Haig kelegian biography of barack obama
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It also ends somewhat abruptly – just as Obama is leaving Chicago to attend Harvard Law and well before the start of his political career.
But it is extremely well-researched, quite well written and, in the end, paints a compelling portrait of the 44th president (as he approaches the end of his third decade of life).
But Remnick’s reporting eye and his tenacity in seeking out interviews of everyone who ever knew Obama are remarkable. After his original Republican opponent in the general election, Jack Ryan, withdrew from the race, the former presidential candidate Alan Keyes stepped in. After winning reelection in 2012, Obama began his second term focused on securing legislation on immigration reform and gun control, neither of which he was able to achieve.
They worked to bring new voters—many of them young or Black, both demographics they believed favored Obama—to become involved in the election.
A crushing financial crisis in the months leading up to the election shifted the nation’s focus to economic issues, and both Obama and McCain worked to show they had the best plan for economic improvement.
She and her new husband, an Indonesian man named Lolo Soetoro, moved with her young son to Jakarta in the late 1960s, where Ann worked at the U.S. embassy. After the Republicans won control of the House of Representatives in 2010, the president spent significant time and political effort negotiating, for the most part unsuccessfully, with congressional Republicans about taxes, budgets, and the deficit.
Taking the stage in Chicago’s Grant Park with his wife, Michelle, and their two young daughters, Malia Obama and Sasha Obama, he acknowledged the historic nature of his win while reflecting on the serious challenges that lay ahead. Barack and Ann’s son, Barack Hussein Obama Jr., was born in Honolulu on August 4, 1961.
Did you know?
Not only was Obama the first African American president, he was also the first to be born outside the continental United States.
(He has indicated an interest in doing so, but only after Obama’s book is published and once his library archives are accessible) — 4¼ stars (Full review here)
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Best Biography of Barack Obama: ***Too early to call***
Follow-up:
– “Obama: The Call of History” (2017) by Peter Baker
– “Obama: From Promise to Power” (2007) by David Mendell
Barack Obama: Life in Brief
Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States—becoming the first African American to serve in that office—on January 20, 2009.
The son of a white American mother and a black Kenyan father, Obama grew up in Hawaii.
I’m opposed to dumb wars…I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a U. S. occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences.”
Barack Obama’s Speech At the 2004 Democratic National Convention
When Republican Peter Fitzgerald announced that he would vacate his U.S.
Senate seat in 2004 after only one term, Obama decided to run.
Their two daughters, Malia Ann and Natasha (Sasha), were born in 1998 and 2001, respectively. And, of the three books I read, this provides the most informative “all around” coverage of Obama’s pre-presidency – 4¼ stars (Full review here)
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* “Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama” (2017) by David Garrow
This 1,078-page biography, covering Obama’s life up through his presidency, is noteworthy for its length as well as the deep research which supports an often extraordinary level of detail.
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. The economy was officially in a recession, and the outgoing administration of George W.
Bush had begun to implement a controversial "bail-out" package to try to help struggling financial institutions. With Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, he created a website that tracks all federal spending, aimed at rebuilding citizens’ trust in government. In foreign affairs, the United States still had troops deployed in difficult conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
During the first two years of his first term, President Obama was able to work with the Democratic-controlled Congress to improve the economy, pass health-care reform legislation, and withdraw most US troops from Iraq.
Obama’s inauguration set an attendance record, with 1.8 million people gathering in the cold to witness it. He would see his son only once more before dying in a car accident in 1982. It takes time to develop, and not until the book’s second half does the future president come into sharp focus. He also devoted energy to raising money and planning for the opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, Illinois.
Barack Obama
Barack Obama’s Early Life
Obama’s father, also named Barack Hussein Obama, grew up in a small village in Nyanza Province, Kenya, as a member of the Luo ethnicity.
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.
Obama’s half-sister, Maya Soetoro Ng, was born in Jakarta in 1970.
Barack Obama’s Education
At age 10, Obama returned to Hawaii to live with his maternal grandparents.