Meri shahinyan biography of barack obama
Home / Political Leaders & Public Figures / Meri shahinyan biography of barack obama
It’s not ignoring the enormity of the task ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path.”
Obama was hailed for his leadership in implementing the Affordable Care Act, managing economic recovery following the 2008 financial crisis, and supporting of climate change initiatives across his presidency.
Biden had been a U.S. senator from Delaware since 1972, was a one-time Democratic candidate for president and served as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Obama was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. with the same Bible President Abraham Lincoln used at his first inaugural.
One of Obama’s first acts in office was the signing of The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, which he signed just nine days into office, giving legal protection in the fight for equal pay for women.
Additionally he supports social justice projects, awareness of climate change, and voting rights.
Interesting Facts
- Obama is an avid basketball player and fan.
- He won two Grammy Awards for the audiobook versions of his memoirs.
- He is known for his love of reading and has released annual book recommendations.
Illinois State Senate (1997–2004)
Obama’s political career started in 1996 when he was chosen to represent the 13th district on Chicago’s South Side on the Illinois State Senate.
He won 52 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary, defeating both multimillionaire businessman Blair Hull and Illinois Comptroller Daniel Hynes. He won a scholarship to study economics at the University of Hawaii, where he met and married Ann Dunham, a white woman from Wichita, Kansas, whose father had worked on oil rigs during the Great Depression and fought with the U.S.
Army in World War II before moving his family to Hawaii in 1959. 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. Our climb will be steep.
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.
As the first African American president, he created history, and in 2009 he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his contributions to enhance world diplomacy. Obama sat on various committees, including Foreign Relations and Environment & Public Works, while in the Senate. 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. 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.
He announced the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and ordered the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in 2011.
Second Term (2013–2017)
After winning re-election in 2012 against Republican candidate Mitt Romney, Obama’s second term focused on several key initiatives:
- Climate Change: He introduced policies to reduce carbon emissions and played a key role in the Paris Climate Agreement.
- Cuba Relations: He restored diplomatic ties with Cuba, ending decades of hostility.
- Criminal Justice Reform: His administration implemented policies to reduce mass incarceration.
- Gun Control: After tragic mass shootings, he advocated for stricter gun control laws, though faced opposition from Congress.
Post-Presidency
After leaving office in January 2017, Obama and his family settled in Washington, D.C.
He has remained active in public affairs through the Obama Foundation, which focuses on leadership development and civic engagement.
He has also written books, including A Promised Land, a memoir about his presidency. For the next several years, he worked with low-income residents in Chicago’s Roseland community and the Altgeld Gardens public housing development on the city’s largely Black South Side.
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. Following his 1983 Political Science degree from Columbia University, he attended Harvard Law School, where he became the first Black president of the Harvard Law Review.
Top Achievement
| Year | Achievement |
|---|---|
| 2004 | Delivered keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention, gaining national attention |
| 2005-2008 | Served as U.S.
Senator from Illinois |
| 2008 | Elected as the 44th U.S. President |
| 2009 | Awarded Nobel Peace Prize |
| 2010 | Signed the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) into law |
| 2011 | Ordered the operation that led to the death of Osama bin Laden |
| 2012 | Re-elected as U.S.
President |
| 2015 | Helped legalize same-sex marriage nationwide |
| 2017-Present | Launched the Obama Foundation and focused on global leadership and community engagement |
| 2020 | Released memoir A Promised Land |
Family Background
Obama’s mother Ann Dunham was an anthropologist focused in economic development; his father, Barack Obama Sr., was a Kenyan economist studying in the United States.
He worked on laws covering government openness, nuclear nonproliferation, and veterans’ benefits.
Also Read: Elon Musk: Visionary Entrepreneur, Inventor, and Innovator
2008 Presidential Campaign and Election
Obama declared his campaign to be US President in February 2007. To address the financial crisis he inherited, he passed a stimulus bill, bailed out the struggling auto industry and Wall Street, and gave working families a tax cut.
Barack Obama Biography: Life, Achievements, Family & Legacy
Most famously for serving as the 44th President of the United States from 2009 to 2017, Barack Obama is a very powerful political leader and prominent personager.
He helped create a state earned-income tax credit that benefited the working poor, promoted subsidies for early childhood education programs and worked with law enforcement officials to require the videotaping of interrogations and confessions in all capital cases.
Re-elected in 1998 and again in 2002, Obama also ran unsuccessfully in the 2000 Democratic primary for the U.
S. House of Representatives seat held by the popular four-term incumbent Bobby Rush. His policies on healthcare, climate change, and diplomacy continue to influence American politics.