency. On November 4, 2008 he was declared the election's winner by most media outlets shortly after 11 PM EST and gave his acknowledgment speech close to 11 PM CST (midnight EST) in Grant Park, Chicago, IL in front of 65,000 admiring fans. On January 20, 2009 he became the 44th President of the US. Although he officially became President at noon EST under the US constitution, he took his oath of office at 12:05 PM EST in Washington, DC in front of huge crowds that congregated on the mall to witness the historic event. On October 9, 2009 the Nobel Prize Committee announced that Obama is the winner of the prestigious Peace Prize. He accepted the prize in Oslo on December 10, 2009. While playing basketball on November 26, 2010, he suffered a split lip that required 12 stitches. He was reelected for a second term as US president on 6 November 2012. Link to Wikipedia biography Link to Astrodienst discussion forum