Barack Hussein Obama II (/bəˈrɑːk huːˈseɪn oʊˈbɑːmə/ ( listen); born August 4, 1961) is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office, as well as the first born in Hawaii. Obama previously served as the junior United States Senator from Illinois from January 2005 until he resigned after his election to the presidency in November 2008.
Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was the president of the Harvard Law Review. He was a community organizer in Chicago before earning his law degree. He worked as a civil rights attorney in Chicago and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004.
Obama served three terms in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004. Following an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000, Obama ran for United States Senate in 2004. His victory in the March 2004 Democratic primary election for the United States Senator from Illinois brought him to national attention. His prime-time televised keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in July 2004 made him a rising star nationally in the Democratic Party. He comfortably won election to the U.S. Senate in November 2004.
He began his run for the presidency in February 2007. After a close campaign in the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries against Hillary Clinton, he won his party's nomination. In the 2008 general election, he defeated Republican nominee John McCain and was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2009. On October 9, 2009 Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.[4]
Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was the president of the Harvard Law Review. He was a community organizer in Chicago before earning his law degree. He worked as a civil rights attorney in Chicago and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004.
Obama served three terms in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004. Following an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000, Obama ran for United States Senate in 2004. His victory in the March 2004 Democratic primary election for the United States Senator from Illinois brought him to national attention. His prime-time televised keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in July 2004 made him a rising star nationally in the Democratic Party. He comfortably won election to the U.S. Senate in November 2004.
He began his run for the presidency in February 2007. After a close campaign in the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries against Hillary Clinton, he won his party's nomination. In the 2008 general election, he defeated Republican nominee John McCain and was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2009. On October 9, 2009 Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.[4]
Early life and careerMain article: Early life and career of Barack ObamaBarack Obama was born at Kapi'olani Maternity & Gynecological Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States,[5] to Stanley Ann Dunham,[6] an American of mainly English descent from Wichita, Kansas,[7] and Barack Obama, Sr., a Luo from Nyang’oma Kogelo, Nyanza Province, Kenya Colony. Obama's parents met in 1960 in a Russian language class at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, where his father was a foreign student on scholarship.[8][9] The couple married on February 2, 1961,[10] and Barack was born later that year. His parents separated when he was two years old and they divorced in 1964.[9] Obama's father returned to Kenya and saw his son only once more before dying in an automobile accident in 1982.[11]
After her divorce, Dunham married Indonesian student Lolo Soetoro, who was attending college in Hawaii. When Suharto, a military leader in Soetoro's home country, came to power in 1967, all Indonesian students studying abroad were recalled and the family moved to the island nation.[12] From ages six to ten, Obama attended local schools in Jakarta, including Besuki Public School and St. Francis of Assisi School.
In 1971, he returned to Honolulu to live with his maternal grandparents, Madelyn and Stanley Armour Dunham, and attended Punahou School, a private college preparatory school, from the fifth grade until his graduation from high school in 1979.[13]
Obama's mother returned to Hawaii in 1972 and remained there until 1977, when she relocated to Indonesia to work as an anthropological field worker. She finally returned to Hawaii in 1994 and lived there for one year before dying of ovarian cancer.[14]
After her divorce, Dunham married Indonesian student Lolo Soetoro, who was attending college in Hawaii. When Suharto, a military leader in Soetoro's home country, came to power in 1967, all Indonesian students studying abroad were recalled and the family moved to the island nation.[12] From ages six to ten, Obama attended local schools in Jakarta, including Besuki Public School and St. Francis of Assisi School.
In 1971, he returned to Honolulu to live with his maternal grandparents, Madelyn and Stanley Armour Dunham, and attended Punahou School, a private college preparatory school, from the fifth grade until his graduation from high school in 1979.[13]
Obama's mother returned to Hawaii in 1972 and remained there until 1977, when she relocated to Indonesia to work as an anthropological field worker. She finally returned to Hawaii in 1994 and lived there for one year before dying of ovarian cancer.[14]
Political positionsA method that some political scientists use for gauging ideology is to compare the annual ratings by the Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) with the ratings by the American Conservative Union (ACU).[146] Based on his years in Congress, Obama has a lifetime average conservative rating of 7.67% from the ACU[147] and a lifetime average liberal rating of 90% from the ADAIn economic affairs, in April 2005, he defended the New Deal social welfare policies of Franklin D. Roosevelt and opposed Republican proposals to establish private accounts for Social Security.[149] In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Obama spoke out against government indifference to growing economic class divisions, calling on both political parties to take action to restore the social safety net for the poor.[150] Shortly before announcing his presidential campaign, Obama said he supports universal health care in the United States.[151] He has proposed rewarding teachers for performance from traditional merit pay systems, assuring unions that changes would be pursued through the collective bargaining process.[152]
On taxation, his plan would eliminate taxes for senior citizens with incomes of less than $50,000 a year, raise income taxes for those making over $250,000, raise the capital gains and dividends taxes,[153] close corporate tax loopholes, lift the income cap on Social Security taxes, restrict offshore tax havens, and simplify filing of income tax returns by pre-filling wage and bank information already collected by the IRS.[154] In September 2007, he blamed special interests for distorting the U.S. tax codeAs an environmental initiative, Obama proposed a cap and trade auction system to restrict carbon emissions and a ten year program of investments in new energy sources to reduce U.S. dependence on imported oil.[156] Obama proposed that all pollution credits must be auctioned, with no grandfathering of credits for oil and gas companies, and the spending of the revenue obtained on energy development and economic transition costs.[157]
In foreign affairs, Obama was an early opponent of the George W. Bush administration's policies on Iraq.[158] On October 2, 2002, the day President Bush and Congress agreed on the joint resolution authorizing the Iraq War,[159] Obama addressed the first high-profile Chicago anti-Iraq War rally,[160] and spoke out against the war.[161] He addressed another anti-war rally in March 2003 and told the crowd that "it's not too late" to stop the war.[162]
Although Obama had previously said he wanted all U.S. troops out of Iraq within 16 months of becoming president, after he won the primary, he said he might change or refine plans as further developments unfold.[163] In November 2006, he called for a "phased redeployment of U.S. troops from Iraq" and an opening of diplomatic dialogue with Syria and Iran.[164] In a March 2007 speech to AIPAC, a pro-Israel lobby, he said that the primary way to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons is through talks and diplomacy, although he did not rule out military action.[165] Obama has indicated that he would engage in "direct presidential diplomacy" with Iran without preconditions.[166] In August 2007, Obama remarked that "it was a terrible mistake to fail to act" against a 2005 meeting of al-Qaeda leaders that U.S. intelligence had confirmed to be taking place in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas. He said that as president, he would not miss a similar opportunity, even without the support of the Pakistani government.[167]
Obama stated that if elected he would enact budget cuts in the range of tens of billions of dollars, stop investing in "unproven" missile defense systems, not weaponize space, "slow development of Future Combat Systems", and work towards eliminating all nuclear weapons. Obama favors ending development of new nuclear weapons, reducing the current U.S. nuclear stockpile, enacting a global ban on production of fissile material, and seeking negotiations with Russia to reduce the pressure on both sides for intercontinental ballistic missiles to be on high-alert status.[168]
Obama has called for more assertive action to oppose genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.[169] He has divested $180,000 in personal holdings of Sudan-related stock, and has urged divestment from companies doing business in Iran.[170] In the July–August 2007 issue of Foreign Affairs, Obama called for an outward looking post-Iraq War foreign policy and, in his view, the renewal of American military, diplomatic, and moral leadership in the world. Saying that "we can neither retreat from the world nor try to bully it into submission", he called on Americans to "lead the world, by deed and by example".[171]
In his write-in response to a 1998 survey, Obama stated his abortion position as conforming with the Democratic platform: "Abortions should be legally available in accordance with Roe v. Wade
On taxation, his plan would eliminate taxes for senior citizens with incomes of less than $50,000 a year, raise income taxes for those making over $250,000, raise the capital gains and dividends taxes,[153] close corporate tax loopholes, lift the income cap on Social Security taxes, restrict offshore tax havens, and simplify filing of income tax returns by pre-filling wage and bank information already collected by the IRS.[154] In September 2007, he blamed special interests for distorting the U.S. tax codeAs an environmental initiative, Obama proposed a cap and trade auction system to restrict carbon emissions and a ten year program of investments in new energy sources to reduce U.S. dependence on imported oil.[156] Obama proposed that all pollution credits must be auctioned, with no grandfathering of credits for oil and gas companies, and the spending of the revenue obtained on energy development and economic transition costs.[157]
In foreign affairs, Obama was an early opponent of the George W. Bush administration's policies on Iraq.[158] On October 2, 2002, the day President Bush and Congress agreed on the joint resolution authorizing the Iraq War,[159] Obama addressed the first high-profile Chicago anti-Iraq War rally,[160] and spoke out against the war.[161] He addressed another anti-war rally in March 2003 and told the crowd that "it's not too late" to stop the war.[162]
Although Obama had previously said he wanted all U.S. troops out of Iraq within 16 months of becoming president, after he won the primary, he said he might change or refine plans as further developments unfold.[163] In November 2006, he called for a "phased redeployment of U.S. troops from Iraq" and an opening of diplomatic dialogue with Syria and Iran.[164] In a March 2007 speech to AIPAC, a pro-Israel lobby, he said that the primary way to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons is through talks and diplomacy, although he did not rule out military action.[165] Obama has indicated that he would engage in "direct presidential diplomacy" with Iran without preconditions.[166] In August 2007, Obama remarked that "it was a terrible mistake to fail to act" against a 2005 meeting of al-Qaeda leaders that U.S. intelligence had confirmed to be taking place in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas. He said that as president, he would not miss a similar opportunity, even without the support of the Pakistani government.[167]
Obama stated that if elected he would enact budget cuts in the range of tens of billions of dollars, stop investing in "unproven" missile defense systems, not weaponize space, "slow development of Future Combat Systems", and work towards eliminating all nuclear weapons. Obama favors ending development of new nuclear weapons, reducing the current U.S. nuclear stockpile, enacting a global ban on production of fissile material, and seeking negotiations with Russia to reduce the pressure on both sides for intercontinental ballistic missiles to be on high-alert status.[168]
Obama has called for more assertive action to oppose genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.[169] He has divested $180,000 in personal holdings of Sudan-related stock, and has urged divestment from companies doing business in Iran.[170] In the July–August 2007 issue of Foreign Affairs, Obama called for an outward looking post-Iraq War foreign policy and, in his view, the renewal of American military, diplomatic, and moral leadership in the world. Saying that "we can neither retreat from the world nor try to bully it into submission", he called on Americans to "lead the world, by deed and by example".[171]
In his write-in response to a 1998 survey, Obama stated his abortion position as conforming with the Democratic platform: "Abortions should be legally available in accordance with Roe v. Wade
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