Gottfried honegger biography of barack obama

After a two-year stint working in corporate research and at the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) in New York City, Obama moved to Chicago, where he took a job as a community organizer with a church-based group, the Developing Communities Project.

It put the relatively unknown, young senator in the national spotlight.

 In November 2004, Illinois delivered 70 percent of its votes to Obama (versus Keyes’ 27 percent), sending him to Washington as only the third African American elected to the U.S. Senate since Reconstruction.

During his tenure, Obama notably focused on issues of nuclear non-proliferation and the health threat posed by avian flu.

Sadly, Obama’s maternal grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, died after a battle with cancer on November 3, the day before voters went to the polls. She had been a tremendously influential force in her grandson’s life and had diligently followed his historic run for office from her home in Honolulu.

On November 4, lines at polling stations around the nation heralded a historic turnout and resulted in a Democratic victory, with Obama capturing some Republican strongholds (Virginia, Indiana) and key battleground states (Florida, Ohio) that had been won by Republicans in recent elections.

As a state senator, Obama notably went on record as an early opponent of President George W. Bush’s push to war with Iraq.

During a rally at Chicago’s Federal Plaza in October 2002, he spoke against a resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq: “I am not opposed to all wars. Of all the things she has achieved in her remarkable life, Michelle considers being a mother her greatest accomplishment.

Her life shows us that you don’t have to look a certain way or act a certain way to fit in; you don’t have to make a lot of money or come from a certain group or class or faith in order to matter.

It’s a job for all of us.”

Barack H. Obama is the 44th President of the United States.

Few presidents have walked a more improbable path to the White House. That July, Obama gave the keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, shooting to national prominence with his eloquent call for unity among “red” (Republican) and “blue” (Democratic) states.

He took office at a moment of crisis unlike any America had seen in decades — a nation at war, a planet in peril, the American Dream itself threatened by the worst economic calamity since the Great Depression. He would see his son only once more before dying in a car accident in 1982. The homespun values they instilled in him, paired with his innate sense of optimism, compelled Obama to devote his life to giving every child, regardless of his or her background, the same chance America gave him.

After working his way through college with the help of scholarships and student loans, Obama moved to Chicago, where he worked with a group of churches to help rebuild communities devastated by the closure of local steel plants.

Obama was elected to the Illinois state senate in 1996 and served there for eight years. He also devoted energy to raising money and planning for the opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, Illinois.