Obama Biography

Barack Obama's Biography
By Freddie Brister

Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on August 4, 1961. He spent two years at Occidental College before he transferred to Columbia University. He majored in political science with an emphasis on international relations. After he graduated, he spent a year working at Business International, which is a newsletter publisher. Then he moved to Chicago where he was a community organizer on the south side. That was when he joined the Trinity United Church of Christ.


He went to Harvard University to study law. While he was there, he was elected Harvard's first black president of the Harvard Law Review. He graduated from Harvard with the distinction magna cum laude. After he got his degree, he returned to Chicago and got about a hundred thousand people registered to vote for the 1992 general election. He helped in getting Bill Clinton elected. Also, he helped to get Senator Carol Moseley Braun, who was the first African-American woman elected into the US Senate. He joined a civil rights firm and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago.

In 1996, Barack was elected to the Illinois State Senate. He was the chairman of the Public Health and Welfare Committee. That was when the Democrats got control of the chamber. He was regarded as the "most liberal" member of the Senate for his decisions, or lack thereof. Even though he was a liberal senator, he was known as a "bipartisan dealmaker". He also pushed for a form of universal healthcare. There are about 47 million Americans without healthcare and Barack's plan should lower that number dramatically. He also pushed forth legislation to fund AIDS research and prevention programs.

Barack has not always been successful in his political life. He was unsuccessful in Illinois' 1st Congressional District Democratic primary against Bobby Rush, the incumbent. Barack was thrust into the national spotlight thanks to John Kerry, the Democratic Nominee in 2004. He gave Barack a slot to speak and a star was born.

In 2005, Barack was listed as one of the top 100 most influential people in the whole world. In 2004, Barack ran for a US Senate seat. Obama went up against Jack Ryan but Ryan had to drop out. Alan Keyes was then chosen as Barack's new opponent. Obama won handily in the general election and received 70% to Keyes's 27%. When Barack was sworn in on January 4, 2005, he ranked next to last in terms of seniority. Obama had some official business to take care of when he got to the Senate. He had to decline to be the Senate co-sponsor of questioning Ohio's Electoral College votes after the 2004 election was over.

He came into the senate with a plan that greatly mirrored Hillary Clinton's. His plan stated that he wanted to focus on improving Illinois, his home state. He held 39 town hall meetings. Barack had to speak up sooner than he would have liked when Hurricane Katrina hit. On February 10, 2007 in Springfield, IL, Barack announced that he would seek the presidency in 2008, after saying previously that he wouldn't do such a thing.

Dan Shapiro announced that he would be Barack's political advisor and strategist. This was important because it went along with Barack's desire to deliver many speeches to emphasize his devotion to Israel. Twelve days after the general election, President Elect Barack Obama resigned from the US Senate. Governor Rod Blagojevich, of Illinois, will appoint somebody to replace Obama.

Writer and editor, Freddie Brister, is a former high school football coach of 25 years. His love of the game of football is reflected in his words and memories of growing up in the South and playing football in the back yard with his brother, cousins and neighborhood friends. His biggest thrill is watching former high school players he has coached play at the college level. His favorite pastime is watching college football on tv and attending the games in person every chance he gets

Related Post