Barack Obama: The First Black American President

Barack Hussein Obama II was born on August 4, 1961 in Honolulu, HI. His father, Barack Obama Sr., who is of Kenyan ancestry, was a goat herder and won a scholarship to leave Kenya and study in the United States. Once in the U.S. he went on to become an economist in the Kenyan government. His mother Ann, who was born on an Army base in Wichita Kansas during WWII eventually moved to Honolulu with her family and settled down. In 1960, Barack Sr and Ann met while taking part in a Russian language class at the University of Hawaii. The pair soon hit it off, and in less than a year after they met, they were married on Feb 2, 1961. After Barack was born, Obama Sr. moved to Massachusetts to attend Harvard, in hopes to earn his Ph.D. Overwhelmed by the distance, Barack’s parents would then separate and then finally divorce in 1964, when Barack was just two years old. Barack Sr. made the decision to move back to Kenya where he eventually settled down. In 1965, Ann met a young man at the University of Hawaii who was from Indonesia. The two would later marry, and with the younger Barack in tow they moved to Jakarta, Indonesia. In 1970, Barack would become a big brother to his half-sister Maya.

Life was rough in Indonesia and after several incidents that made Ann fearful for her family’s safety, she sent Barack back to Hawaii to live with his grandparents. Eventually, his mother and sister would move back to Hawaii to join them and settle down. Barack excelled academically, and in 1979 graduated with honors from Punahou Academy. During his time at the academy, he was one of three black students who attended and became culturally aware of the racism and how it affected him. As a man of mixed race and not seeing anyone who looked like him, those were the years that he needed his father most. However, in 1981, tragedy would strike and Barack Sr was in a serious car accident that claimed both of his legs. Not only had he lost his ability to walk, but he lost his job as well. One year later, he was in yet another serious car accident that would claim his life. Barack said about his father 'At the time of his death, my father remained a myth to me.” Upon graduating high school, Barack attended Occidental College in L.A. for two years. He then attended Columbia University in New York City graduating in 1983. With a Political Science degree under his belt, Barack moved to Chicago where he worked as a Community Organizer on the Southside.

His passion for helping those who were lower income and in poverty, showed throughout his time there. He took some time away and travelled to Kenya to visit family. While he was there, he visited his father's grave and “wept” as he tried to figure out what his place in this world that didn’t look like him, would be. After returning from Kenya in 1988, he attended Harvard Law School. A year after he had begun, he became a research assistant to Laurence Tribe, a constitutional law professor. During that same year, he joined a law firm and began as a summer associate. There, he met a young, beautiful and vibrant lawyer, named Michelle Robinson, who was tasked to be his advisor. The two started dating shortly after and Barack was elected as the first African-American editor to the Harvard Law Review. In 1991, he graduated Harvard Law School magna cum laude. Once he finished law school, he returned to Chicago to teach constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School and he was also a civil rights' lawyer with a local firm. On October 3, 1992 Barack and Michelle wed and moved to Chicago’s south side to settle down. Six years later, they welcomed a daughter, Malia and three years following, Sasha. Barack decided that with his knowledge of politics and his love for helping his community that he would run for Illinois State Senate (D), and won. During his time as a senator he made it a purpose to work with both Democrats and Republicans alike to help draft legislation on programs for the poor, ethics and education. In 2000 he ran for the House of Representatives but lost. In 2004 he ran for the U.S. Senate seat and with seventy percent of the votes, won by a landslide. He became the third African-American elected to the Senate since the Reconstruction.

Still not satisfied with his position in politics, in 2007, Barack announced his bid to run for presidency. He was going up against Hillary Clinton to for the democratic ticket and won. She would then go on to support Barack throughout the remainder of his campaign. On November 4, 2008, Barack Obama defeated John McCain and won the election as the 44th president of the United States, making him the first African-American to ever do so. On that day, history would forever be changed as African Americans and people of color saw Barack Obama as a beacon of hope for our nation. On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama was sworn into office to begin his term as president. Many people have speculated that the day he took office, he took on the mess that was created by outgoing president George W. Bush. Obama was facing two ongoing wars, global economic recession and a list of other things he needed to deal with that the American people desperately needed. During his first 100 days, Obama was quite busy making much needed changes for the U.S. including expanding healthcare for children and providing legal protection for women seeking equal pay. Throughout his first term, he worked hard to mend broken relations with Europe, China and Russia, he revamped America’s foreign policy, and withdrew almost all of the troops out of Iraq. He was determined to show America that he was the right man for the job and intended on delivering as much as he could while he was in office. In October of the same year, Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, being only the fourth U.S. president to accomplish such a feat. Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his remarkable efforts to strengthen international statesmanship and collaboration between people.

In 2012, he campaigned yet again for a second term, and won. A month after he won his second term, tragedy struck the United States as one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history took place in Newtown, Connecticut. He delivered a heartfelt speech two days later, letting the American people know that acts of hatred and terrorism would not be tolerated and he would tighten up the reigns on stricter gun control. In 2013, a terrorist attack took place at the Boston Marathon, where three people were killed and more than 200 injured. That same month, Congress shot down his measures of tighter gun control and the bill was blocked and withdrawn. During his term, many things can be pointed out that did not sit well with the American people. For one, the government suffered a 16-day shut-down due to the Affordable Care Act being rejected and a disagreement over the federal budget. Next, there was the failed launch of the Heathcare.gov website which was meant to allow people to find and pay for affordable health insurance. People were frustrated and his approval ratings dropped to 37 percent.