President Barack Obama

Personal

Barack Hussein Obama II was born August 41961in HonoluluHawaiito parents Barack H. ObamaSr.and Stanley Ann Dunham. His parents divorced when he was 2 years old and he was raised by his motherAnnand maternal grandparentsStanley and Madelyn Dunham. His mother later married Lolo Soetoroand his sister Maya was born in 1970. (He also has several siblings on his father’s side.)

Obama moved with his family to Indonesia in 1967where he attended local Indonesian schools and received additional lessons via U.S. correspondence courses under his mother’s direction.

He returned to Hawaii to live with his grandparents in 1971 and attended Punahou Schoolfrom which he graduated in 1979. Obama first attended Occidental College in Los Angelesbefore transferring to Columbia Universitywhere he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1983.

After graduationObama briefly worked as an analyst at Business International Corporation in New York Citybefore changing his career direction toward community service organizing. He relocated to ChicagoIllinoisin 1985 when he accepted a job with the Developing Communities Project. Eventually rising to the role of DirectorObama worked with low-income communities on Chicago’s South Sideoften collaborating with local religious organizations and civic groups.

After three years of community organizingObama enrolled in Harvard Law School. After completing his first yearhe worked as a summer associate at Chicago corporate law firm of Sidley & Austinwhere his mentor was Michelle Robinsonhis future wife.

Obama was elected the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Reviewprior to graduating magna cum laude in 1991. He returned to Chicago in 1992 and served as the Illinois Executive Director of PROJECT VOTE!. In 1993he was hired as an associate at the firm of Davis Miner Barnhill & Gallardwhere he largely worked on voting rights cases.

Barack Obama and Michelle Robinson were married in 1992 at Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ. They have two daughtersMalia and Natasha “Sasha.” In the summer of 1995Obama’s first book was published. Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance detailed his personal history and search for identity.

Political Career

In 1996Obama was elected to the Illinois State Senate from the thirteenth district. As a State Senatorhe served as Democratic Spokesperson for Public Health and Welfare Committee and Co-Chairman of the Joint Committee on Administrative Rulesin addition to being a member of the Judiciary and Revenue Committees. He also worked as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Chicago from 1996 until 2004teaching three courses per year.

Obama was elected to a second term in the Illinois State Senate in November 1998. In 2000Obama made his first run for the U.S. Congress when he sought the Democratic U.S. House seat in Illinois First District. He lost to incumbent Representative Bobby Rush by a margin of more than 2-to-1.

In July 2004Obama delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Conventionheld in BostonMassachusetts. He was elected as the junior Senator from Illinois in November 2004. While serving as U.S. Senator from IllinoisObama completed his second bookThe Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dreampublished in October 2006.

On February 102007Obama formally announced his candidacy for President of the United States. He accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination at Invesco Stadium in DenverColorado on August 282008. On November 42008Obama became the first African-American to be elected President. He resigned his seat in the U.S. Senate on November 162008.

Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States on January 202009.

Presidential Administration

Domestic policy decisions dominated the first 100 Days of the Obama administration. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Actwhich encourages fair pay for all workers and established new methods of protesting unfair paycheckswas the first signed legislation of the administration. To combat the effects of the Great RecessionPresident Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (known as the Recovery Act) in February 2009which outlined a policy to create additional jobsextend unemployment benefitsand established the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board.

In March 2010after announcing his intent for healthcare reform in a 2009 address to CongressPresident Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (also known as “Obamacare”)establishing the most sweeping reforms of the American healthcare system in recent history. To improve access to healthcare coveragethe Act included a Patient’s Bill of Rights to end discrimination by insurance companies based on pre-existing conditions. Among its other reformsthe Act strengthened Medicare and required the insurer to cover preventative screenings for cancerdiabetesand blood pressure disorders.

The Obama administration centered its foreign policy on drawing down the number of American forces stationed overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan. President Obama also committed to destroying the ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) terrorist organization through the administration’s comprehensive counter-terrorism strategyincluding systematic airstrikes against ISILproviding additional support to forces fighting ISIL on the groundincreased cooperation with counter-terrorism partnersand humanitarian assistance to civilians.

On May 22011President Obama announced to the nation that the United States had conducted an operation that resulted in the death of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Following leads from the intelligence communitythe raid on bin Laden’s Abbottabad compound was conducted with no American casualties.

President Obama also obtained congressional approval for military action against Syria following the Syrian regime’s use of chemical weapons on civilians. Negotiations with Russia led to the signing of a New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) Treatywhich limited the two countries to fewer strategic arms over the course of seven years through inspections and verification. In 2015the U.S. and other partners reached a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iranwhich aimed to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and committed Iran to further monitoring of all Iranian nuclear activities.

President Obama announced plans to normalize foreign relations with Cuba in conjunction with President Castroincluding reopening the U.S. Embassy in Havana in July 2015. The First Family visited Cuba in March 2016making President Obama the first sitting President to visit the nation in 90 years.

Post-Presidency

President and Mrs. Obama returned to their lives as private citizens on January 202017.

Works Published by Barack Obama

• Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance1995
• The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream2006
• Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to my Daughters2010
• A Promised Land2020