Barack Hussein Obama II (b. 1961) – American politician, bright representative democratic interests, 44th President of the United States, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009. He is the first and so far only black American President.
Birth and family
His dad, Barack Hussein Obama Sr., was a Kenyan by birth, the son of a traditional healer. In 1959, he entered the University of Hawaii for higher education. economic education.
Mom, Stanley Ann Dunham, was from an American Christian family, born in Kansas on a military base. After school, she entered the University of Hawaii to study anthropology, where she met Obama Sr.
While students, Barack Obama's father and mother got married against their parents' wishes. A son was born, but since mom and dad still had to graduate from university, the child was mainly raised by grandmother Madeleine Lee Payne Dunham.
Childhood
The boy was still very young when his father decided to continue his studies at Harvard. Due to the difficult financial situation in the family, he did not take his wife and child with him. For some time they maintained a relationship, but while studying at Harvard, my father met another woman and, having received his diploma, went with her to Kenya. The parents filed for divorce in 1964, and when the boy was six years old, his mother married for the second time, her husband was the Indonesian Lolo Sutoro. They all went to Jakarta together. Later, another girl was born in the family, so Barack has a half-sister on his mother’s side, Maya. Mom died in 1995 from ovarian cancer.
In Jakarta, Obama went to a public school, where he studied for 4 years.
When he was 10 years old, the boy returned to his homeland in Honolulu, lived with his grandmother and studied at the prestigious private Panahou school, from which he graduated in 1979. Barack combined his schooling with basketball, and once his team even won the state championship.
In his youth he tried alcohol, cocaine and marijuana, but realized in time that these “joys” were not for him, it was more important for him to get good things higher education and reach heights in politics, which attracted the guy very much.
Education
After school, Barack moved to Los Angeles, where he entered Occidental College. After two years of study, he transferred to Columbia University, where he chose the Faculty of International Relations. In 1983 he received his bachelor's degree. By this time, the young man was already working hard at the New York research center and at the International Business Corporation.
In 1985, Barack moved to Chicago, where he began working in a church charity group. As a community organizer, he provided assistance to people in disadvantaged areas of the city. Then Obama first thought about the need to somehow improve people's lives. He understood that radical changes in policy and legislation were needed.
In 1988, Obama continued his studies at Harvard University Law School. In 1991, he graduated with honors.
Political career
After Harvard, Obama returned to Chicago, where he busied himself with work:
- worked in court, gaining legal practice;
- also got a job in a small law firm that dealt with issues voting rights;
- was engaged in teaching at the University of Chicago, teaching students constitutional law.
The beginning of Barack's political career is considered to be 1997, when he took the seat of senator from the Democratic Party in Illinois. His main doctrines at that time were as follows:
- withdraw American troops from Iran;
- support low-income families;
- develop preschool education;
- tighten control over US investigative agencies.
In 2004, Obama ran as a candidate for a seat in the US Senate from Illinois. During the election race, he convincingly defeated six opponents.
At the beginning of 2005, Barack began fulfilling his duties in the US Senate and was immediately included in several committees. Developing his active work, Obama quickly won the sympathy of the press and people, and became quite a significant figure in Washington. Already in the fall of 2006, no one doubted that this was one of the obvious contenders for the presidential elections in 2008. In early 2007, Obama announced his decision to enter the presidential race.
In 2008, for the first time, a black politician became President of the United States and entered the White House.
Presidency
Although Obama did not receive the country in the best condition, difficulties did not frighten him. He threw himself into his work and achieved quite significant results during his first term as president.
Among other results of his activities, I would especially like to note:
- complete reform of the healthcare system, during which all US residents received public health insurance;
- The military mission in Iraq was completely completed; in 2010, the last military personnel were withdrawn from the territory of the republic.
In 2012, Obama was elected President of the United States for a second term, which ends in December 2016. In November 2016 he was selected new chapter state - billionaire Donald Trump.
Personal life
Barack's first and only wife is Michelle Lavon Robinson. They met when Obama was just starting his legal career after graduating. Their wedding took place in 1992.
The couple had two girls - Malia Ann in 1998 and Natasha in 2001.
The family has always been support and support for Barack, but he, in turn, puts his wife and daughters first in life; no career, politics or position can be higher family values.
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 The family was destroyed 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 greatly influenced his Political Views. Helping the poor future president realized that the country needed changes, as 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 the 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 it began political career Barack Obama. 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 for tighter controls over activities investigative authorities. 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 Foreign Relations, the Security environment, 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 mass destruction. However, in the Senate, Obama always toe 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 the 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 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 he won, he would withdraw American troops from Iraq by the early spring of 2009. He also criticized the Bush administration 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 collected 1.3 billion US dollars. 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 official biography, the spouses are parishioners christian church 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.
Childhood, education. Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. was born 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. returned alone to Kenya, where he received a position as an economist in the government apparatus. He divorced his wife. In 1982 he died in car accident in Kenya. Obama Jr. did not know his father.
When Barack was six years old, Anne Dunham remarried an Indonesian student. Together with mother stepsister and his 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 in Honolulu. In his later published memoirs, Obama recalled that in high school he used marijuana and cocaine, and his grades declined.
After high school, Obama studied at Occidental College in Los Angeles, then transferred to Columbia University, where he graduated in 1983. The main subjects of study at the university were political science and international relations.
In 1991, Barack Obama received his J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Career. After receiving a bachelor's degree from the university in 1983, Obama worked for a year at the International Business Corporation. He was a financial analyst and author of articles and reports on finance and international business for large corporations.
In 1985 he moved to Chicago. Until 1988, he worked as director of organizing the activities of churches and public organizations. He developed projects for changes in the field of education for the poor, training programs for the unemployed and other social projects. Then he entered Harvard Law School.
In 1990, Barack Obama became the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Club in its 104-year history. In 1991, having received doctorate, returns to Chicago, where a year later he organized and led a local election campaign on several social projects.
In 1993, he took the position of junior employee, and three years later - the post of consultant in the large law firm Miner, Barnhill and Galant. There his interests lay in civil rights and public affairs cases.
In 1996, Barack Obama was elected to the local Senate of Illinois, where he began his activities in the sphere of influence on lawmaking (in such areas as social sector reform, school reform, taxation).
In 1995, Barack Obama's first book, “Dreams Inherited from His Father,” was published, which made the aspiring politician famous and popular. This was the second time that an African-American politician entered into the fashionability of the “black” topic in American society. Later, in 2006, the politician published the book “The Audacity of Hope.” Both books became bestsellers. And the audio version of the first one won a Grammy Award in 2006.
In 2004, Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention made him popular among party members. And that same year, he won a landslide victory in the US Senate elections, beating his Republican rival by more than two to one.
Since January 2005 - Member of the US Senate from Illinois. He became the fifth African-American senator in the history of the United States and at that time the only African-American in the Senate.
Views and assessments. In the Senate, Obama served on several committees: Environment and Public Works, Veterans Affairs, and Foreign Relations. As previously in the state Senate, he collaborated with Republicans on a number of issues, in particular in the development of legislation on government transparency. In general, Obama voted in the Senate in accordance with the liberal line of the Democratic Party. He paid close attention to the idea of developing alternative energy sources.
Senator Obama managed 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, he was in second place after Senator Hillary Clinton on the list of Democratic Party favorites. As of early February 2007, 15% of Democrats were ready to support Obama, and 43% were ready to support Clinton. The data at the beginning of June 2008 exceeded the most optimistic forecasts of his supporters - the gap was only 3% in favor of Hillary, after which the black candidate emerged as a clear leader. And in August, Obama officially became the unified candidate of the Democratic Party.
On November 4, 2008, he beat his Republican competitor in the elections by a significant margin. He was the leader almost throughout the finish line.
Many in the world call him an unpredictable politician who, guided solely by cold reason, strictly observes the national interests of the country entrusted to him. Some still do not understand how this dark-skinned man of Kenyan origin managed to obtain the highest position in a state that professes democratic values. Barack Obama, whose biography contains many interesting and remarkable things, became the forty-fourth president of the United States of America. His political rating rarely fell, but in Lately This is exactly the trend that has emerged. According to experts, the reason for the decline in the authority of the current US president is the use of unpopular methods of doing business in foreign policy.
Childhood years
Barack Obama, whose biography is known to most Americans, is a native of Honolulu, which is located on Hawaiian Islands. He was born on August 4, 1961. Naturally, the question of how old Barack Obama cannot but arouse interest.
He will soon turn fifty-five. It is quite natural that such mature age implies serious political ambitions, which are inherent in the current president. However, not everyone knows not only how old Barack Obama is, but also who his parents are. The father (Barack Obama Sr.) and mother (Stanley Anne Dunham) of the future head of the American state got married as students, and this important step was not approved by their relatives. Naturally, Barack Obama’s dad and mom were forced to devote little time to their offspring, since studying at the university came first for them. The boy was raised by his maternal grandmother.
The family broke up
When he was only two years old, family idyll the end came and the parents divorced. A few years later, Barack Obama's Mother will remarry. In her new marriage, she will give birth to a girl, Maya, who will become the sister of the future US leader.
He mastered the school curriculum at a prestigious institution called “Panehou”.
Barack Obama, for whom family is a priority in life, will later talk about his childhood in his biographical essay “A Father’s Dream.” He will write about how in his youth he “got into all sorts of bad things”: he started using drugs, but was able to stop in time, became addicted to alcohol, but then came to his senses...
After school
Having received his matriculation certificate, Barack Obama, whose biography was just beginning, went to Los Angeles and became a student at Occidental College.
After some time, the young man changes universities: he continues to gnaw on the granite of science, but in New York, at Columbia University. He chose the profession of diplomat for himself. In parallel with his studies, he works in a large international business company and research center.
Legal career
In 1988, after he received his bachelor's degree, Obama decided to get a second higher education and applied to law school at Harvard University, which was located in Chicago. He successfully passes the exams and becomes a student at the above-mentioned university. Again, the young man does not sit idle and gets a job at the university newspaper Harvard Law Review, where he subsequently holds the position of editor.
In 1991, Barack Obama, whose biography is almost flawless, graduated from law school with honors. From that moment on, he began to practice, becoming an ardent advocate for those who suffered from discrimination.
In addition, he devoted a lot of time to teaching, lecturing on constitutional law to students at the University of Chicago.
Beginning of a political career
First steps in big politics the future president began doing this in 1997, when he was elected senator in the state of Illinois. Even then he was an ardent supporter of the US Democratic Party. What were Barack Obama's policies at that time? He declared the need to adopt such major decisions, such as support for the poor, the withdrawal of the American army from Iraq, tougher measures of responsibility for representatives of security forces for the offenses they have committed, and the development of preschool education. The future president's popularity rating has also increased significantly due to the fact that he actively defended those who suffered from racism. The law school graduate also endorsed health insurance reform, which also increased his credibility as a public servant.
Legislative elections
In 2004, another pre-election race for a mandate in the US Senate began. Barack Obama took an active part in it.
His opponent was Republican Jack Ryan. But after a scandal involving his visits to brothels in New York, Paris and New Orleans, he was forced to withdraw his candidacy. As a result, Barack Obama won a crushing victory in the legislative elections.
Political career is rapidly rising
A year later, he became a member of several committees, whose competence included issues of environmental protection, development of international relations, social support for the population, etc. He even went on a working visit to Russia to resolve weapons non-proliferation issues mass destruction. Of course, the US political establishment could not help but notice the vigorous activity of the Kenyan Republican. Articles are beginning to appear regularly in the press about how Obama is successfully coping with his tasks as a congressman.
By the end of 2006, American society began to understand more and more clearly that a leader was emerging on the political Olympus who had a high chance of taking the presidency. And such expectations were soon realized.
Participation in presidential elections
In 2007, a black Republican publicly announced his intention to participate in the election of the head of state and began preparing his political program. And it was based on the decision of the most important social problems. Naturally, the lion's share of American citizens were ready to vote for this politician of Kenyan origin, chanting: “Barack Obama is the President of the United States.”
Moreover, it was ordinary citizens who made a significant contribution to paying off the expenses of the election race. As a result, the law school graduate completely abandoned government funding for his company and was able to get ahead of his competitors.
As a result, Barack Obama became the first black person to serve as head of the American state. His political opponents included Hillary Clinton, but the Honolulu Republican secured 51% of the vote and won.
Presidential post
Obama's first term in office was far from rosy. They demanded a competent solution to the problems of the country’s financial system, which began to increase in relevance since the 30s of the last century. It was necessary to do something about the political instability that had become an integral feature of the United States. But Obama was not intimidated by these difficulties, and he began to systematically put into practice what he promised his voters in his election program. And the 44th President of the United States of America was able to somewhat modernize the political and economic systems in the country, spending about 787 billion dollars for these purposes. In addition, innovations also affected the healthcare system: almost every American received an insurance policy. Barack Obama also completed the American military mission in Iraq, and national army units left the territory of this Middle Eastern country.
Participation in the next elections
In 2012, Americans again faced the question of who would become the country's future president. Obama considered himself worthy of the country's top post and again nominated himself for election.
However, the money in the state treasury for sales election program was close, but the Republican said that all provisions of the anti-crisis bill, if he wins, will be strictly implemented. As a result, Obama was able to raise more than $900 million, and ¼ of this amount was spent only on the maintenance of the election staff. Despite the fact that the political rating of the forty-fourth US president decreased slightly, his position in politics remained strong and he was able to win the presidential elections for the second time
Second term
And the next period of his presidency turned out to be far from cloudless for Obama. Health care reforms were stalled, taxation policies needed updating, and the chemical attack in Syria caused confusion among the public. Gradually, the black Republican began to lose support from voters. During the six months of his second administration, Obama lost 12% of his supporters, and in 2014, 50% of Americans were already dissatisfied with Obama’s policies.
Attitude towards Ukraine and anti-Russian sanctions
The current US President supported the general policy of the State Department regarding the situation that has developed in Ukraine. In his opinion, the Kremlin must stop all attempts to encroach on the independence and territorial integrity of the new state. The initiative to provide comprehensive assistance to the Ukrainian authorities in defending sovereignty is even spelled out in a legislative act that was adopted at the end of 2014. According to its provisions, the United States has the right to supply Kyiv military equipment: anti-tank weapons, unmanned aircraft, artillery radars, etc. At the same time, Barack Obama emphasizes that providing military assistance is a secondary measure, but the use of diplomatic leverage in resolving the conflict is the main task of the United States. Forty-fourth President of the United States of America in destabilization political situation in Ukraine sees Russia's guilt. In this regard, the American authorities introduced a number of sanctions for Moscow.
According to Obama, such a measure will affect the political course pursued by Vladimir Putin. Moreover, as the conflict in southeast Ukraine developed, sanctions became tougher and expanded, but the long-awaited result for America never came. Russian course in foreign policy has not changed, despite the strengthening of negative processes imposed from outside on the economy of our country.
Outside of politics
Personal life current president doesn't hide any secrets. His dark-skinned wife Michelle Obama is far from “ blue bloods“, but despite this, she copes well with the duties of the first lady of the country.
Their acquaintance occurred in 1989, when the Republican of Kenyan origin was just preparing to become a successful lawyer. Of course, the first years of life together, from the point of view of material well-being, were, as they say, “below average.” Barack Obama's wife and future head of the White House, like most married couples, faced life's problems and overcame family troubles, but they did not forget about their feelings for each other and realized the degree of responsibility to their children, so their union did not break up.
In 1998, the first child appeared in the family of the future American president - daughter Malia Ann. Three years later, the second was born - daughter Natasha. Barack Obama's children adore their father, who carefully monitors their upbringing. He often organizes many festive events for children in his country.
Despite the fact that the wife of the head of the White House, Michelle Obama, has established herself as a lady with an impeccable reputation, not all representatives of the American press believe that complete idyll reigns in the president’s family. IN certain circles There are even rumors that a divorce between the forty-fourth President of the United States and his wife is imminent. The reason for their occurrence was the allegedly not entirely decent behavior of Barack Obama at the memorial service for the deceased Nelson Mandela: there was not a shadow of sadness on the face of the American president, he was having fun and smiling. One way or another, there is no official confirmation of the above fact. Whether Barack Obama's wife will file for divorce is also unknown. Outwardly, the country's first couple demonstrates complete harmony in their relationship.
Many are interested in the question of how the head of the White House spends his leisure time. He is active user World Wide Web, has an account in more than ten Internet services. Barack Obama is the author of two best-selling books, as well as the biographical essay "Dreams from My Father." He also wrote a book on political theme entitled “The Audacity of Hope,” which gained great popularity among the world reader.
In the fall of 2009, Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Prize “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation among people.”
Barack Hussein Obama Jr. (eng. Barack Hussein Obama II, pronounced - American state and political figure, 44th President of the United States of America (since January 20, 2009). Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize 2009. Before being elected president, he was a U.S. Senator from Illinois. He was re-elected for a second term in 2012. The first African American to be nominated for President of the United States by one of the two major parties. Zodiac sign - Leo.
Childhood
Barack Obama was born August 4, 1961, in the city of Honolulu, Hawaii. His parents met in 1960 while studying at the University of Hawaii at Manoa; father - Barack Hussein Obama Sr. (1936-1982) - the son of a medicine man from the Luo people. The mission school paid for his studies in Nairobi and sent him to study econometrics at the University of Hawaii, where he organized the Foreign Students Association and became the top of his class.
Obama's mother, Stanley Anne Dunham (1942-1995), was born on a military base in Kansas into a Christian American family, but later became an agnostic. Obama's own religion is Protestantism.
Stanley Ann Dunham is of English, Scottish, Irish and German descent; Barack also has Cherokee ancestry through her mother, Madeleine Lee Payne. The surname Dunham belongs to the American aristocracy and comes from the pioneer settler Richard Singletary and his son Jonathan (1639/40-1724), who for unclear reasons changed his surname to Dunham (family legend traces him to the owners of Dunham Castle in Scotland, which was criminally deprived of it in infancy relatives' inheritance). Stanley Ann was studying anthropology at the University of Hawaii when she met Obama Sr.
Obama Sr.'s father and Dunham's parents were against the marriage, but they married on February 2, 1961. This was the second marriage of 25-year-old Kenyan Barack.
And on August 4, 1961, in the city of Honolulu, on the Hawaiian Islands, Obama Sr.’s fifth child was born, but his first from 18-year-old American Anne Dunham. Obama is mulatto, but, unlike most black Americans, not a descendant of slaves.
The young couple was happy, but their union lasted only 3 years. Two years after the birth of his son, his father went to continue his studies at Harvard, but Dunham and Obama Jr. soon returned to Hawaii. Barack's parents divorced in January 1964.
While studying at Harvard University, Obama Sr. met the American teacher Ruth Nidesand, with whom, after completing his studies in the United States, he went to Kenya. This was his third marriage, which produced two children. In total, my father was married 4 times.
Subsequently, the fate of Obama Sr. was tragic. At first, success awaited him - he worked for an oil company, and then received the position of senior economist in the Kenyan government office at the Ministry of Finance. For criticizing the economic actions of the country's president, Obama Sr. fell out of favor with him, and his career came to an end. Obama started drinking and fell into poverty. He saw his son last time, when Barack was 10 years old. In Kenya, Obama Sr. was involved in a car accident, as a result of which he lost both legs.
After his parents' divorce, Barack Obama lived in Hawaii with his grandparents. His mother starred in explicit photo shoots, and therefore her parents disowned her. Grandmother Madeleine Lee raised the boy for a long time. Barak's grandfather, dissident and revolutionary; like Obama’s father, he fought against the existing political system in Kenya, but unsuccessfully. Hussein Onyango Obama's fight against the British ended with torture, disability and two years in prison. colonial policy In your country. Soon his grandson will spread this policy throughout the world...
Anne Dunham divorced her husband when he started having problems and remarried an Indonesian foreign student, Lolo Sutoro. In 1967, Anne went with him and little Barack to Jakarta. From this marriage, Barack had a half-sister, Maya.
Education, early career
In Jakarta, Obama Jr. attended public school from age 6 to 10. After that, he returned to Honolulu, where he lived with his mother's parents until he graduated from the prestigious private school Panahou in 1979.
In 1982, Obama Sr. died in a car accident. He left eight children from four wives. Obama described his childhood memories in his book “Dreams from My Father.”
Obama is left-handed. His autograph:
After high school, Obama attended Occidental College in Los Angeles for two years and then transferred to Columbia University, where he majored in international relations. By the time he received his bachelor's degree in 1983, he was already working at the International Business Corporation and the New York Research Center.
In 1985, after moving to Chicago, Barack Obama worked as a community organizer in disadvantaged areas of the city.
In 1988, he entered Harvard Law School, where in 1990 he became the first African-American editor of the university's Harvard Law Review.
Obama taught constitutional law at the Chicago Institute of Legal Sciences from 1992 to 2004. He also worked as a civil rights attorney. At the same time, Obama met his future wife Michelle (born 1964).
In 1995, Barack's mother died of ovarian cancer.
Illinois State Senator
In 1996, Barack Obama was elected to the Illinois State Senate from the 13th Congressional District. His predecessor in this post was Alice Palmer, and his successor was Kwame Raoul.
Obama served as a senator from January 8, 1997 to November 4, 2004, representing the US Democratic Party: he was re-elected twice: in 1998 and 2002. As a senator, Obama worked with Democrats and Republicans: working with representatives of both parties on programs to support low-income families through tax cuts; acted as a supporter of the development of preschool education, supported measures to tighten control over the work of investigative bodies.
In 1998, Obama had a daughter, Malia Ann.
In 2000, Barack made an unsuccessful run for the US House of Representatives, but lost the primary to incumbent black congressman Bobby Rush.
In 2001, his second daughter Natasha (“Sasha”) was born.
In January 2003, B. Obama ran for the US Senate.
After winning the primary in March 2004, Obama delivered the keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention in July of that year. He entered the race for nomination to one of the Illinois seats in the US Senate. Obama won a landslide victory over six opponents in the primaries, gaining 70% of the vote. He was elected to the Senate in November 2004.
Obama, as a member of the Democratic minority in the 109th Congress, helped create laws to regulate conventional weapons and increase transparency in the use of government budgets. He also made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Senate in Washington
Barack Obama was sworn in as a United States Senator on January 4, 2005, becoming the 5th African American Senator. His predecessor was Peter Fitzgerald and his successor was Roland Burris. The nonpartisan publication Congressional Quarterly characterized Obama as a "loyal Democrat" based on an analysis of all Senate votes from 2005-2007.
As part of the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program, Obama flew to Russia to inspect Russian nuclear facilities along with Republican Senator Richard Lugar. During the trip on August 28, 2005, upon departure at Perm Bolshoye Savino airport, an incident occurred: the senators were detained for three hours due to their refusal to “comply with the demands of the border guards” to inspect the plane, which had diplomatic immunity. Later, the Russian Foreign Ministry expressed regret “in connection with the misunderstanding that arose and the inconvenience caused to the senators.” In his book, Obama regarded the incident as one of the moments during his trip "that recalled the days of the Cold War."
Political views and statements
As a senator, Obama visited the White House several times at the invitation of President George W. Bush. Barack was an early opponent of President George W. Bush's Iraq policy. In his 2006 book The Audacity of Hope, Obama wrote: “From the beginning of my time in the Senate, I have been a consistent and sometimes harsh critic of the Bush administration's policies. I think tax breaks for wealthy citizens are not only ill-conceived, but also highly questionable from a moral point of view.”
While serving in the 110th Congress, Obama helped create laws relating to voter fraud, lobbying, climate change, nuclear terrorism and discharged US military personnel.
US presidential race and elections
Obama announced his bid for the presidency on February 10, 2007, in front of the Old Illinois State Capitol in Springfield. The location was symbolic; it was there that Abraham Lincoln delivered his historic “House Divided” speech in 1858. Throughout the campaign, Obama advocated for a quick end to the Iraq War, energy independence and universal health care. His campaign slogans are "Change We Can Believe in" and "Yes We Can!" (song Yes We Can, recorded nearby famous artists using words from Obama's speech, received great fame and a Webby Award).
During the first half of 2007, the Obama campaign raised $58 million. Small donations (less than $200) accounted for 16.4 million of that amount. The number set a record for presidential campaign fundraising in its first six months. calendar year before the elections. The size of the small portion of the donation was also quite significant.
In January 2008, the campaign set another record with $36.8 million, the most ever raised by a presidential candidate in the Democratic primary. Obama was formally nominated at the 2008 Democratic National Convention along with his running mate, Delaware Senator Joseph Biden.
Iraq War and War in Afghanistan
As a presidential candidate, Obama said the Iraq War was a mistake by the Bush administration and that Afghanistan should become a central front in the fight against terrorism. He stated that Afghanistan was “sliding into the abyss of chaos and threatening to turn into a narco-terrorist state.” In mid-2008, he advocated that by the summer of 2009 there would be no American combat units left in Iraq. At the stage of the pre-election internal party struggle for nomination as a presidential candidate from the Democratic Party, supporters of the war in Iraq were grouped around Clinton (she herself voted for it in the Senate), and opponents were grouped around Obama.
Progress of the election campaign
Barack Obama became the unified Democratic candidate after Hillary Clinton officially announced her withdrawal from the race on June 7, 2008 and supported Obama's candidacy. And already on June 25, the 42nd US President Bill Clinton supported Obama for the first time, through official representative Matt McKenna, declaring that he would do everything in his power to ensure that Barack Obama won the presidential election.
Obama admitted that he smoked marijuana, took recreational drugs (cocaine) and alcohol in school, which he told the press and voters at the Citizens' Forum of the presidential campaign on August 16, 2008 and described this as his lowest moral failure.
Primary elections. Democratic primary results by state. (states that supported Obama are shown in lilac, Clinton in green)
Obama won convincingly in states with high urbanization and education levels, but at the same time really hard hit by the 2008 crisis; The most difficult states for Barack were the states in which the white population predominates, these are West Virginia and Florida. He won victories in the traditionally Republican states of Alaska and Mississippi, which have supported Republicans since 1980, as well as in the traditionally liberal states of Washington and Minnesota and in some flip states.
Obama interrupted his presidential campaign to visit their grandmother in the hospital, they were very attached to each other; Madeleine Lee Payne Dunham died on November 2, 2008.
On November 4, Obama secured the support of 338 of the 538 electors with the required 270 votes, which meant he came to power. At the same time, voter turnout reached a record of 64%. In the 2008 presidential election, Obama beat the ruling party's candidate. Republican Party John McCain, gaining 365 votes in the Electoral College (52.9% of the popular vote) versus McCain's 173.
Resonance in the USA and other countries
Obama received the fewest votes in the southern US; in Alabama, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas, where up to 60% of those participating in the elections voted for McCain; and in one of these states, only one in ten white voters, according to exit polls, voted for Obama.
According to the Associated Press, in the United States, after Barack's victory in the presidential election, the number of cases of religious and racial intolerance has increased. Director of the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Mark Potok said: “There is a large number of people who feel that they are losing their usual way of life, that it is as if the country that their ancestors built has been stolen from them.”
Obama's victory caused euphoria in a number of countries around the world - a phenomenon called "Obamamania", the symptoms of which began to appear during the election campaign. Kenya and other countries in Africa and the Middle East were especially susceptible to it.
Activities as President-Elect
On November 10, 2008, Obama met with George W. Bush to discuss the state of affairs in the country and the world. The next day, Obama and his wife visited the White House, where he was received by President George W. Bush and his wife, which was presented by the US media as “the beginning of the transfer of power.”
The International Herald Tribune on November 16, 2008 wrote about Obama’s political views as he articulated them during the election campaign: “Obama did not define himself in clear ideological terms, although he achievement list and the program is to the left of center.” That same day, Obama resigned from his Senate position.
Obama spoke out in favor of allowing abortion, including late-term abortions. During a discussion in the United States about the law prohibiting abortion by the so-called partial birth method (en:Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act), he wrote that if he were elected, he would tirelessly defend this method of abortion as a legitimate medical procedure. He also participated in the development of programs to prevent pregnancy among adolescents, including through the distribution of contraceptives and educational programs about sex education for teenagers.
On November 17, 2008, Obama met with Republican Senator John McCain; together with the latter, he issued a statement proclaiming his intention to “begin new era reforms" in Washington and "bring back prosperity" to American families. The next day, Obama reaffirmed his commitment to working toward significant goals to combat global climate change. And also in a video message to participants in an environmental conference in Los Angeles, he condemned the current administration for “abandoning the leading role” of the United States in preserving the environment; promised that he would allocate $15 billion annually to save energy and would strive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the United States in 2020 to 1990 levels. On the same day, the media reported unofficial information about his intention to appoint a black lawyer, Eric Holder, who was US Deputy Secretary of Justice under Clinton, to the post of Secretary of Justice in his future administration.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta on November 19, 2008 wrote: “For many believers, it was a surprise that a black Democrat, a defender of women’s right to abortion and a supporter of stem cell research, won a majority of the votes of religious voters.” The publication cited statistics from the Pew Research Center, according to which 53% of religious US residents voted for Barack Obama, 46% for John McCain; while four years ago, John Kerry lost to George W. Bush in the battle for the votes of religious Americans: 48% to 51%.
On November 24, 2008, Obama introduced several members of his “Team, Economic Recovery Advisory Board” (The President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board), who were expected to occupy important positions in the future and develop the future administration’s policy regarding the global economic crisis. On November 26, Obama appointed the head of his team of economic advisers. former chairman US Federal Reserve System (1979-1987) by Paul Volcker.
On December 1, 2008, in Chicago, Obama officially announced Senator Hillary Clinton as a candidate for the post of US Secretary of State, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as a candidate for the post of Secretary of Defense. That same year, Congress.org ranked Obama as the 11th most powerful senator.
Presidency of Barack Obama
On January 20, 2009, during an inauguration ceremony next to the Capitol building, Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States; The ceremony attracted a record number of spectators - over a million people. The oath was taken on the Bible on which Abraham Lincoln swore at his inauguration. The first act of the President upon taking the oath of office was the proclamation of the Proclamation declaring January 20, 2009 “National Day of Renewal and Reconciliation.”
In his speech, Obama called for a "new era of accountability."
According to CNN on January 21, 2009, the cost of Barack Obama's inauguration and inaugural celebrations is the highest in US history: the cost of its holding exceeded $160 million. The next day, late in the evening, on the advice of constitutional lawyers, in the White House, as a precaution, Obama re-took the oath of state as head of state, due to the fact that the day before there was an error in reading the text of the oath established by the US Constitution. Chairman Supreme Court USA Roberts mistakenly placed the word “faithfully” after the words “to act as President of the United States.”
Many believe that Obama is very similar in his parameters to the Antichrist, that is, to a man who comes at the end of times to take power over the world. All these statements would seem ridiculous. If not for one thing. This may seem incredible, but in the biography of the 44th President of the United States there really are many mystical coincidences that cannot be explained.
During the inauguration, Obama, by a strange coincidence, did not manage to take the oath on the Bible: he read the text incorrectly and stumbled.
The staff of the devout Mormon Mitt Romney were the first to notice that during his own inauguration, Obama was the only one who wore gloves. It would seem that there is nothing special about this. If you don’t remember the biblical legend that when the Antichrist is crowned, he will wear gloves to hide his claws. According to legend, the Antichrist must come from the tribe of Dan. From the point of view of the Orthodox tradition, and the general Christian one, the Antichrist must be born from a harlot from the tribe of Dan, from the lost descendants, from the lost Jewish tribes.
It is also curious, Obama’s opponents continue, that his name is translated from Hebrew as “Lightning from above.” In the Gospel of Luke this expression occurs: “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.”
Activities as President
On January 22, 2009, Obama signed an order to close the prison for suspected terrorists at the US military base at Guantanamo Bay (Cuba) within a year.
Immediately after Obama’s inauguration, Russian-American political scientist Nikolai Zlobin noted: “The closer the day of the transfer of powers from Bush to the new president of the country was, the more favorable and positive Barack Obama spoke about his predecessor. This is a stark change from Obama's highly critical anti-Bush rhetoric during the election campaign. “...I think that such a change in public relations new president to his predecessor is largely due to the fact that as Obama delved into matters, became familiar with the real situation in which George Bush had to act and in which Obama himself will now have to act, the latter increasingly began to understand that his predecessor had carried out enough rational policy, taking into account all possible factors and limitations.”
And in Vedomosti on January 28, 2009, Zlobin wrote about the Kremlin’s reaction to Obama’s victory: “The tone of Dmitry Medvedev’s speech to Federal Assembly November 5, 2008, as well as the belated and cold congratulations to Obama, indicated that Moscow was not ready for Obama and was very disappointed.”
On January 29, 2009, the US Congress supported the plan to stimulate the American economy proposed by the president. The plan involved an injection of $819 billion.
As a presidential candidate, Obama said that on the first day after his inauguration he would give the order to end the war in Iraq. But immediately after coming to power, he revised his views on the timing of the end of the war, saying in February 2009 that military operations there would be completed in 18 months.
On February 9, 2009, US President Barack Obama held his first press conference. The next day, the US Senate approved Obama's $838 billion emergency response plan. When implementing the plan, up to 4 million new jobs should be created in 2 years. The plan also contained provisions for direct investment in the healthcare, energy, and education sectors.
On February 17, 2009, Obama sent an additional 17 thousand troops to Afghanistan, and also signed a $787 billion anti-crisis plan adopted by the US Congress in Denver.
The “first grandmother” of the United States, 72-year-old Marian Robinson, Obama’s mother-in-law, formerly worked as a secretary at a magazine selling useful household products. Since March 2009, she has lived permanently in the White House, and at the same time practices witchcraft - Santeria - one of the African varieties of the occult religion Voodoo.
Speaking at Georgetown University on April 14, 2009, Barack Obama made the following argument in defense of the consumer society and explained the reason for government intervention in the free market: “If all the families and all the firms in America cut their expenses at the same time, then no one would spend money, the number of consumers, which in turn will lead to new layoffs and the economic situation will worsen even more. That's why the government had to step in and temporarily increase spending to stimulate demand. This is exactly what we are doing now,” said the American president. (“Obama sees light at the end of the tunnel”, Euronews).
From July 6 to July 8, 2009, Barak made an official working visit to Moscow. During the visit, bilateral agreements were signed, including on the transit of American military cargo to Afghanistan through Russian territory.
Obama is a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, which he received on October 9, 2009, with the wording “for extraordinary efforts in strengthening international diplomacy and cooperation between people.” Barack became the third US president, after Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, to receive Nobel Prize peace while in office (the prize was also awarded to former President Jimmy Carter).
In 2009, at a press conference in Japan, Obama twice dodged a direct question and refused to defend the feasibility atomic bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States.
During 2009, Obama twice strengthened the American contingent in Afghanistan. In December, Obama announced the deployment of 30,000 more troops, while emphasizing that the United States is not interested in occupying Afghanistan. Currently, the American contingent in Afghanistan already numbers about 70 thousand troops, and after the arrival of reinforcements it reached 100 thousand, which is comparable to the number of the Soviet contingent at the peak of the USSR war in Afghanistan (about 109 thousand people).
The escalation of US participation in hostilities in Afghanistan, as well as the stabilization of the situation in Iraq, led to the fact that if in 2008 American losses in Afghanistan were half as many as those in Iraq, then in 2009 the situation changed in a mirror image - in a year there were deaths in Afghanistan twice as many soldiers as there are in Iraq. Overall, 2009 was the bloodiest year for American forces in Afghanistan since the start of the counterterrorism operation. During the first year and a half of Obama's presidency, as many American soldiers died in Afghanistan as during both of George W. Bush's presidential terms (from the start of the war in 2001 to the end of 2008). But U.S. casualties remain below the annual Soviet casualties at the height of the 1979-1989 war.
In 2010, Obama, despite Republican opposition, achieved the passage of a health care reform law.
On April 4, 2011, Barack Obama confirmed his desire to run for a second presidential term, began raising money for the election campaign and announced the start of the presidential race.
In 2011 american army By order of Obama, she participated in the NATO intervention in Libya. That same year, the Washington Post published a report that the president himself shared a strange fascination with Voodoo dolls. As it turned out, Obama has more than 250 magical dolls - Haitian, Hawaiian and Cuban. These dolls represent an invisible force that can intervene in human affairs at any time.
Obama is the first and, as of 2012, the only US presidential candidate to refuse public funding of his election campaign.
During the election campaign in the United States, rumors circulated that Barack was born outside the United States, this would deprive him of the right to be elected to the presidency. On March 1, 2012, Arizona Sheriff Joseph Arpaio announced that Barack Obama's birth certificate may be a computer-generated forgery; he made a similar statement regarding the draft registration form filled out by the future president in 1980.
In the 2012 presidential election, Obama beat Republican candidate Mitt Romney by 332 Electoral College votes (51.1% of the popular vote) to Romney's 206. Barack Obama was re-elected to a second term.
Mitt Romney accused Obama of supporting the idea of income redistribution. Romney calls Obama voters "people who are unable to provide for themselves and live off the government." According to Obama, Romney is a supporter of the idea of a world without nuclear weapons.
On August 1, 2014, a telephone conversation took place between the Presidents of Russia and the United States, Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama, in which they discussed the situation around Ukraine. Putin described Washington’s line of increasing sanctions pressure as counterproductive, causing serious damage to bilateral cooperation and international stability in general. The presidents agreed that the current state of affairs does not meet the interests of both states. In this context, an exchange of views took place on the prospects for Russian-American dialogue,” the Kremlin press service reported.
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