{ buh-rahk' oh-bah'-muh }

Barack Hussein Obama, b. Honolulu, Aug. 4, 1961, became the first African American to be elected president of the United States, on Nov. 4, 2008. He had been thrust into the national spotlight after delivering an electrifying keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. During the speech, Obama famously proclaimed, "There is not a liberal America and a conservative America; there's the United States of America." An Illinois state senator, he was elected to the U.S. Senate that November. The fifth African American to serve in that body and the third to be popularly elected to it, Obama quickly established himself as one of the most liberal senators.

Early Life and Career

Obama's father, Barack Obama, Sr., was a black man from Kenya; his mother, Ann Dunham, was a white woman from Kansas. The couple met and married in Hawaii, but they separated when the future senator was two years old. After his mother married an Indonesian businessman, Obama moved to Jakarta, Indonesia, where he attended local schools from age six to ten. Returning to Hawaii, he lived with his grandparents and attended school there until his graduation from high school in 1979. After two years at Occidental College (Calif.), he transferred to Columbia University; there he received a B.A. degree in political science in 1983.

Upon graduating from college, Obama moved to Chicago and worked as a community organizer on the South Side for three years. In 1988 he entered Harvard Law School. After being elected the first black president of the Harvard Law Review, he graduated magna cum laude in 1991. He subsequently directed Illinois's Project Vote in 1992, taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School, and worked as a civil rights lawyer in Chicago. In that city he met fellow attorney Michelle Robinson; the couple were married in 1992 (see Obama, Michelle). Elected to the Illinois Senate in 1996 and reelected in 1998 and again in 2002, Obama ran for the U.S. Senate in 2004, campaigning against the Iraq War. He received the largest victory margin for a statewide race in Illinois history.

Presidential Campaign

On Feb. 10, 2007, before the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Ill., where Abraham Lincoln began his political career, Obama announced that he would seek the presidency in 2008. The Illinois Democrat acknowledged that he had not been in Washington long but said that he had "been there long enough to know that the ways of Washington must change." Obama finished first in several early 2008 primaries, and he was soon locked in a battle with Sen. Hillary Clinton for the party's nomination. By early June the Illinois senator had obtained enough delegates to become the presumptive presidential nominee of the Democratic party. Clinton then suspended her campaign and endorsed Obama. He, along with his choice for running mate, U.S. senator from Delaware Joe Biden, was officially nominated by the Democratic party in August. Obama was the first African American to head a major party ticket.

An early and vocal critic of the Iraq War, during his presidential campaign Obama trumpeted that stance as well as the need to elect a candidate who would reach across party lines. He presented himself as an agent of change, setting himself apart from his opponent, Republican senator John McCain of Arizona, who had served in Congress since 1987. Following broadcasts in March 2008 of controversial and racially charged sermons by Obama's pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama delivered a major speech, "A More Perfect Union," which addressed the need for racial healing. The senator later denounced Wright's remarks and left his church.

Prior to the primaries, Obama had indicated that he would agree to public campaign financing, and its corresponding spending limitations during the general election, under certain circumstances. He later announced that he would opt out of public financing. He raised nearly $300 million in campaign funds during the primaries, mainly through small Internet donations, and then continued to raise millions of dollars more during the fall campaign. In speech after speech, Obama contrasted his early opposition to the Iraq War with McCain's support of it; his emphasis on a tax cut for most Americans versus McCain's plan, which provided larger cuts for the very rich; and his plan for universal health care and McCain's opposition to that system. A worldwide financial crisis, precipitated by the collapse of the credit industry in the United States, also damaged McCain's campaign. As the stock market plummeted and fears of a severe recession grew, independent voters blamed President George W. Bush and McCain's Republican party for the economic downturn. They also seemed to prefer Obama's plans and demeanor regarding the economy.

On Nov. 4, 2008, voters overwhelming chose Obama to be the 44th president of the United States. He captured approximately 53% of the popular vote to 46% for McCain and his running mate, Alaska governor Sarah Palin. Obama won 365 electoral votes to McCain's 173, with Missouri's electoral votes initially remaining undecided. Acknowledging victory before an enthusiastic crowd of some 125,000 people in Chicago's Grant Park on election night, Obama dramatically declared: "If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power our democracy, tonight is your answer." In the days immediately following the election, he appointed John Podesta, former chief of staff for President Bill Clinton, to head his transition team. He named Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), another veteran of the Clinton White House, to be his chief of staff. Obama also assembled an economic transition team to help solve the country's financial crisis. His economic team included Lawrence H. Summers as director of the National Economic Council. Timothy H. Geithner was appointed secretary of the treasury. The president-elect named his former political rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, to serve as his secretary of state. He also asked Robert H. Gates to remain secretary of defense.

Presidency

On Jan. 20, 2009, Obama was sworn as the nation's 44th president by Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. In taking the presidential oath, Obama placed his left hand on the Bible used by Abraham Lincoln for his 1861 inauguration. The new chief executive then used his inaugural address to outline the many challenges the United States was facing. After moving into the White House, Obama began to put his own stamp on the presidency. On January 22 he issued an executive order requiring the closing of the Guant‡namo Bay detention facility in Cuba within one year. The action was a major reversal of the policies of the George W. Bush administration. The following week, Obama signed his first bill, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, into law. The legislation provided protections for workers against pay discrimination. In mid-February, Congress passed and Obama signed a $787 billion stimulus plan. In so doing, the president noted that the road to economic recovery would not be easy. "We will make progress, and there may be some slippage along the way." A $275 billion plan to address the housing crisis also was unveiled. In late February, President Obama delivered his first speech to a joint session of Congress. He subsequently presented a budget of nearly $3.6 trillion for fiscal year 2010. On February 19, Obama made his first presidential trip outside the United State—a brief visit to Canada. Later in the month, he outlined his plan for withdrawing combat forces from Iraq.

Obama is the author of the best-selling Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance (1995) and The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream (2006). His 2008 book, Change We Can Believe In: Barack Obama's Plan to Renew America's Promise, outlined his vision for the nation.

Reviewed by Harvard Sitkoff

Further Reading:

Editors of Life Magazine, The American Journey of Barack Obama (2008).

Mendell, David, Obama: From Promise to Power (2007).