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BACKGROUND


Barack Hussein Obama is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American President. He is also the first President to be born in Hawaii and to win a Nobel Peace Prize during his first year in office.

Obama was born on August 4th, 1961, at the Kapiʻolani Maternity Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii. His first name comes from the Swahili word“Baraka”, which means ‘blessing’.

Barack’s father, Barack Hussein Obama, was born in the village of Nyong’oma Kogelo, in western Kenya. His family members were part of the Luo, one of the country’s largest ethnic groups. He studied at the Harvard University and some years at the University of Hawaii. He lived in many cities in Kenya and United States.

Barack’s mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, was born inKansas. She was named after her father Stanley Dunham, a furniture salesman. She also studied at the University of Hawaii.

Obama’s parents met while they were both students at the University of Hawaii. They married in 1960. At first, both sets of parents didn’t approved the union because it was uncommon at the time for people of different races to marry.

Barack’s family used to call himBarry. When he was 2 years old, his father left the family to study at Harvard University. His parents divorced in 1964 and his dad later returned to Kenya, where he worked in many government positions. He saw his son, Barry, only once more before dying in an automovile accident in Nairobi, Kenya in 1982.


Barack spent his first years in Honolulu, Hawaii with his mother and grandparents. Friendsdescribed him as a happy child who loved spending time at the beach with his grandparents. In 1967, when Barack was 6 years old, his mom married again. Lolo Soetoro, an Indonesian student that studied at the University of Hawaii, became Barack’s stepfather. The family moved to Jakarta, Indonesia.

Barack had a step-sister named Maya Soetoro, who was daughter of Barack’s mother and stepfather.His biological father had seven other children with other marriages in Kenya. Their names were Malik, Auma, Abo, Bernard, Mark, David and George Obama.








EARLY LIFE IN SCHOOL

Barack went to kindergarten from 1966 to 1967 to the Noelani Elementary School in Honolulu, Hawaii. When he reached 1st grade of elementary, he moved with his mom to Indonesia. He started studying at theprivate catholic school St Francis Assisi in Jakarta, Indonesia. 3 years later, he entered the State Elementary School Menteng in Jakarta, Indonesia, too. The next year, when he was in 5th grade, he went back to Honolulu, Hawaii and studied until 12th grade in the Punahou School in this same city. He lived with his maternal grandparents, Barack loved to spend time with them at the beach. He was areserve player of the Punahou School’s basketball team and won a state title. Between 1971 and 1981, he did his freshman and sophomore years at Los Angeles, California in the Occidental College. He was transferred to the Columbia University by Junior-Senior year between 1982 and 1983 because of his good grades.


Barack studied political science with a specialization in international relationsfocus. He lived off campus in a small rented apartment. He did the rest of his law career at the Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In February 1990, his second year at Harvard, he was elected president of the law review. He was the first black president, so he was widely reported and followed by several detailed profiles. He got himself elected by convincing a crucial swing bloc ofconservatives that he would protect their interests if they supported him. Building up that trust was done with the same kind of long listening sessions he had used in the poor neighborhoods of South Side, Chicago. Classmates and teachers describe him as an intelligent student with leader abilities and an open mind at all times.

While he studied at Harvard, he also worked as an associate at...