Barack Obama made history during his presidency:
First African American President
Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize
Internet phenomenon from the 2008 election campaign until today
"Yes We Can!"
This exclamation went around the world in 2008 when the Democrat
Barack Obama
(* 04.08.1961) was elected 44th President of the United States.
A historic election victory also due to the fact that he was the first
African American
in this office.
His election promises included a reform of the American
health system
with affordable general health insurance, which later became known as
"Obamacare"
, an
energy transition
and an
end to the Iraq war
.
In 2009 he was even awarded the
Nobel Peace
Prize.
A decision that was later discussed a lot.
Nonetheless, there
was enormous
support
for Obama at the
time, not just within the United States but around the world
.
To this day, Barack and his wife
Michelle
Obama (* January 17, 1964) are popular people in public life.
But what is the private life of the former US president like?
What was his political career like before he became president?
How will the Obama couple get involved after their presidency?
Barack Obama: life
Even when he lived with his mother in
Indonesia
from 1967 to 1971
, Barack knew that he
wanted to
become
president one
day.
He returned to
Hawaii
in
1971 at the age of 10
and lived there with his maternal grandparents.
He graduated from school in 1979 and then attended
Occidental College
in Eagle Rock, Los Angeles,
and then
Columbia University
in New York City for
two years
.
The family raised the money themselves.
From 1985 he studied law at Harvard Law School.
This also included an internship that he completed in the summer of 1989 at Sidley Austin in Chicago.
During this internship, he met his future wife, who was then still called
Michelle Robinson
and who looked after him in the law firm.
They married in 1992.
A year later, in 1993, he got a job with
civil rights
attorneys Miner, Barnhill, and Garland in Chicago.
Until 2004 Obama taught
constitutional law
at the University of Chicago
.
Barack Obama: Political Career
In 1992 Barack Obama joined the
Democratic Party
.
As part of his first political engagement, he mobilized
more than 150,000 African-American voters
in Chicago with a
voter registration campaign
.
At that time
Bill Clinton
(born August 19, 1946) was elected President.
In 1996 and 1998, Barack Obama was elected a deputy to the Illinois Senate.
As of 2005, Barack Obama was a
Senator from Illinois
.
In 2008 he was elected
44th President of the United States
of America.
He was the
first African American to
hold this post
.
His election campaign achieved numerous
donation records
, and he was the first presidential candidate to use the
Internet
to attract new voters.
He was awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize
on December 10, 2009
- a highly controversial decision as countless drone strikes were carried out in the Middle East under his command, killing civilians and children.
In 2012, Barack Obama was confirmed in office.
During
both terms of office
, Barack Obama was supported by his party colleague
Joseph "Joe" Biden
(born November 20, 1942) as Vice President.
After his second term in office, Barack Obama was replaced by the TV personality
Donald Trump
.
Barack Obama: Politics
As President of the United States, Barack Obama had two subjects that he is known for to this day.
One of these concerns was
health system reform
.
In October 2013, he managed to introduce general health insurance.
However, according to surveys, this was rejected by 59% of the
population
.
This is not least due to
technical breakdowns
in the implementation.
In terms of foreign policy, one of his goals
was to prevent
Iran
from
producing
nuclear weapons
.
To this end, there was a groundbreaking
agreement
between the USA and Iran, which was to be understood as a historic convergence of the two warring systems.
The agreement was signed in 2015.
Among other things, it contained requirements for
international control
over
uranium
stocks
and
uranium enrichment in
Iran.
Barack Obama: Party
Barack Obama has been a member of the
Democratic Party
since 1992
.
It is the larger of the two major parties represented in the United States and has
45.7 million members
.
The Democratic Party is seen as more
(left) liberal
, especially
when
compared to the second big party, the Republicans.
In its early days, however, the Democratic Party, founded in 1828, was the more conservative of the two parties.
Only since the 20th century have they increasingly been associated with liberal and progressive goals such as the desegregation and equality of minorities.
Even today, the Democrats stand for
progressive social policy
.
The Democrats received more votes than the Republicans in seven of the last eight presidential elections.
The only exception was the 2004 election, as the 2016 Republican victory was also achieved through the distribution of the electorate, not the number of votes.
Barack Obama: Post-presidency engagement
Even after the end of his second term as President of the United States
,
Barack Obama is still involved in politics to this day.
He regularly publicly expressed his
opinion
on the policies of his successor
Donald Trump
, for example his attempt to reverse his health reforms, as well as on the occasion of the Black Lives Matter protests and the Covid 19 pandemic.
His remarks on the right-wing extremist marches in Charlottesville in 2017 were viewed more often than any other post in the history of Twitter.
"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion ..." pic.twitter.com/InZ58zkoAm
- Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 13, 2017
With their Obama Foundation, he and his wife Michelle are also committed
to promoting
young people
.
In addition, the foundation carries out
charitable projects
around the world
and maintains a
scholarship program
.
The foundation has both a specific regional focus on the home of the Obamas in Chicago and a global dimension with leadership programs in Africa and Asia.
Barack Obama: family
Barack Obama was
born
in
Honolulu
,
Hawaii in
1961 .
His parents are
Barack Hussein Obama Senior
(* June 18, 1936, † 1982)
and
Stanley Ann Dunham
(* November 29, 1942, † 1995).
Obama's father was from
Kenya
and his mother from Wichita,
Texas.
Dunham and Obama Sr. met while studying in Hawaii and married a short time later.
The marriage did not last long.
Barack Obama's
parents
divorced
in
1964
.
In 1965, Barack Obama's mother married the Indonesian
Lolo Soetoro
(* 2.01.1935, † 1987) and moved with her son to
Indonesia
, her husband's homeland, in
1967
.
Barack Obama attended a multi-religious school in Jakarta.
He last saw his birth father when he was 10 years old.
He died in 1982 after a serious
traffic accident
.
On his father's side, Barack Obama has three younger half-brothers and one half-sister.
Barack Obama: Children
Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama have two daughters.
Their names are Malia Ann Obama (* July 4th, 1998) and Natasha "Sasha" Obama (* May 10th, 2001).
Natasha moved into the White House in 2009 as the youngest child of a president since 1961.
From 2017 Malia attended Harvard University, Natasha has been attending the University of Michigan since autumn 2019.
