Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, was born on August 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii. His birth name is Barack Hussein Obama Jr., and his name means “one who is blessed” in Swahili. Obama is a Christian.
Early Life and Education
Obama’s parents, Barack Hussein Obama and Stanley Ann (Dunham) Obama Soetoro, divorced when he was two years old. He later lived in Indonesia with his mother and stepfather, Lolo Soetoro, before returning to Hawaii to live with his maternal grandparents and attend school.
Obama graduated from Columbia University in 1983 and Harvard University in 1991, where he earned his Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree. He is the first African-American to be president of the Harvard Law Review.
Career and Politics
Before entering politics, Obama practiced civil rights law and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School. He served in the Illinois State Senate from 1997 to 2005 and was elected to the US Senate in 2004.
Obama won the presidential election in 2008 and was re-elected in 2012. During his presidency, he issued executive orders regarding the closing of Guantánamo Bay, torture, and creating a review of detention facilities and of individual cases.
Obama has been recognized for his work, including being named Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year” in 2008 and 2012. He has also won two Grammy Awards for Best Spoken Word Album.
Original reporting: KRDO (Colorado Springs metro) — read the source article.
