Barack Obama

Barack Obama
File:Barack Obama portrait 2005.jpg
Junior Senator, Illinois
In office January 2005–present
Preceded by	Peter Fitzgerald
Succeeded by	Incumbent (2011)
Personal details
Nationality	american
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Michelle Obama

Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. (born August 4, 1961) is the junior U.S. Senator from Illinois. He received widespread media coverage for his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, delivered while he was still an Illinois State Senator. In November 2004, Obama won election to the United States Senate with over two-thirds of the vote, drawing majority support from diverse communities. Obama is the third politician with African ancestors to be popularly elected to the United States Senate and the only politician with African ancestors now serving in the Senate.

Early life and career

Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to Harvard University-educated economist Barack Obama, Sr., of Kenya, and Ann Dunham of Wichita, Kansas. At the time of Obama's birth, both his parents were students at the East-West Center of the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Of his years in Hawaii, Obama has written, "The irony is that my decision to work in politics, and to pursue such a career in a big Mainland city, in some sense grows out of my Hawaiian upbringing, and the ideal that Hawaii still represents in my mind."

When Obama was two years old, his parents divorced. His father eventually returned to Kenya, and he saw his son only once more before his death in 1982. His mother then married Lolo Soetoro (d. Mar 2, 1993), another East-West Center student (MA Geography 1962) from Indonesia. In his early childhood, Barack used the name 'Barry'. The family then moved to Jakarta, where Obama's half-sister Maya Soetoro-Ng was born. When Obama was ten he returned to Hawaii under the care of his grandparents, (Madelyn Dunham) and later his mother, for the better educational opportunities. He was enrolled in the fifth grade at Punahou School, where he graduated with honors in 1978.

Upon finishing high school, Obama studied for two years at Occidental College, before transferring to Columbia College at Columbia University. There he majored in political science, with a specialization in international relations. Upon graduation, he worked for a year at Business International Corporation (now part of The Economist Group), a company that provided international business information to corporate clients. He then moved to Chicago, where he took up community organizing in the Altgeld Gardens housing project on the city's South Side. It was during his time spent here that Obama joined the Trinity United Church of Christ.

He left Chicago for three years to study law at Harvard University, where he was elected the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. He graduated magna cum laude. While working at a corporate law firm in the summer of 1989, Obama met Michelle Robinson, then an associate attorney at the firm; he married her in 1992.

After law school, he returned to serving as a community organizer in Chicago. Obama organized an aggressive voter registration effort that registered over 100,000 voters and aided in the election of President Bill Clinton and Senator Carol Moseley Braun, the first African-American woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate. Soon after, Obama joined the Chicago civil rights law firm Miner, Barnhill & Galland, and he became a lecturer of constitutional law at the University of Chicago.

State legislature

In 1996, Obama was elected to the Illinois State Senate from the south side neighborhood of Hyde Park, in Chicago. He served as chairman of the Public Health and Welfare Committee when the Democrats regained control of the chamber. The Chicago Tribune called him "one of the General Assembly's most impressive members."

Regarded as a staunch liberal during his tenure in the legislature, he helped to author a state Earned Income Tax Credit that provided benefits to the working poor. He also worked for legislation that would cover residents who could not afford health insurance. Speaking up for leading gay and lesbian advocacy groups, he successfully helped pass bills to increase funding for AIDS prevention and care programs.

In 2000, he ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for Illinois' 1st Congressional district against incumbent Representative Bobby Rush. Rush had suggested during the campaign that Obama "wasn't black enough" for the position. Rush received 61% of the vote, while Obama received 30%.

After the loss, Obama rededicated his efforts to the state Senate. He authored one of the most progressive death penalty reform laws in the nation, under the guidance of former U.S. Senator Paul Simon. He also pushed through legislation that would force insurance companies to cover routine mammograms.

Reviewing Obama's career in the Illinois State Senate, commentators noted his ability to work effectively with both Democrats and Republicans, and to build coalitions. In his subsequent campaign for the U.S. Senate, Obama won the endorsement of the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police, whose officials cited his "longtime support of gun-control measures and his willingness to negotiate compromises", this despite his support for some bills that the police union had opposed.

Keynote address

Obama was chosen to deliver a keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts.

His speech outlined his own family's pursuit of the American Dream, and his belief in a 'generous America'. His maternal grandfather, after serving in World War II, was the beneficiary of the New Deal's FHA and GI Bill and had high hopes for their daughter, because, as Obama said, "in a generous America you don't have to be rich to achieve your potential". But he charged that "we have more work to do" for people who are not able to realize the American Dream, maintaining that self responsibility is an important component and people "don't expect government to solve all their problems".

He criticized the Bush administration for not supporting troops in Iraq. He spoke of an enlisted Marine, Corporal Seamus Ahern from East Moline, Illinois, asking, "Are we serving Seamus as well as he was serving us?" He continued:

When we send our young men and women into harm's way, we have a solemn obligation not to fudge the numbers or shade the truth about why they're going, to care for their families while they're gone, to tend to the soldiers upon their return, and to never ever go to war without enough troops to win the war, secure the peace, and earn the respect of the world.

Finally he spoke for national unity: "Well, I say to them tonight, there's not a liberal America and a conservative America; there's the United States of America." Perhaps the most often quoted sound bite followed: "We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don't like federal agents poking around in our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States, and yes, we've got some gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq, and there are patriots who supported the war in Iraq."

Senate campaign

Primary

File:Barack Obama campaign logo.JPG

A campaign banner used by Obama supporters during his 2004 bid for the Senate.

Also in 2004, Obama ran for the U.S. Senate seat to be vacated by Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, who chose not to run for re-election. In the Democratic primary, he trailed business tycoon Blair Hull, Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes, and Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas. However, Hull was soon embroiled by allegations of domestic abuse. Obama's name recognition increased, and he won the endorsements of four Illinois congressmen, as well as those of many progressive leaders such as former DNC chairman David Wilhelm.

In the final weeks of the campaign, Obama picked up steam due to favorable media coverage; a strong advertising campaign, designed by David Axelrod, that featured the images of Democratic luminaries such as the late U.S. Senator Paul M. Simon and the late Chicago Mayor Harold Washington; the support of Simon's daughter; and the endorsement of most of the state's major papers, including the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times. In the March primary, he won more support than the other six candidates combined, earning 52% of the vote fueled by an overwhelming victory in Chicago.

General

File:Obamaparade.jpg

Barack Obama joins his wife Michelle and U.S. Senator Richard Durbin for a parade on Independence Day 2004 in Wheaton, Illinois.

Obama then squared off against Jack Ryan, the winner of the Republican primary. Ryan trailed Obama in early polls, with Obama opening up a twenty point lead after the media reported that Ryan had assigned an aide to track Obama's appearances. As the campaign progressed, a lawsuit brought by the Chicago Tribune and ABC-owned station (WLS-TV) led to a California court's opening child custody files from Ryan's divorce with actress Jeri Ryan. In those files, she alleged that he had taken her to sex clubs in several cities, intending for them to have sex in public. Although the sensational nature made the revelations fodder for tabloid and television programs specializing in such stories, the files were also newsworthy because Ryan had insisted to Republican leaders that there was nothing damaging in them. As a result, many Republicans questioned Ryan's integrity following the release, and he dropped out of the race on June 25, 2004, leaving Obama without an opponent.

Finding a replacement for Ryan proved challenging for the Illinois GOP, as a number of potential candidates, including former Chicago Bears head coach Mike Ditka, declined to run. The state party's chairwoman Judy Baar Topinka eventually announced two possible replacements, both of whom were African-American: Alan Keyes, a former state department official and radio commentator from Maryland, and Andrea Barthwell, a former DEA official.

After much deliberation, Keyes was chosen, and he officially accepted the nomination on August 8, 2004. Keyes had gained much attention as a conservative firebrand in his unsuccessful presidential campaigns in 1996 and 2000. The nomination was widely viewed as a victory for the more conservative wing of the party, and a loss for the more moderate Topinka.

Keyes, a conservative Republican running in Democratic Illinois, faced an uphill battle, especially because Obama had built up his name recognition and popularity across the state, and because Keyes had few ties to Illinois political leaders. During the time when Obama had no opponent, he had campaigned throughout the more conservative downstate regions that would have served as the base for the Republican nominee. A Marylander, Keyes had established legal residency in Calumet City, Illinois with the nomination, the only requirement to run for office.

Obama ran the most successful Senate campaign for a non-incumbent in 2004, and was so far ahead in polls that he soon began to campaign outside of Illinois in support of other Democratic candidates. He gave large sums of campaign funds to other candidates and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and sent many of his volunteers to work on other races, including that of now-Congresswoman Melissa Bean who defeated then-Congressman Phil Crane in that year's election. Obama and Keyes differed on many issues including school vouchers and tax cuts, both of which Keyes supported and Obama opposed. Obama's huge early lead, the general Democratic dominance of Illinois, and Keyes' controversial statements helped Obama win handily in the general election, receiving 70% of the popular vote to Keyes's 27%.

Senate career

Obama addresses the First Year Student Convocation at Boston College.

Obama was sworn in as a Senator on January 4, 2005. He then ranked 99th out of 100 Senators in terms of official seniority (greater seniority brings greater privileges in the Senate), ranking ahead of only new fellow freshman Democrat Ken Salazar of Colorado based on Illinois' larger population (He is currently ranked 98th in seniority after Jon Corzine stepped down from being the senator for New Jersey). In his first few months in office, Obama drew praise by his perceived attempts to avoid the limelight and devote large amounts of effort to being a Senator; a Washington Post article spread an anecdote of Obama refusing an upgrade to first-class on a flight home. Obama also drew criticism from some on the left for his vote in favor of making Condoleezza Rice Secretary of State.

The April 18, 2005 issue of TIME magazine listed "the world's most influential people". Obama was included on the list under the section of "Leaders and Revolutionaries" for his high-profile entrance to federal politics and his popularity within the Democratic Party. British journal the New Statesman listed Obama as one of 10 people who will change the world in its October 2005 edition.

As evidence of both the appeal and standing of Senator Obama on a national scale, former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton enlisted Obama to join them in New Orleans, Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The Chicago Tribune reported President Clinton's office as saying that Obama was "an important voice during this tragedy given that so many victims are African-American."

Legislation

In late March 2005, Obama announced his first proposed Senate bill, the Higher Education Opportunity through Pell Grant Expansion Act of 2005 (HOPE Act), which aims to raise the maximum amount of Pell Grant awards to help assist American college students with paying for their tuition. Obama announced the bill at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and said, "Everywhere I go, I hear the same story: 'We work hard, we pay our bills, we put away savings, but we just don't know if it's going to be enough when that tuition bill comes.'"

In May 2006, Obama campaigned to maintain a $0.54 per gallon tariff on imported ethanol. Obama justified the tariff by joining Senator Durbin in stating that "ethanol imports are neither necessary nor a practical response to current gasoline prices," arguing instead that domestic ethanol production is sufficient and expanding.

Also in May of 2006, Obama campaigned to reform immigration law to provide a path to citizenship for undocumented workers currently in the United States through a system of fines and back taxes, learning English, satisfying a work requirement, and passing a background check. Obama also called for greater security on the border with Mexico.

In June 2006, Obama campaigned against making recent, temporary estate tax cuts permanent, calling the cuts a "Paris Hilton" tax break for "billionaire heirs and heiresses". On June 8, 2006, Obama was one of forty-one Senators who successfully voted to prevent a Republican bill to eliminate or shrink taxes on inherited estates from advancing in the Senate.

In July of 2006 Obama teamed with Senators Coburn (R-OK), Carper (D-DE), and McCain (R-AZ) to introduce S. 2590, the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, the purpose of which is to provide citizens with a website, managed by the Office of Management and Budget, which would list all organizations receiving Federal funds from 2007 onward, providing breakdowns based on the agency allocating the funds, the dollar amount given and the purpose of the grant or contract.

Foreign travel

Russia and Eastern Europe

During the August Recess of 2005 as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN), the chairman of that committee, and Senator Obama went on a strategic trip to Russia to inspect nuclear facilities. Lugar and Obama were detained for three hours at an airport in the city of Perm, near the Ural Mountains, during their departure for Ukraine, where they were scheduled to meet the President and the Speaker of the House of Ukraine. The Russian government quickly apologized, saying it "regret[ted] the misunderstanding that arose."

Middle East

On January 4, 2006 Barack Obama left for his first trip to the Middle East along with a congressional delegation that included Evan Bayh, Kit Bond, and Harold Ford Jr. His trip included visits to Kuwait, Iraq and Israel.

In Kuwait and Iraq, Obama visited with the troops. While in Iraq Obama stated, "there is not going to be a military solution" and that the challenge of the new government is "figuring out how minority rights are protected." While in Israel Obama met with Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. A meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had been cancelled due to his stroke. After meeting with the Foreign Minister, Obama stated "Israel has to figure out what the next steps are, if in fact Prime Minister Sharon does not recover in a way that allows him to move into the government."

While in the Gaza Strip, Obama met with the successor to the late Yasser Arafat, Mahmoud Abbas. At a meeting with Palestinian students Obama relayed the message to Abbas that the U.S. would never recognize winning Hamas candidates unless the group renounces its fundamental mission to eliminate Israel.

Africa

On August 19, 2006 Barack Obama, as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on Africa, led an official Congressional delegation trip to the Sub-Saharan African countries of South Africa, Rwanda, Congo, Kenya, Djibouti and Chad (close to the border with the Darfur region of Sudan to meet refugees).

His interest in Africa is long-standing and not only through personal ties to the continent. From the Chicago Tribune: "Unfortunately, our foreign policy seems to be focused on yesterday's crises rather than anticipating the crises of the future," Obama said. "Africa is not perceived as a direct threat to U.S. security at the moment, so the foreign policy apparatus tends to believe that it can be safely neglected. I think that's a mistake."..."It's critically important to capture a sense of hopefulness," Obama said, "to give people in Africa and people outside Africa a sense that for all the strife and hardship that the continent has been through, the spirit of the people remains resilient."

"He's a role model for all of Africa," said Kenyan playwright George Orido, who adapted Obama's "Dreams From My Father" for the stage. When the publisher refused to authorize the production, Orido proceeded anyway. "His story is our story now," the writer explained. "It's moved beyond him. He proves that Africans have the brains to lead. They don't always have to be dictators or despots."

His visit to Kenya created headline news there. He visited his family's home in the tiny village of Nyangoma-Kogelo in Siaya District in the rural west near Kisumu. Local newspapers reported that the ruts in the dirt road leading to his 85-year-old grandmother Sarah Hussein's house were leveled in anticipation, and that Sarah Hussein, who will have to communicate with Obama through an interpreter, will treat him as any other grandchild. He also visited Kibera, one of the largest slums in Africa: At least 700 000 people are crammed into a single 1,6 square kilometres with little access to running water and other basic services. In a nationally televised speech to students and faculty at the University of Nairobi, he criticised the government of President Mwai Kibaki, he said that corruption in Kenya was the biggest obstacle to investment and a major complaint of Kenyan citizens. Obama also took on the apparent re-emergence of ethnic and tribal rivalries in Kenyan political life. "Ethnic-based politics has to stop," he told the crowd. "It is rooted in the bankrupt ideology that the goal of politics is to pile as much as possible to one's family, tribe or friends. It fractures the fabric of society."

Political advocacy

In the early days of debate in Washington over establishing private accounts for Social Security, Obama stood by his party when he delivered a speech on April 26, 2005 to the National Press Club, entitled "A Hope To Fulfill". In this speech, he pointed to the original ideas of social welfare that Franklin D. Roosevelt had in mind when crafting the Social Security program as part of the New Deal.

In March of 2005, Obama announced that he was forming his own political action committee, a move not usually undertaken until several years into a politician's career.

On September 8 2005 Barack Obama began a podcast downloadable from his website, or through the iTunes Music Store. The podcasts appear about once a week, the subject ranging from his trips abroad to his stance on political issues, such as immigration reform.

In June of 2006, appearing before Call to Renewal, a faith-based movement to overcome poverty, Obama encouraged fellow Democrats to reach out to evangelicals and other church-going people, and said, "It is doubtful that children reciting the Pledge of Allegiance feel oppressed or brainwashed as a consequence of muttering the phrase "under God"... Having voluntary student prayer groups using school property to meet should not be a threat, any more than its use by the High School Republicans should [be a threat]."

Presidential ambitions

Obama's name has been brought up as a potential Democratic candidate for the 2008 Presidential elections many times since his election to the U.S senate. At the time, Obama responded by saying "I can unequivocally say I will not be running for national office in four years".

In a January 22, 2006 appearance on Meet the Press, Obama once again reiterated that he will finish out his Senate term and will not run for president or vice president in 2008. Despite his denials, Obama continues to be the subject of speculation that he will run. Much of this has been fueled by two sources: Obama's fellow U.S. Senator from Illinois, Dick Durbin, who has urged his friend to consider running, and the Chicago Tribune, which has devoted a great deal of space to discussing Obama's presidential aspirations and prospects.

In September 2006, Obama's Senate primary opponent Daniel Hynes, in an open letter published in the Chicago Sun-Times, urged Democrats to draft Obama for the 2008 Presidential race. Also in September, Obama was the featured speaker at Iowa Senator Tom Harkin's annual steak fry, a role performed by past presidential candidates seeking increased visibility in the lead-up to the Iowa caucus.

Works

Obama's autobiography Dreams from My Father was published in 1995 and re-released in 2004 with a few new features. As of June 2005 the re-released paperback had been on The New York Times non-fiction best seller list for more than forty weeks. The audio book edition earned Obama a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album on February 8, 2006.

In December 2004, Obama made a $1.9 million deal for three books. The first, The Audacity of Hope, is to be published October 17th, 2006, and will discuss his political convictions. The second is a children's book to be co-written with his wife Michelle and their two young daughters, with profits going to charity. The content of the third book has not been announced.

Personal life

Obama is married to Michelle Obama (nee Robinson); the couple have two daughters, Malia (born 1999) and Sasha (born 2001). He is a member of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ. Of his faith, Obama has said: "I have an ongoing conversation with God... I'm constantly asking myself questions about what I'm doing, why I am doing it."

Trivia

• Obama was the third African-American to deliver a keynote address at a Democratic National Convention. The first was Barbara Jordan, at the 1976 Democratic National Convention, and the second was Harold Ford, Jr. at the 2000 Democratic National Convention.
• Obama writes in Dreams from My Father that one of his mother's Kentucky ancestors "was rumored to have been a second cousin of Jefferson Davis". This statement, itself neither proven nor disproven by genealogical investigation, has been incorrectly interpreted as Ms. Dunham being a descendant of the Confederate President ; Obama via his mother is also part Cherokee.
• Internet sources hold that Obama has been mentioned in songs by Neil Young and Jadakiss, but it was really the rapper Common who, in the remix of Jadakiss's hit "Why", asked "Why is Bush actin like he trying to get Osama?/Why don’t we impeach him and elect Obama?"
• Holds Honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from Knox College (2005), the University of Massachusetts Boston, (2006), Northwestern University, (2006) and Xavier University of Louisiana (2006).
• Obama's brother-in-law is Brown University head basketball coach, Craig Robinson.
• Obama states that "Barack" means "blessed" in Swahili.

Further reading

• Cose, Ellis (September 11, 2006). "Walking the World Stage". Newsweek International Edition.
• Enda, Jodi (February 5, 2006). "Great Expectations". The American Prospect.
• Finnegan, William (24 May 2004). "The Candidate: How the son of a Kenyan economist became an Illinois Everyman". New Yorker.
• Lizza, Ryan (September 2004). "The Natural: Why is Barack Obama generating more excitement among Democrats than John Kerry?". Atlantic Monthly.
• Obama, Barack, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, Crown, 2006 (release date October 17, 2006). ISBN 0307237699. Audio CD: ISBN 0739334085. Download excerpt (PDF).
• Obama, Barack, Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, New York: Times Books, 1995. 2004 reprint: ISBN 1400082773. Audio CD: ISBN 0739321005.
• Wallace-Wells, Benjamin (November 2004). "The Great Black Hope: What's riding on Barack Obama?". Washington Monthly.

External links

Official sites

• Barack Obama U.S. Senate Office
  • Podcasts
  • Speeches
• Barack Obama campaign website
  • Video
• Hopefund—Senator Barack Obama, Chair; PAC
• United States Congress. "Barack Obama (id: O000167)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Library of Congress, Thomas
  • Senate bills sponsored by Barack Obama
  • Senate bills co-sponsored by Barack Obama

Unofficial sites

• Five Minutes With: Sen. Barack Obama, at Campus Progress
• Barack Obama made smashing national debut, at progressive.org
• Campaign finance report, at OpenSecrets.org, a project of the Center for Public Integrity
• In-depth look at Obama; Rising Star: Senate Candidate Barack Obama Delivers Rousing Keynote at DNC at Democracy Now!
• Obama's Game, Alexander Cockburn at CounterPunch
• Deep Inside the Obama Effect, at vermontdailybriefing.com
• Power Ranking the Presidential Candidates: The Big Board, at dems4pres.com
• Barack Obama, at Congresspedia
• On The Issues: Barack Obama, at ontheissues.org
• U.S. Congress Votes Database: Members of Congress / Barack Obama, at washingtonpost.com
• Oprah's Cut with Barack Obama, at oprah.com, The Oprah Winfrey Show

Template:Incumbent U.S. Senator box