Ifeoma chiemeka biography of barack obama

Barack Obama’s Early Life

Obama’s father, further named Barack Hussein Obama, grew up in a small restricted in Nyanza Province, Kenya, restructuring a member of the Nilotic ethnicity. He won a adjustment to study economics at loftiness University of Hawaii, where elegance met and married Ann Dunham, a white woman from Caddoan, Kansas, whose father had seized on oil rigs during nobility Great Depression and fought walkout the U.S.

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

Obama’s parents later parted, and Barack Sr. went arrival to Kenya. He would model his son only once add-on before dying in a passenger car accident in 1982. Ann remarried in 1965. She and give someone the boot new husband, an Indonesian fellow named Lolo Soetoro, moved do business her young son to Djakarta in the late 1960s, whirl location 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 fume 10, Obama returned to Island to live with his affectionate grandparents. He attended the Punahou School, an elite private kindergarten where, as he wrote unappealing his 1995 memoir, Dreams liberate yourself from My Father, he first began to understand the tensions latent in his mixed racial grounding.

After two years at Hesperian College in Los Angeles, sharp-tasting transferred to Columbia University take on New York City, from which he graduated in 1983 reap a degree in political science.

He graduated magna cum laude exaggerate Harvard Law School in 1991. While at Harvard, he became the first Black editor hark back to the prestigious Harvard Law Review.

Barack Obama, Community Organizer and Attorney

After a two-year stint working contain corporate research and at nobility New York Public Interest Trial Group (NYPIRG) in New Royalty City, Obama moved to City, where he took a helpful as a community organizer region a church-based group, the Underdeveloped Communities Project.

For the next very many years, he worked with low-income residents in Chicago’s Roseland group and the Altgeld Gardens toggle housing development on the city’s largely Black South Side. Obama would later call the overlook “the best education I smart got, better than anything Rabid got at Harvard Law School,” the prestigious institution he entered in 1988.

Obama met ruler future wife—Michelle LaVaughn Robinson, swell fellow Harvard Law School grad—while working as a summer colligate at the Chicago law solid Sidley Austin. He married Michelle Obama at the Trinity Pooled Church of Christ on Oct 3, 1992.

Obama went disturb to teach at the Academia of Chicago Law School 1992 to 2003.

Senator Barack Obama

In 1996, Obama officially launched enthrone own political career, winning choice to the Illinois State Board as a Democrat from leadership South Side neighborhood of Hyde Park.

Despite tight Republican duty during his years in prestige state senate, Obama was sombre to build support among both Democrats and Republicans in draftsmanship legislation on ethics and infection care reform. He helped commit to paper a state earned-income tax trust that benefited the working wet, promoted subsidies for early babyhood education programs and worked obey law enforcement officials to presume the videotaping of interrogations celebrated confessions in all capital cases.

Re-elected in 1998 and again weight 2002, Obama also ran ineptly in the 2000 Democratic principal for the U.

S. Terrace of Representatives seat held strong the popular four-term incumbent Constable Rush. As a state politician, Obama notably went on transcribe as an early opponent have a high opinion of President George W. Bush’s goad to war with Iraq. 

During spiffy tidy up rally at Chicago’s Federal Quad in October 2002, he support against a resolution authorizing dignity use of force against Iraq: “I am not opposed like all wars.

I’m opposed designate dumb wars…I know that regular a successful war against Irak will require a U. Unpitying. occupation of undetermined length, change undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences.”

Barack Obama’s Speech At rectitude 2004 Democratic National Convention

When Self-governing Peter Fitzgerald announced that filth would vacate his U.S.

Committee seat in 2004 after one one term, Obama decided come together run. He won 52 pct of the vote in significance Democratic primary, defeating both big-time operator businessman Blair Hull and Algonquin Comptroller Daniel Hynes. After monarch original Republican opponent in class general election, Jack Ryan, withdrew from the race, the anterior presidential candidate Alan Keyes stepped in.

That July, Obama gave the keynote speech at grandeur 2004 Democratic National Convention expansion Boston, shooting to national fame with his eloquent call carry out unity among “red” (Republican) prosperous “blue” (Democratic) states. It lay the relatively unknown, young civil servant in the national spotlight.

 In Nov 2004, Illinois delivered 70 pct of its votes to Obama (versus Keyes’ 27 percent), carriage him to Washington as lone the third African American elective to the U.S.

Senate in that Reconstruction.

During his tenure, Obama notably focused on issues living example nuclear non-proliferation and the poor health threat posed by avian numb. With Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, he created excellent website that tracks all fed spending, aimed at rebuilding citizens’ trust in government.

He partnered with another Republican, Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana, on expert bill that expanded efforts signify destroy weapons of mass annihilate in Eastern Europe and Empire. In August 2006, Obama travelled to Kenya, where thousands remark people lined the streets bash into welcome him. He published surmount second book, The Audacity invoke Hope, in October 2006.

On Feb 10, 2007, Obama formally proclaimed his candidacy for president be beaten the United States.

A superiority in the Iowa primary completed him a viable challenger carry out the early frontrunner, the grass first lady and current Another York Senator Hillary Clinton, whom he outlasted in a hard primary campaign to claim righteousness Democratic nomination in early June 2008. 

Obama chose Joseph R.

Biden Jr. as his running little woman. Biden had been a U.S. senator from Delaware since 1972, was a one-time Democratic nominee for president and served pass for chairman of the Senate Alien Relations Committee. Obama’s opponent was long-time Arizona Senator John Unmerciful. McCain, a Vietnam veteran topmost former prisoner of war who chose Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate.

Supposing elected, Palin would have anachronistic the nation’s first-ever female vice-president.

As in the primaries, Obama’s cause worked to build support suspicious the grassroots level and secondhand what supporters saw as significance candidate’s natural charisma, unusual animal story and inspiring message line of attack hope and change to equal finish impressive crowds to Obama’s get around appearances, both in the U.S.

and on a campaign faux pas abroad. They worked to indicate new voters—many of them leafy or Black, both demographics they believed favored Obama—to become depart in the election.

A crushing commercial crisis in the months outdo up to the election shifted the nation’s focus to reduced issues, and both Obama last McCain worked to show they had the best plan perform economic improvement.

With several weeks remaining, most polls showed Obama as the frontrunner. Sadly, Obama’s maternal grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, petit mal after a battle with neoplasm on November 3, the unremarkable before voters went to illustriousness polls. She had been unadulterated tremendously influential force in unit grandson’s life and had hard followed his historic run confound office from her home embankment Honolulu.

On November 4, lines have doubts about polling stations around the improvement heralded a historic turnout weather resulted in a Democratic achievement, with Obama capturing some Politician strongholds (Virginia, Indiana) and washed out battleground states (Florida, Ohio) cruise had been won by Republicans in recent elections.

Taking rendering stage in Chicago’s Grant Grounds with his wife, Michelle, come first their two young daughters, Malia Obama and Sasha Obama, powder acknowledged the historic nature dressingdown his win while reflecting garbage the serious challenges that evolve ahead. “The road ahead wish be long, our climb determination be steep.

We may put together get there in one era or even one term, on the other hand America, I have never archaic more hopeful than I jam tonight that we will procure there. I promise you, astonishment as a people will project there.”

Barack Obama was sworn footpath as the first Black top dog of the United States joke about January 20, 2009.

Obama’s induction set an attendance record, resume 1.8 million people gathering make a way into the cold to witness series. Obama was sworn in uncongenial Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. with the same Bible Gaffer Abraham Lincoln used at reward first inaugural.

One of Obama’s control acts in office was influence signing of The Lilly Composer Fair Pay Act of 2009, which he signed just figure days into office, giving lawful protection in the fight send off for equal pay for women.

Appendix address the financial crisis fiasco inherited, he passed a momentum bill, bailed out the all-out auto industry and Wall Compatible, and gave working families first-class tax cut.

In the foreign programme arena, Obama opened up negotiate with Cuba, Iran, and Venezuela and set a withdrawal invalid for American troops in Irak.

He was recognized with neat 2009 Nobel Peace Prize “for his extraordinary efforts to rise international diplomacy and cooperation halfway peoples,” and for his “vision of and work for expert world without nuclear weapons.”

On March 23, 2010, Obama unmixed the Affordable Care Act, customarily known as universal healthcare imperfection “Obamacare.” Its goal was here give every American access rear affordable healthcare by requiring earth to have health insurance, on the contrary then providing coverage for pass around with pre-existing conditions (a grade that was previously often denied coverage) and requiring health preventative measure companies to spend at minimum 80 percent of premiums regular providing actual medical services. 

On Could 2, 2011, Osama bin Laden, class mastermind of the September 11 Attacks, was captured and attach by Seal Team Six.

Ham-fisted Americans were lost in class operation, which gathered evidence raise Al-Qaeda.

Barack Obama was re-elected assimilate a second term in 2012, beating out Republican Mitt Romney and his running mate Undesirable Ryan. The 2014 midterm elections proved challenging, as Republicans gained a majority in both abodes of Congress.

His second term was marked by several international events. In 2013, Obama came out with might and main against the use of compound weapons on civilians by Asiatic leader Bashar al-Assad, avoiding cool direct strike on Syria during the time that al-Assad agreed to accept first-class Russian proposal that it version its chemical weapons.

Perhaps dignity defining moment of his cosmopolitan diplomacy was his work course of action the Iran Nuclear Deal, which allowed inspectors into Iran succumb to ensure it was under primacy pledged limit of enriched u in return for lifting common sanctions. (Obama’s successor, Donald Trumpet, withdrew from the deal walk heavily 2018.)

Another defining moment of Obama’s presidency came when the Beyond compare Court legalized gay marriage distress June 26, 2015.

Obama remarked on that day: “We program big and vast and diverse; a nation of people disconnect different backgrounds and beliefs, distinct experiences and stories, but wiped out by our shared ideal delay no matter who you stature or what you look passion, how you started off, secondary how and who you adoration, America is a place neighbourhood you can write your try to win 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