BORN AUGUST 4, 1961PRESIDENCY: JANUARY

20,2009-PRESENT ILLINOIS(D)

44. Barack H. Obama II

ChildhoodBarack Hussien Obama was born on August 4, 1961, to Stanley

Ann Durham and Barack H. Obama Sr. in Honolulu Hawaii. Both of whom where students at The University of Hawaii at Manoa. Pres. Obama often speaks of his culturally diverse background

due to the fact that his mother is of English descent and his father is a native Kenyan from the Luo tribe. When Obama was two his parents separated and eventually divorced in 1964 , this tragic event had a last effect on the relationship that Obama had with his father. This was the last time that the Obama’s spent any quality time together, they only met each other one more time

before Obama Sr. death in 1984. For a brief four years Obama lived in Indonesia with his mother and stepfather Lolo Soetoro. After that abroad experience Obama moved back to his native

Hawaii, where he lived with his grandparents Madelyn and Stanley Dunham, and attended Punahou School until his

graduation in 1979. After graduating in 1979, Obama moved to Los Angeles and attended Occidental College, before transferring to Columbia University in New York City where he graduated with

a B.A. in 1983 . It is at this time that Obama found the need to incorporate himself into public service, after four years in NYC , Obama moved to Chicago and began working as a Community Organizer on the South Side for the Developing Communities

Project (DCP).

Rise to Political Prominence After his tenure at the DCP, Obama entered Harvard’s Law School

in the year 1988. Here he became first African-American Editor of the Harvard Law Review, this achievement gained national attention and

which led to the contract for a book on race relations, which ultimately changed into his personal memoir Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance ,which was published in 1995 and

redistributed again after his U.S. Senate election in 2005. He graduated from Harvard in 1991 with a J.D. and once again moved to

Chicago. After returning to Chicago, he began an internship at the law firm Sidley Austin, it is here where he met his future wife

Michelle Robinson. From 1992 to 1996 Obama contributed time to numerous community based foundations and even worked at the University of Chicago as a Constitutional Law Professor. In 1997,

Obama was elected to the Illinois State Senate representing the 13th District, he was consequently reelected in 1998,2000, and 2002. In 2000 he lost a primary race for a seat in the U.S House of Reps. In 2003, Obama announced his candidacy for the vacate U.S. Senate

seat that would be available in the 2004 election. Eventually he won the primary for the seat and became the Democrat’s candidate in the

2004 Illinois U.S. Senate race. He gave the Keynote Address at the 2004 Democratic Convention, which was very well received and even

caused some people to question if he would in fact be the nation’s first African-American president. In November of that year, Obama

won the U.S. Senate seat beating the Republican candidate Alan Keyes. While in the Senate Obama served on the Foreign Relations;

Environmental and Public Works; Veteran’s Affairs; Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; and European Affairs Commitees. Eventually in 2007

Obama announced candidacy for the Presidency of the U.S. election in 2008. He won the Democratic Party’s nomination in June 2008,

then the Presidential Election in November 2008 defeating fellow U.S. Senator John S. McCain(R-AZ) .

The Election of 2008

It seems very odd to view an event that occurred just two short years ago as a historical event. It stands as a testament that in our daily lives we are literally living and breathing history. The election of 2008 was a highly contested one, featuring the longtime Senator from Arizona John McCain and his Running mate Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska on the GOP side and Senator Barack Obama of Illinois and his running mate Joseph R. Biden of Delaware. The election eventually went to Obama and made him the 44th President of the U.S., the first President of African descent, the first born in Hawaii and the 3rd hailing from the state of Illinois . On November 4, 2008 Obama won numerous states that were thought to lean Republican including Nevada, New Mexico, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Indiana and Ohio.

The Obama Cabinet

President: Barack Obama

Vice President Joe Biden

Secretary of State: Hillary Clinton

Secretary of Treasury: Timothy Geithner

Secretary of Defense: Robert Gates

Secretary of the Interior: Ken Salazar

Secretary of Agriculture: Tom Vilsack

Secretary of Commerce: Gary Locke

Secretary of Heath and Human Services: Kathleen Sebelius

Secretary of Education: Arne Duncan

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development: Shaun Donovan

Secretary of Transportation: Ray La Hood

Secretary of Energy: Steven Chu

Secretary of Veterans Affairs: Eric Shinseki

Secretary of Homeland Security: Janet Napolitano

Chief of Staff: Rahm Emmanuel

Director of the (EPA): Lisa Jackson

Director of the Office of Management and Budget: Peter Orzag

Ambassador to the United Nations: Susan Rice

United States Trade Representative: Ron Kirk

The Obama White House

Foreign and Domestic Policies

Foreign Policies •S.T.A.R.T. Treaty Renewal, it is a treaty that states that both the U.S. and Russia will lower the amount of their nuclear warheads by a third over a period of time.• U.S.- China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, which was agreed to by both countries to build a “positive, cooperative, and comprehensive U.S.-China relationship for the 21st Century”

Domestic Policies•The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act •The Patient Protection and Affordable Cost Act•Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act•Edward M. Kennedy Serve America ActThese are just a few a of the bills that were passed during Pres. Obama’s brief time in Office

Successes Failures

•Presidential Election 2008•Recovery and Reinvestment Act•Health Care Bill•Set timetable for troop withdrawal out of Iraq•START Treaty renewal with Russia•Supreme Court Nomination of Justice Sonia Sotomayor

•Inability to obtain a bi-partisan effort on Capitol Hill•Inability to close Guantanamo Bay by end of 1st year in office•Inability to enter talks with Iran or North Korea

Failures and Successes

P.I.R.A.T.E.S

Political Elected President on Nov. 4th 2004, previously served as U.S. Senator and State Senator from Illinois, START Nuclear Proliferation Treaty, 2010 Patient Protection Act, Has vowed to fundamentally change Washington’s ways. Has asked for a transparent and bi-partisan government where members of both sides of the aisle can cohesively work to bring about change

Intellectual Graduated from Columbia University in 1993, with a Bachelor of the Arts; Harvard Law School Grad in 1991 with a Juris Doctorate(magna cum laude)

Religious Of the Christian faith (Non-Denominational), formerly a member of the United Church of Christ and member of the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, currently attends no church in Washington, D.C., but occasionally attends Evergreen Chapel , which is on the ground’s of Camp David in Fredrick County, Maryland

P.I.R.A.T.E.S(cont.)

Arts (Education)

Obama signed the Health Care and Educational Reconciliation Act of 2010, on March 30, 2010, this act ended the role that private banks have in lending out federally-insured loans to students, and now the loans come directly from the government, this act is expected to save American Taxpayers up to $68 billion dollars over an extended period of time.

Technology In 2009 Obama repealed a previously made policy that prevented any use of federal tax dollars towards the advancement of stem-cell research

Environmental

In the stimulus bill that was signed into law devoted $54 billion in funds that would double the nation’s domestic renewable energy production, In Feb. 2009 he repealed a Bush-era policy that enabled offshore drilling of the coast of the United States, this repeal was later reinstated in March 2010 and allowed drilling to commence off the Atlantic Coast, the eastern shore of the Gulf of Mexico, and the Northern Coast of Alaska

P.I.R.A.T.E.S(cont.)

Economical American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, On Feb. 17, 2009 signed the $787 billion dollar stimulus plan into law, Has introduced numerous plans that are aimed toward stabilizing the economy, Congressional Auditors have estimated that these plans will lead to an increase of $ 9.3 trillion dollars to the deficit over the next decade

Social Has asked Congress to repeal the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and Defense of Marriage Act, In January 2009, He repealed the Mexico City Policy Measure, I believe that almost any person in America would agree that Pres. Obama is the only president in modern times that was able to effectively captivate the minds of people that spanned all demographics. It can also be said that he has jolted many groups of people that have not always been politically involved or aware.

Impact

The impact that President Obama has on America is like that of any president quite frankly. Though his presidency has been a relatively short one I believe that he has introduced many new concepts that will not only affect our generation for the better, but also those generations that live decades from today.

2008 Campaign Cartoon

HOPEH O P E , I T ’ S A W O R D T H AT I S U S E D W H E N S O M E T H I N G

I S D E S I R E D. I T H I N K T H AT O N N O V E M B E R 4 , 2 0 0 8 A M E R I C A D E S I R E D A C H A N G E , A M E R I C A WA N T E D T O M O V E F O R WA R D, A M E R I C A WA N T E D T O R E T U R N T O

I T S F O R G O TT E N S TAT E O F G L O R Y. I T C O U L D B E S A I D T H AT H O P E I S A L L A FA N TA S Y, T H AT I T N E V E R

B E C O M E S A R E A L I T Y, T H AT C E R TA I N I N S T I T U T I O N S A R E A N D W I L L A LWAY S B E D I S T O R T E D I N S O M E WAY.

O N T H AT N O V E M B E R N I G H T, A M E R I C A S A I D T H AT T H E Y W O U L D D E F Y T H E O D D S A N D H O P E T H AT T H E Y C O U L D B E C H A N G E D. T H AT I S W H AT B A R A C K O B A M A M E A N S T O S O M A N Y P E O P L E I T I S T H E H O P E T H AT I S A L L B U T F O R G O TT E N, T H E H O P E T H AT S E E M S T O B E

G O N E . B A R A C K O B A M A WA S T H E I R H O P E .

“One Word”

America’s First Family

“This union may never be perfect , but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected.”

1 . M A R L E N E TA R G B R I L L , B A R A C K O B A M A : N E W P R E S I D E N T F O R A N E W E R A2 0 0 9 , L E R N E R P U B L I C AT I O N S2 . J I L L C . W H E L L E R , B A R A C K O B A M A ; 2 0 0 9 , A B D O P U B L I S H I N G C O M PA N Y3 . W W W. A L L G R E AT Q U O T E S . C O M / B A R A C K _ O B A M A _ Q U O T E S . S H T M L4 . W W W. E N. W I K I P E D I A . O R G / W I K I / B A R A C K _ O B A M A5 . W W W. W H I T E H O U S E . G O V / A D M I N I S T R AT I O N / P R E S I D E N T _ O B A M A6 . W W W. B I O G R A P H Y. C O M / A R T I C L E S / B A R A C K _ O B A M A _ 1 2 7 8 2 3 6 97 . B I O G U I D E . C O N G R E S S . G O V / S C R I P T S / D I O D I S P L AY. P L ?I N D E X + O 0 0 0 1 6 7

Bibliography

DEONTA WORTHAM

Team Member Slide