“Barry”

Presidential Basics

Full name: Barack Hussein Obama II
Years in office: 2009–2017
Political party: Democratic
Vice president: Joseph Biden
Age at inauguration: 47
Nicknames: “Barry,” “No Drama Obama”

Random Trivia

A Swahili name: Barack means, “one who is blessed,” in Swahili.

Birth & Death

Birthday: August 4, 1961
Birthplace: Honolulu, Hawaii
Death: Still living

Family

Father: Barack Hussein Obama, Sr. (1936–1982); Kenyan governmental economist
Mother: Stanley Ann Dunham (1942–1995)
Wife: Michelle LaVaughn Robinson (1964 –)
Marriage: October 3, 1992 in Illinois
Kids: Two
- Malia Ann (1998–)
- Natasha (Sasha) (2001–)
Home: Chicago, Illinois

Other Facts

Height: 6’1″
Eye color: Brown
Ancestry: Kenyan, English, Irish, African-American
Religion: Congregationalist
Born in a log cabin: No
Owned enslaved people: No
Freemason: No

Education

College degree: Yes
College: Occidental College (1979–1981); Columbia (graduated with B.A. 1983); Harvard Law School (graduated with J.D. 1991)

Career

Military Service: No
Lawyer: Yes
Community Organizer, Chicago (1985–1988)
Civil Rights Attorney, Chicago
University of Chicago Law School Faculty (1992–2004)
Writer
Member of the Illinois Senate (1997–2004)
Member of the U.S. Senate (2005–2008)
President (2009–)

Writings

Dreams from My Father
The Audacity of Hope
Change We Can Believe In

Elections

In the election of 2008, Illinois senator Barack Obama faced off against Arizona senator John McCain. Obama campaigned on change, using a grassroots approach to encourage first time voters. McCain displayed himself as a senator willing to push the envelope in Washington. And, he selected a woman, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska, as his running mate. The economy was the hot button issue of the day with mortgage-backed securities causing a major downturn in the financial sector. Obama won with 68% of the electoral votes, becoming our first African-American president.

In 2012, the incumbent, Barack Obama, faced the former Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney. Obama entered election season with a low approval rating of just 40%. Compounding the low approval rating was a high unemployment rate around 8%. As such, it would not be an easy campaign start for the president. By the end of the campaign, however, unemployment had lowered, and the president gained favor for his response to a terrible natural disaster, Hurricane Sandy. Obama would use these successes to win the election, obtaining 62% of the electoral votes.

Campaign Poster

44 Bo, Hope, color screen print, by Shepard Fairey, 2008 — Hope, color screenprint by Shepard Fairey, 2008 (Library of Congress)

Have you read this yet?

44. Barack Obama