Remember what I said about saluting Michelle Obama? Multiply this by 1 million. I considered steering clear of our President in favor of saluting people who are given less attention by the media but I decided this must be done.
President Barack H. Obama
Barack Hussein Obama was born August 4, 1961 in Hawaii. After a few years living in Indonesia with his mom and half sister Barack was sent back to Hawaii to live with his maternal grandparents. His mother and sister later joined them. While living with his grandparents, Obama enrolled in the esteemed Punahou Academy, excelling in basketball and graduating with academic honors in 1979.
After high school, Obama studied at Occidental College in Los Angeles for two years. He then transferred to Columbia University in New York, graduating in 1983 with a degree in political science. After working in the business sector for two years, Obama moved to Chicago in 1985. There, he worked on the South Side as a community organizer for low-income residents in the Roseland and the Altgeld Gardens communities.
In 1989, he met Michelle Robinson, an associate at Sidley & Austin law firm in Chicago. She was assigned to be Obama's adviser during a summer internship at the firm, and soon the couple began dating. In February 1990, Obama was elected the first African-American editor of the Harvard Law Review, and he graduated magna cum laude in 1991. Barack and Michelle married at Trinity United Church of Christ on October 18, 1992. Image Source: http://media1.suntimes.com/
He conducted voter registration drives during Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign. Obama published his autobiography in 1995 Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance. The work received high praise from literary figures such as Toni Morrison and has since been printed in 10 languages, including Chinese, Swedish and Hebrew. The book had a second printing in 2004, and is currently being adapted into a children's version. The 2006 audiobook version of Dreams, which was narrated by Obama, received a Grammy award for Best Spoken Word Album.
Obama's advocacy work led him to run for the Illinois State Senate as a Democrat. He won election in 1996. During these years, Obama worked with both Democrats and Republicans in drafting legislation on ethics, expanded health care services, and early childhood education programs for the poor. He also created a state earned-income tax credit for the working poor. Obama became chairman of the Illinois Senate's Health and Human Services Committee as well, and after a number of inmates on death row were found innocent, he worked with law enforcement officials to require the videotaping of interrogations and confessions in all capital cases.
In 2000, Obama made an unsuccessful Democratic primary run for the U. S. House of Representatives seat held by four-term incumbent candidate Bobby Rush. Following the 9/11 attacks in 2001, Obama was an early opponent of President George W. Bush's push to war with Iraq. Obama was still a state senator when he spoke against a resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq during a rally at Chicago's Federal Plaza in October 2002. "I am not opposed to all wars. I'm opposed to dumb wars," he said.
He was invited to deliver the keynote speech in support of John Kerry at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. Obama emphasized the importance of unity, and made veiled jabs at the Bush administration and the diversionary use of wedge issues.
In his 2004 U.S. Senate bid for Illinois, Obama received 70 percent of the vote to his opponents 27 percent, the largest electoral victory in Illinois history. With his win, Barack Obama became only the third African-American elected to the U.S. Senate since the Reconstruction.
His second book, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, was published in October 2006. The work discussed Obama's visions for the future of America, many of which became talking points for his eventual presidential campaign. Shortly after its release, it hit No. 1 on both the New York Times and Amazon.com bestsellers lists.
As a candidate, President Obama made several television appearances. Check them out below.
On Letterman:
On Ellen:
Reason # 800,000,000 why I absolutely love having him as our President!
I still get chills everytime I see him on the tube. Am I the only one?
His campaign focused on embracing change. In February 2007, Obama made headlines when he announced his candidacy for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. He consistently broke fundraising records and secured the support of Oprah Winfrey and other major celebrities. He was locked in a tight battle with former first lady and then-U.S. Senator from New York, Hillary Rodham Clinton. On June 3, 2008, however, Obama became the presumptive nominee for the Democratic party, and Senator Clinton delivered her full support to Obama for the duration of his campaign. On November 4th, 2008, Barack Obama defeated Republican presidential nominee John McCain for the position of U.S. President, 52.9 percent to 45.7 percent. A record number of young voters cast t heir votes. On January 20, 2009, Obama became the 44th president of the United States—and the first African-American to hold this office.
Image source: http://nashvillespy.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/barack-and-hillary-unity-new-hampshire.jpg
Barack Obama is the first African American to do everything the POTUS does.
HUSL Today Salutes President Barack H. Obama!
