First African-American President of the United States
Barack Obama served as the 44th President of the United States, and the first African American to hold the office. Barack Obama, in full Barack Hussein Obama. Before winning the presidency, Obama represented Illinois in the U.S. Senate (2005–08). He was the third African American to be elected to that body since the end of Reconstruction (1877).
In 2009 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. Obama’s father, Barack Sr., a Kenyan economist, met his mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, when both were students in Hawaii, where Barack was born on August 4, 1961. They later divorced, and Barack’s mother married a man from Indonesia, where he spent his early childhood. Before fifth grade, he returned to Honolulu to live with his maternal grandparents and attend Punahou School on scholarship.
In 1992, Obama married Michelle Robinson, a lawyer who had also excelled at Harvard Law. Their daughters, Malia and Sasha, were born in 1998 and 2001, respectively. Obama was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1996, and then to the U.S. Senate in 2004. At the Democratic National Convention that summer, he delivered a much acclaimed keynote address. Some pundits instantly pronounced him a future president, but most did not expect it to happen for some time. Nevertheless, in 2008 he was elected over Arizona Senator John McCain by 365 to 173 electoral votes.
Books
Barack Obama’s first book, Dreams from My Father (1995), is the story of his search for his biracial identity by tracing the lives of his now-deceased father and extended family in Kenya. His second book, The Audacity of Hope (2006), is a polemic on his vision for the United States. Of Thee I Sing(2010), A Promised Land(2020).
Obama signed many landmark bills into law during his first two years in office. The main reforms that were passed include the Affordable Care Act. Although without a public health insurance option. The Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization. And Job Creation Act of 2010 served as economic stimuli amidst the Great Recession.
After a lengthy debate over the national debt limit, he signed the Budget Control and the American Taxpayer Relief Acts. In foreign policy, he increased U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan, reduced nuclear weapons with the United States–Russia New START treaty, and ended military involvement in the Iraq War. He ordered military involvement in Libya for the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1973, contributing to the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi. He also ordered the military operations that resulted in the deaths of Osama bin Laden and suspected Yemeni Al-Qaeda operative Anwar al-Awlaki.
Nobel Prize
In an effort to improve the image of the United States abroad—which many believed had been much damaged during the Bush administration—Obama took a number of steps that indicated a significant shift in tone. He signed an executive order that banned excessive interrogation techniques. ordered the closing of the controversial military detention facility in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, within a year. Proposed a “fresh start” to strained relations with Russia. And traveled to Cairo in June 2009 to deliver a historic speech in which he reached out to the Muslim world. Largely as a result of these efforts, Obama was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.
Life after the presidency
In order for Obama to finish high school in Washington with his youngest daughter Sasha. He bought a nine-bedroom house in the Colorama area with the intention of staying for two years. Although he pointed out at his final press conference that he did not want to be actively involved in politics, he outlined several developments that could reverse that decision.
Obama also began engaging in high-paying negotiations, including addresses for Wall Street financial institutions. It earned him up to $ 400,000 and garnered criticism from some quarters for accepting fancy fees. Obama has donated about $ 2 million to job training programs for low-income people in the Chicago area.
Jackson Park, on Chicago’s South Side, was chosen by the Obama Foundation as the location for the Obama Presidential Center. The former president also indicated his support for the National Democratic Redistricting Committee.
