Characteristics of Obama. Biography

Barack Obama, whose biography is closely connected with politics, is the first black president in US history. Having broken a huge number of different conventions, this man became a real legend during his lifetime.

An outstanding politician has a cool mind and a warm heart. He is the forty-fourth President of the United States. Barack Obama became a senator in 2009. Before his election as president, he served as a senator from American state Illinois. Barack Obama went through a difficult path of development in his life. Brief biography outstanding politician will be of interest to many readers.

Childhood

A well-known contemporary politician was born in 1961 in Honolulu. This sunny and warm city is the only metropolis on the Hawaiian Islands. Barack Obama's birthday is August 4th.

The meeting of the boy's parents took place at the University of Hawaii. Barack's father - Barack Hussein Obama Sr. - was a black Kenyan who came to the United States in order to get higher education at the University of Hawaii. Mother current president- Stanley Any Dunham. This white American woman studied in the same educational institution anthropology.

When his son was still an infant, Obama Sr. went to Harvard to continue his studies. Due to financial difficulties, his family did not accompany him. For some time, Barack's parents maintained a relationship. However, when his son reached the age of two, Obama Sr. left the United States alone. He moved to live in Kenya, where he was offered a position as an economist in the government apparatus. He filed for divorce from his wife.

New family

Barack Obama spent almost his entire life without a father. His only support was his mother. When her son was six years old, Anie Dunham remarried. A foreign student again became her new chosen one. The birthplace of her second husband, Lolo Sutoro, was Indonesia. Soon Barack's half-sister, Maya, was born. After some time, the whole family went to their stepfather’s homeland - Indonesia. There the future president of America spent his childhood odes.

Primary education

While in Jakarta, where the family lived, the boy attended secondary school. He studied there until the fourth grade. Obama Jr. then returned to Hawaii. There he is to his mother. In the Hawaiian Islands future president continued his education at a private school. It was the prestigious Panejou establishment. is still proud of its graduates, including famous actors and athletes. Not last place Barack Obama is also on this list.
While studying at school, the boy was fond of basketball. The team he was on won the state championship in 1979.

Many years later, childhood memories were reflected in a book written by Barack Obama. A brief biography and the main stages of the development of the current president were outlined in a work entitled “Dreams of My Father.”

Higher education

After graduating from school in 1979, the future president moved with Hawaiian Islands to Los Angeles. Here he continued his education, entering Western College. However, his studies were short-lived. Obama soon swapped Los Angeles for New York. In the largest metropolis in the United States, the future politician decided to continue his education at Columbia University.

It was here that the career of an outstanding politician, who is now Barack Obama, began. His biography public figure, who later became president, traces his origins to his period of work in an international business corporation. Here he received the position of editor in the department dealing with financial information.

Start of a career

After receiving a diploma from Columbia University and a bachelor's degree, Barack moved to Chicago. In this metropolis, he served as a community organizer in the most disadvantaged areas. It was at this job that Barak realized the need for changes in politics and legislation, which, in his opinion, should improve life ordinary people.

Obtaining a legal education

In 1988, the future politician decided to continue his studies. He attended the School of Law. As a student, Obama worked as an editor for the university newspaper. He was the first African American to be entrusted with this post. In 1990, the New York Times newspaper mentioned him. She spoke in her news about the first black president at the Harvard Lawyers Club. It was the first time in the one hundred and four years of the Club's existence that an African American had filled this position.

Further career

After graduation, the future politician returned to Chicago. Here Barack Obama, whose biography continued in the legal field, defended victims of discrimination in court. In addition, the future president taught classes at the University of Chicago Law School and worked at the headquarters of the Democratic Party.

He raised questions voting rights and collaborated with a small law firm.

Barack Obama is best known as a man who fought against racial discrimination, as a liberal, and as a supporter of a system that would provide universal health insurance.

Senator position

Already in the early 90s, the future president was a member of the Democratic Party. In 1996, Barack Obama became a senator in Illinois. His biography as a major political figure began with the unification of the work of the Republican and Democratic parties, which were in constant confrontation. How many years was Barack Obama destined to remain in this position? The future president served as a senator for eight years. This was the period from 1997 to 2004. It was during these years that Obama advocated the withdrawal of troops from Iraq and was opposed to the creation of a North American zone in which it was planned to allow free trade. One of the main directions in the politician’s political doctrine is support for low-income families.

US Senate seat

In 2004 political career Barack Obama got his further development. He began running for a seat in the US Senate from Illinois. His chances of success increased significantly after his Republican opponent, Jack Ryan, withdrew his candidacy due to scandalous allegations made after his

07/29/2004, participating in the election race, outstanding politician delivered a speech in which he addressed the Democratic National Convention. Barack Obama's speech was broadcast on television. It was this speech that brought the future president wide popularity in the country. In his address, Obama called the entire nation to the origins of American society. He expressed hope that the United States would be given the status of a country of great opportunity, which he illustrated using examples from the life of his father and his own biography.

The performance played an important role. The victory in the Senate elections was won by a significant margin. Obama beat Republican Alan Keyes. He began his duties in the Senate in January 2005. It is worth saying that in US history, Barack Obama became the fifth black senator. The future president was included in several committees that dealt with problems environment, public works, veterans' affairs and international relations.

As before, Obama involved Republicans in resolving a number of issues. Together with them he worked on legislative acts, allowing for more transparent government activities. During this period, the future US president visited Russia for the first time. The purpose of his trip was to discuss issues of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Obama's vote in the Senate was generally consistent with the liberal Democratic Party's position. During this period, the politician paid great attention to the development of alternative energy sources.

Presidential elections

How many years did it take Barack Obama to become one of the most prominent politicians Washington? Already by the fall of 2006, observers highly assessed his chances of winning in the By the beginning of 2007, Obama was already second on the list of favorites of the Democratic Party after Hillary Clinton. In January he created an evaluation committee. This became the initial stage of participation in the presidential elections. In February 2007, fifteen percent of Democrats were ready to vote for Barack Obama, and forty-three percent were ready to vote for Hillary Clinton. In early June of that year, the gap had narrowed significantly. Clinton was able to collect only three percent more votes.

Future President Barack Obama emphasized political and economic issues in his election speeches. He, as before, promoted the idea of ​​withdrawing troops from Iraq. Obama's speeches also contained various proposals that were supposed to support the existence of the least affluent sections of the American population.
These ideas of the presidential candidate soon received a response from the people of the country.

To carry out election campaign a special fund was created, which received fifty-eight million dollars. Moreover, almost a third of this amount came from donations from ordinary Americans. Such support from the common population allowed Obama to completely abandon budget financing your participation in the company. The result of the US presidential elections was the victory of an outstanding black politician.

High post

On January 20, 2007, a liberal, democrat and the first African-American president in US history occupied the Oval Hall in the White House. Barack Obama's age at that time was forty-five years old.

As President outstanding figure carried out a number of global reforms that affected the economic and political sphere life activity of the USA. It was with his participation that the Senate adopted an anti-crisis bill. Basic provisions of this document contained a number of measures to support the country's economy. In addition, a decision was made to withdraw American troops from Iraq. Obama carried out health care reform and adopted a whole series of important laws.

New election

Barack Obama's first term as president ended in 2011. Before it ended, he announced his decision to take part in a new campaign for a place in the White House.
Americans elected Obama for a second term. At the same time, he was head and shoulders above his competitors.

The majority of the population of all states of the country voted for the first black president of America. In his campaign speeches, Obama expressed regret about the economic situation that has developed in the United States. However, he assured his constituents that the bulk of the work had not yet been done.

The poor economic situation in the country was the main trump card of his rival, Romney. He urged voters to vote for real change. Observers believed the candidates' results would be close, and lawyers on both sides were already preparing for legal proceedings. However, this did not happen. determined Obama's victory. It was its population that gave the number of votes needed for Barack to win. The election results were also recognized by Romney supporters, which is important.

Personal life

The current president of America is married. Barack Obama's wife is practicing lawyer Michelle Obama (before her marriage - Robinson). Their marriage took place in 1992. In America, the family of Michelle and Barack is considered exemplary. The impeccability of the wife plays a positive role in the reputation of the head of state.

Michelle is an exceptional woman. She fully supports her husband and has a subtle sense of style. Michelle helps her husband in every possible way and walks through life next to him. She became Obama's top adviser. Barack himself does not hide this. He openly says that he certainly discusses most important political matters with his wife. Michelle is involved in her husband's image and is directly involved in writing his political speeches. In 2010, according to Forbes magazine, she was recognized as the most influential woman on our planet.

The Obama family has two daughters. The eldest, Malia Ann, was born in 1998. Three years later she had a younger sister, Natasha.

Barack Hussein Obama Jr. is born. Barack's parents studied at the University of Hawaii, where they met. Barack Hussein Obama Sr. is a black Kenyan, Stanley Anne Dunham's mother is a white American. When Barack Obama was just born, his father left to continue studying economics. Due to financial difficulties, my father left on his own. Two years later, he moved to Kenya, where he was offered a government job. Long separations destroyed the family and the parents divorced.

When Barak was 6 years old, his mother remarried an Indonesian foreign student. Stepfather Lolo Soetoro transported new family to Indonesia. Barack Obama stayed in Indonesia for four years.

Barak received his first education at one of the schools in Jakarta. After which he returned to his mother’s parents in Hawaii. In 1979, Obama graduated from the capital's privileged private school, Punahou. The name of the school was made by its graduates, including famous actors and athletes. During his studies, Barack Obama was fond of basketball. His team won the 1979 state championship. That same year, Obama Junior graduated from school, taking an honorable place in the lists of famous graduates. Much later, in 1995, Barack Obama admitted in his memoirs that he used marijuana and cocaine in school, which caused his academic performance to plummet.

Barack then entered Occidental College in , but soon transferred to Columbia University, from which he graduated with a Bachelor's degree in 1983. It was here, at Columbia University, that Obama began to emerge as a politician. After university, Barack Obama worked for a year as an editor in the financial information department.

In 1985, Barack Obama moved to, where he got a job as a “social organizer” at one of the charitable church organizations. This work significantly influenced his political views. Helping the poor, the future president realized that the country needed changes, both in legislative framework, and in politics in general.

In 1988, Barack Obama sat down to his textbooks again. He begins to study law at Harvard. In 1990, he became the first black editor of the Harvard Love Review. This year, the New York Times will name him the first "black" president of the Harvard Lawyers' Club in the club's one hundred and four years of existence.

In 1991, after graduating, he returned to Chicago, where he practiced law. Its main feature was protecting the rights of victims of discrimination. During this time, he also worked on the Democratic staff and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago (1993-2004). In addition, Barak also worked part-time at the private law firm Miner, Barnhill and Galand.

Baraka became known for his liberal views; he was against the creation of the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA). In addition, he always fought against racial discrimination and supported a system of universal health insurance.

The first book, “Dreams Inherited from Father,” will be published in 1995 and will bring Barack Obama great fame.

In 1996, Obama won election to the State Senate. A little later, in the Washington Post, Obama will be noted as a politician who managed to unite the goals of Republicans and Democrats. It was in Illinois that Barack Obama's political career began. From 1997 to 2004 – Obama was a representative of the Democratic Party.

In 2000, Obama ran for the House of Representatives for the first time. The attempt was doomed to failure. The election was won by former Black Panther movement member Bobby Rush. In , Barack Obama was one of the initiators of preschool education. He worked with Republicans and Democrats to develop government programs for the poor through tax cuts. Obama insisted on the need to tighten control over the activities of investigative agencies. In 2002, he spoke harshly of Bush's policies regarding the Iraq War.

In 2004, he entered the race for a seat in the US Senate. In the primaries, he successfully beat six opponents. In addition, the departure of one of his opponents from the Republicans played into Obama's hands. The reason for Jack Ryan's departure was a divorce scandal.

On July 29, 2004, Obama delivered his national convention address. Obama's speech was broadcast on television and brought considerable fame to the politician. In his speech, Barack Obama reminded Americans to return America to its status as a land of “open opportunity.” As an example, he used facts from the biography of his family. This appeal predetermined the outcome of the election, which Obama won by a margin of 70% to 27% over his opponent, Alan Keyes.

January 4, 2005 - Obama became the fifth African-American senator in US history. Obama worked with several committees at once: the Committee on international relations, Environmental Protection, Veterans Affairs and Public Works.

In the Senate, Obama continues to cooperate with the Republican Party. Together with the Republicans, Barack Obama is working on changes to the legislative framework regarding transparency in government activities. In addition, Obama is visiting Russia with Republican Senator Richard Lugar. The purpose of the trip was to establish cooperation in the field of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. However, in the Senate, Obama always adhered to the liberal Democratic line. In addition, the senator showed considerable interest in questions about the development of alternative energy sources.

The senator quickly won the sympathy of the media and became one of key figures in the capital. In the fall of 2006, forecasts regarding President Obama were made for the first time. And already in 2007 he became a dangerous competitor for Hillary Clinton. A committee was created in January to evaluate election forecasts. According to statistics, 15% of Democrats supported Barack Obama, and 43% supported Hilary Clinton. But already in June 2007, the gap between the candidates was only 3%.

In January 2007, a scandal erupted around Obama. Someone spread information that the senator studied in Indonesia at an Islamic school-madrasa, where representatives of the radical Muslim sect of the Wahhabis taught. The information was refuted, but many began to distrust the running candidate.

On February 10, a rally was organized in Springfield, Illinois, at which Obama publicly announced for the first time that he was ready to enter the fight for the presidency. He promised the Americans that if they won, he would withdraw American troops from Iraq by the early spring of 2009, he also criticized the administration of President Bush for significant gaps and shortcomings in eliminating dependence on oil supplies, as well as in the educational system.

On February 13, another rally was held in the state, at which Obama recklessly accused Bush of the fact that people were dying in Iraq in vain. After which, Obama publicly apologized many times and made excuses for having expressed himself incorrectly. With his intention to end the war in Iraq, Barack Obama caused a storm of protest not only in the country, but also abroad. For example, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said that Obama is following the plans of terrorists.

In February 2007, Obama was supported by the founder of the DreamWorks film company, David Geffin. Geffin has supported Bill Clinton in the past. Geffin announced that Hillary Clinton is not yet capable of uniting the nation in such a difficult time for the country. David Geffin initiated a campaign to collect donations in favor of Barack Obama; Hollywood celebrities raised $1.3 billion. But harsh statements towards Hillary Clinton undermined Obama's chances, after which the difference between the candidates reached 12% (24% of Democrats supported Obama, and 36% supported Clinton).

But there was another problem - Obama was African-American. This issue worried not only representatives of the white population, but also influential African-American figures. They did not see him as one of their own, since Obama's ancestors were never slaves and did not take part in uprisings for the rights of the African-American population. In addition, it turns out that Obama had slave owners in his family.

In 1992, Obama married lawyer Michelle Robinson Obama. They had two daughters: Malia and Sasha. According to the official biography, the couple are parishioners of the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.

Barack Obama is the author of two famous books. In 1995, the memoir “Dreams from My Father” was published, and in 2006, the bestseller “The Audacity of Hope” was published. The audio version of the first edition broke all sales records and in 2006 Obama received a Grammy Award for the book.

His parents met at the University of Hawaii. Father - Barack Hussein Obama Sr. came to the United States from Kenya to study economics. His mother, white American Stanley Ann Dunham, studied anthropology. His parents separated when Barack was two years old. My father went to Harvard to continue his studies, and then went back to Kenya. Anne Dunham married again - to an Indonesian student.

In 1967, Obama moved to Indonesia, and in 1980 he returned to Hawaii, where he graduated from private school. After school, Barack Obama entered Los Angeles Occidental College, from where he transferred to Columbia University, where he majored in political science and international relations.

After graduating from college, Obama worked as a consultant for the Business International Corporation and then for the New York Public Interest Research Group.
In 1985, he moved to Chicago, where he worked in one of the church charity groups, helping residents of disadvantaged areas of the city.

In 1988, Barack Obama entered Harvard Law School.
After graduating, he returned to Chicago and worked in a law firm for nine years. At the same time, he taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School.

In 1996, Barack Obama was elected to the Illinois State Senate, where he represented the Democratic Party for eight years, from 1997 to 2004.

In 2004, he ran for election to the vacant seat in the US Senate from Illinois and was able to get 70% of the vote. Barack Obama became the fifth black senator in US history.

On January 10, 2007, Democratic Senator Barack Obama officially announced the start of the race for the presidency of the United States.

Barack Obama's announcement of entering the presidential race was made in the capital of Illinois, Springfield. The place was symbolic, since it was here, in the Illinois Legislature, that the career of the youngest American senator, 45-year-old Barack Obama, began.

September 7, 2012 Barack Obama from the Democratic Party in the upcoming November 6 presidential election.

On October 9, 2009, the Nobel Committee announced US President Barack Obama as the recipient of the Peace Prize for his “extraordinary efforts” in strengthening international diplomacy to create a world without nuclear weapons.

Barack Obama is the author of three books. In 1995, he published a memoir, Dreams from My Father, and in 2006, a book, The Audacity of Hope. Both books became bestsellers. In November 2010, “Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters,” which Obama wrote before he became head of state.

Since 1992, Barack Obama has been married to Michelle Robinson Obama. They have two daughters - Malia and Sasha.

Barack Obama belongs to the United Church of Christ congregation, which he joined as an adult.

According to Obama, his main hobbies are basketball and poker.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. is the current (since January 20, 2009) 44th President of the United States of America. Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize 2009. Before being elected president, he was a U.S. Senator from Illinois.

The first African American to be nominated for President of the United States by one of the two major parties; Unlike most black Americans, Obama is not a descendant of slaves, but the son of a student from Kenya.

Born on August 4, 1961 in Honolulu, the capital of the state of Hawaii. His parents met at the University of Hawaii. Father, black Kenyan Barack Hussein Obama Sr., came to the United States to study economics. His mother, white American Stanley Ann Dunham, studied anthropology. When Barack was still a baby, his father went to continue his studies at Harvard, but due to financial difficulties he did not take his family with him. When his son was two years old, Obama Sr. went alone to Kenya, where he received a position as an economist in the government apparatus. He divorced his wife.

When Barack was six years old, Anne Dunham remarried, again to a foreign student, this time an Indonesian. Together with his mother, half-sister and stepfather Lolo Soetoro, the boy went to Indonesia, where he spent four years. He studied at one of the public schools in Jakarta. Then he returned to Hawaii and lived with his mother's parents.

In 1979 he graduated from the privileged private school Punahou School in Honolulu. A school that is proud of its famous alumni - actors and athletes. During his school years, Obama's big hobby was basketball. He won the 1979 state championship as a member of the Punahaou team. In the same 1979, Barack Obama graduated from school, and now he honorably occupies not the last place in the lists of famous graduates of this school. In his memoirs, published in 1995, Obama himself recalled that in high school he used marijuana and cocaine, and his grades declined.

After school, Obama studied at Occidental College in Los Angeles, then transferred to Columbia University, where he graduated in 1983, where Obama began to emerge as a politician and public figure.

In 1983, with a Bachelor's degree, Barack Obama began working in a large International Business Corporations, as an editor in the financial information department. Obama will work there for a year, his first job out of college.

After that, in 1985 he settled in Chicago and worked in one of the church charity groups. As a “social organizer” he helped residents of disadvantaged areas of the city. It was his experience working in charity that made him realize that changes in legislation and policy are needed to improve people's lives.

In 1988, Obama entered Harvard Law School, where in 1990 he became the first black editor of the university's Harvard Law Review. This is not all of Obama's successes at Harvard in 1990. The New York Times will write about the news that he has become the first black president of the Harvard Lawyers' Club in its one hundred and four-year history. In 1991, Obama graduated and returned to Chicago. Engaged in legal practice, mainly defending victims in court different types discrimination. In addition, Obama worked at the headquarters of the Democratic Party, taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School, and worked on election law issues at the small law firm Miner, Barnhill and Galand. Obama became known as a liberal, an opponent of the creation of NAFTA - the North American Free Trade Area, a fighter against racial discrimination, and a supporter of a system of universal health insurance.

In 1993, Barack Obama began teaching a course on Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago Law School. Obama will work there until 2004. Until the year of his election to the US Senate.

In 1995, Obama would write and publish his first book, Dreams From His Father. A book that will bring glory to the future senator.

In 1996, Obama would win the Illinois Senate election. And subsequently, making a political review of the senator’s work, an article in the Washington Post newspaper will note Obama’s ability to unite the Democratic and Republican opposing parties in his work.

Obama's political career began in the Illinois State Senate, where he represented the Democratic Party for eight years, from 1997 to 2004.

In 2000, Obama attempted to run for election to the House of Representatives, but lost the primary to incumbent black congressman Bobby Rush. former member the Black Panther movement. In the state Senate, Obama worked with both Democrats and Republicans, working together on government programs to support low-income families through tax cuts. Obama acted as an active supporter of the development of preschool education. He supported measures to tighten control over the work of investigative bodies. In 2002, Obama condemned the George W. Bush administration's plans to invade Iraq.

In 2004, Obama entered the race for one of the Illinois seats in the US Senate. In the primaries, he managed to win a convincing victory over six opponents. Obama's chances of success increased when his Republican opponent, Jack Ryan, was forced to withdraw his candidacy due to scandalous allegations brought against Ryan during his divorce proceedings.

On July 29, 2004, during the election campaign, Obama addressed the Democratic National Convention. His speech, which was broadcast on television, brought Obama wide fame in the United States. The senatorial candidate urged listeners to return to the roots of American society and once again make the United States a land of “open opportunity”: he illustrated the ideal of open opportunity through the example of his own biography and the biography of his father.

In the Senate elections, Obama defeated Republican Alan Keyes by a large margin (70% to 27%). He took office on January 4, 2005 and became the fifth African-American senator in US history. Obama served on several committees: Environment and Public Works, Veterans Affairs, and Foreign Relations.

As he previously did in the state Senate, Obama collaborated with Republicans on a number of issues, including work on government transparency legislation. In addition, Obama visited Russia together with the famous Republican Senator Richard Lugar: the trip was dedicated to cooperation in the field of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. In general, Obama voted in the Senate in accordance with the liberal line of the Democratic Party. Special attention he focused on the idea of ​​developing alternative energy sources.

Senator Obama was able to unusually quickly win the sympathy of the press and become one of the most prominent figures in Washington. By the fall of 2006, observers already considered it quite possible for him to be nominated in the next presidential elections. At the beginning of 2007, Obama was in second place after Senator Hillary Clinton on the list of Democratic Party favorites. In January, Obama created an assessment committee to prepare for the presidential election. As of early February 2007, 15 percent of Democrats were ready to support Obama, and 43 percent were ready to support Clinton. The data at the beginning of June 2007 exceeded the most optimistic forecasts of Obama supporters - the gap was only 3 percent in favor of Hillary Clinton.

In January 2007, Obama faced scandalous accusations. Information began to spread in the press that while living in Indonesia, he allegedly studied at an Islamic madrasah school, where representatives of the radical Muslim sect of the Wahabbits preached. These accusations were denied, but left a significant negative imprint on Obama's image.

On February 10, at a rally in Springfield, Illinois, Obama announced his entry into the presidential race. If he wins, he promised to withdraw American troops from Iraq by March 2009. Along with the Iraq campaign, he criticized the Bush administration for insufficient progress in combating oil dependence and developing the education system. Soon, on February 13, at another rally in Iowa, Obama made a reckless statement. Criticizing Bush's Iraq policy, he said the lives of American troops killed in Iraq were "wasted." He had to repeatedly apologize and explain that he had expressed his thoughts poorly. Obama's stance on Iraq and his plans to withdraw troops were critically received by Bush supporters not only in the United States, but also abroad. One of the American president's allies, Australian Prime Minister John Howard, announced that Obama's plans play into the hands of terrorists.

In February 2007, Obama was supported by David Geffen, one of the founders of the film company DreamWorks, in the past one of Bill Clinton's prominent supporters. Geffin said that Hillary Clinton is too controversial a figure and will not be able to unite Americans in difficult times for the country. Together with others Hollywood celebrities Geffin organized an event to collect donations in favor of Obama - the amount collected reached $1.3 billion. Geffin's harsh comments against Clinton were associated with a narrowing of the gap between the former first lady and Obama: at the end of February the difference was 12 percent. 36 percent of Democrats were ready to vote for Clinton, and 24 percent for Obama.

One of vulnerabilities Obama's candidate was questioned about his affiliation with "African-Americans." As it turned out, some representatives of the black population, including the most influential representatives of this minority, were in no hurry to recognize Obama as one of their own. The fact is that, unlike a “real” American Negro, Obama is not a descendant of slaves brought to the American continent from West Africa. In addition, the senator did not have the opportunity to participate in the fight for the rights of blacks - unlike most African-American American politicians. The situation worsened when, in early March 2007, the press reported that Obama's maternal family included slave owners.

Obama has been married to lawyer Michelle Robinson Obama since 1992. They have two daughters: Malia and Sasha. IN official biographies it is reported that Obama and his wife are parishioners of one of Christian churches in Chicago - Trinity United Church of Christ. Barack Obama is the author of two books: in 1995, he published the memoir “Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance,” which we already mentioned, and in 2006, the book “The Audacity of Hope” ( The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream). The audio version of the first book won a Grammy Award in 2006. Both of Obama's books became bestsellers.

In the 2008 presidential election, Obama beat incumbent Republican candidate John McCain with 52.7% of the popular vote and 365 Electoral College votes.

On October 9, 2009 received Nobel Prize peace with the wording "for extraordinary efforts in strengthening international diplomacy and cooperation between people." Obama became the third US president, after Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, to receive the Nobel Peace Prize while in office (it was also awarded to former President Jimmy Carter).

Barack Obama's father, Barack Obama Sr., was born in Kenya on April 4, 1936, married at the age of 18, but then left his wife and young son to go to study at the University of Hawaii, where he met student Stanley Ann Dunham (b. 29 November 1942), with whom he soon marries.

Barack Obama Sr.

In this marriage, on August 4, 1961, the future US President Barack Hussein Obama was born. In January 1964, Obama's parents divorced. Obama's father returns to his Kenyan family after completing his studies. In Kenya, Barack Obama Sr. becomes a major official, but after he published an article in which Obama criticized the national plan for building African socialism in Kenya, his career was destroyed. In 1982, Barack Obama Sr. died in a car accident. It should be noted that after him there were 8 children left from 4 marriages.

Anne Dunham, the mother of Barack Obama Jr., after divorcing his father, married an Indonesian student and Barack Obama spent several years in Indonesia, then returning to Hawaii to live with his grandmother.

In 1972, Anne Dunham separated from her Indonesian husband and devoted herself to raising her son and continuing her education. In 1992, Ann completed her doctorate in anthropology at the University of Hawaii. On November 7, 1995, Barack Obama's mother died of cancer.

After the divorce, Barack Obama saw his father only once (at the age of ten), so the personality of the future US president was formed mainly under the influence of his mother. In his book The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Revival American dream" (2006) Barack Obama, talking about his path to God, recalls that considerable credit for this belongs to his mother, although she was not a believer:

“In our house, the Bible, the Koran, the Bhagavad Gita stood on the shelf next to books on ancient Greek, Scandinavian and African mythologies. At Easter or Christmas, my mother could take me to church, just as she took me to a Buddhist temple, on a Chinese holiday New Year, to the Shinto temple and to the ancient burial places of the Hawaiians. But I was given to understand that all these attempts at religion do not require persistent adherence from me - no effort to dig inside myself or self-flagellation. human culture, she explained, is not its source, but only one of many ways - and not necessarily the best - in which a person tries to control the unknowable and understand the deep mysteries of life.
In short, my mother looked at religion through the eyes of the ethnologist she later became; This is a phenomenon that must be treated with all respect, but at the same time with appropriate detachment."
“Yet, despite all her learned worldliness, my mother was in many ways the most spiritually awakened person I have ever known. She had an unshakable natural capacity for kindness, mercy and love and very often acted under the influence of this capacity, sometimes to her own detriment. Without the help of religious texts or outside authority, she succeeded admirably in instilling in me the values ​​that many Americans are taught in Sunday school: honesty, empathy, discipline, the rejection of immediate gratification for the sake of achieving goals, and hard work. She resented poverty and injustice, and she despised those who were indifferent to this.
First of all, she acutely felt the miracle, was in awe of life, its preciousness and fleetingness. This sense of wonder and reverence for life could rightly be called pious. She would see a picture, read a line of a poem, or hear music, and I would see tears welling up in her eyes. Sometimes, when I was growing up, she would wake me up in the middle of the night to look at a particularly beautiful moon, or make me close my eyes as we walked together in the twilight and listened to the rustling of leaves. She loved to take children - any children - and sit them on her lap and tickle them, or play games with them, or look at their palms, explore the wonder of bones and tendons and skin and rejoice in the truths that could be discovered in them. She saw secrets everywhere and rejoiced in the very strangeness of life.
Only in hindsight, of course, do I fully understand how deeply this spirit of hers influenced me - how it supported me despite the absence of my father in the house, how it helped me overcome the underwater reefs of adolescence and how it invisibly guided me on the path that I would eventually take. finally gone."

Anne Dunham, mother of Barack Obama

After college, Barack Obama took up social work for a group of churches in Chicago:

"Working with pastors and lay people has strengthened my resolve to lead social life, strengthened my racial consciousness and deepened my faith in the ability of ordinary people to do amazing things. But the experience in Chicago also presented me with a dilemma that my mother never solved in her entire life: I did not belong to any group, did not adhere to common traditions in which my deepest feelings could find support. beliefs. The Christians I worked with recognized themselves in me; they saw that I knew their Scripture, shared their values ​​and sang their songs. But they felt that part of me remained on the sidelines, remaining an observer. I realized that without a vessel for my faith, without committing myself uniquely to any particular religious community, on some level I would always remain on the outside, free just like my mother, but just as alone as She was endlessly lonely."

Barack Obama began to study the African-American spiritual tradition:

"Faith was not just a consolation for the despondent or a barrier from death, faith became active, noticeable acting force in the world. In the daily work of the men and women I saw every day in the church, in their ability to find a way out of impossible situations and to maintain hope and dignity in the most difficult situations, I saw the Word incarnate.
And probably, precisely thanks to the deep knowledge of suffering, the justification of faith in the struggle, the “black” church gave me a second insight: faith does not mean that you have no doubts or that you renounce everything worldly. Long before it became fashionable among television preachers, mainstream Negro preaching freely acknowledged that all Christians (including pastors) can experience the same greed, resentment, lust and anger as everyone else. Gospel songs, dancing, tears and screams all spoke of releasing, acknowledging and ultimately channeling those emotions. In the black community the line between sinner and saved was more fluid; the sins of those who entered the Church were not so different from the sins of those who did not enter, and were as likely to be spoken of with humor as with condemnation. You had to enter the Church precisely because you are from this world, not apart from it; rich, poor, sinner, saved, you had to accept Christ precisely because you have sins to wash away - because you are human and need an ally on your difficult path to level the mountains and valleys and crooked paths make it straight.
It is precisely thanks to these new discoveries that religious faith does not require me to stop thinking critically, to abandon the struggle for economic and social justice or otherwise leave the world I know and love, I was finally able to walk through the United Church of Christ one day and be baptized. This was the result of a conscious choice, not a sudden revelation; the questions I had didn't magically disappear. But as I knelt under that cross on Chicago's South Side, I felt the spirit of God calling me. I submitted to His will and dedicated myself to discovering His truth."

In the 2008 US presidential election, 53% of religious Americans voted for Obama.

Wife and family

Having found an ally in God, Obama soon received new spiritual support in the person of Michelle Robinson, who became his wife and First Lady of the United States. Michelle was born on January 17, 1964 in Chicago. Michelle, unlike Barack Obama, is a descendant of American slaves. Obama adores his wife and writes about her in his book The Audacity of Hope:

"Most people who meet my wife quickly come to the conclusion that she is wonderful. They are right about that - she is smart, funny and simply charming. She is also beautiful, but her beauty is not the kind that intimidates men and repels women ; This natural beauty a mother and a busy professional, and not a photoshopped image that we see on the covers of glossy magazines. Often, after hearing her speak at an event, or after working with her on a project, people will come up to me and say something like, “You know, I have a lot of thoughts about you.” good opinion“Barack, but your wife... is just super!” I nod, realizing that if she were my competitor in the election, she would win without much difficulty."

Barack Obama and his wife Michelle

It is worth noting that Barack Obama and his wife are probably the tallest couple among the first couples: Barack Obama is 187 cm tall, and Michelle Obama is 182 cm tall.

Barack Obama with his wife and Dmitry Medvedev with his wife

Obama met his future wife in the summer of 1988, when they both worked at the large law firm Sidley Austin. Although Michelle was younger than Barack, she was already a practicing lawyer, while Obama was then a student intern. Michelle was appointed head of Obama's practice. Obama was captivated by his mentor, but she refused a real date for a long time, because... The romance between a mentor and a subordinate did not fit with work ethics. In the end, Obama persuaded Michelle: their first date took place at Baskin-Robbins cafe while eating ice cream. Then Obama kissed his first future wife, feeling the taste of chocolate on her lips.
In October 1992, Michelle and Barack got married, and in 1998, on US Independence Day (July 4), their daughter Malia was born. On June 10, 2001, a second daughter, Natasha, appeared in the family.

Barack Obama with family

To summarize the above, it can be noted that Barack Obama’s personality was influenced by good heredity, an intelligent and sensitive mother, the feeling of God as his ally, the support of his wife and family, but the main thing that shaped Barack Obama’s personality and made him what he is now is the audacity of hope. The phrase “the audacity of hope,” once heard by Obama in a sermon, was included in the title of his book:

"The audacity of hope.
This is the best of the American spirit, I thought, to have the audacity to believe, against all odds, that we can bring back togetherness a nation torn by conflict; It is the folly of believing that, despite personal failure, job loss, illness of a family member, or a childhood spent in poverty, we can control our destiny—and are therefore responsible for it.
It was precisely this insolence, I thought, that united us into one people. It was this pervasive spirit of hope that connected my family's history with the history of America, and my own story with the history of the voters I strive to represent."