#TBT: Barack Obamas journey to U.S. presidency

The 44^th American President Barack Hussein Obama Jr was born on August 4, 1961, in Hawaii.

His mother, Ann Dunham, met Barack Obama Sr when they were students at the University of Hawaii.

Obama’s father left the family and relocated to Kenya when Obama was just two-years-old. From age six through ten, Obama lived with his mother and stepfather in Indonesia. While in Indonesia, he attended Catholic and Muslim schools.

“I was raised as an Indonesian child and a Hawaiian child and as a black child and as a white child. So I benefited from a multiplicity of cultures,” said Obama in a speech.

Obama’s mother sent him back to Hawaii to live with her parents, Stanley and Madelyn Dunham, because she was concerned for his education.

He played varsity basketball and, later admitted, “Dabbled in drugs and alcohol,” including marijuana and cocaine.

Questions have often been raised about Obama’s religion, especially since his middle name is Hussein. In his book, Obama sought to address the question saying, “I was not raised in a religious household.”

College years & Marriage

Obama later left Hawaii for college, enrolling first at Occidental College in Los Angeles, and then at Columbia University in New York City.

He read deeply and extensively about political and international affairs, graduating from Columbia with a political science major in 1983.

In 1988, Obama enrolled at Harvard Law School. He excelled at the institution as a student, winning election as president of Harvard Law Review for the academic year “90-“91.

During internship program at Chicago’s Sidley and Austin law firm after his first year at Harvard, Obama met Michelle Robinson who supervised his work at the firm. He wooed her. After a four-year courtship, they married in 1992.

The Obamas settled in Chicago where their first daughter, Malia Ann, was born in 1998 and their second daughter, Natasha (Sasha), was born in 2001.

Political Career

Before she passed on in 1995, Obama’s mother urged her son to fight for civil rights.

Barack steadily rose to limelight after he ventured into politics in 1996 when he won the Illinois State Senator between 1996. From 2005-2008 Obama served as United States Senator.

In 2008, he ran for the U.S. Presidency on the Democratic ticket and won. He made history as the first black president of the U.S. and his win was celebrated across the globe. He secured a second term in office when he won the 2012 elections.

Here are 5 interesting facts about Barack Obama:

1. He keeps a wooden carving of a hand holding an egg on his desk, which is a Kenyan symbol of the fragility of life.
2. Obama was known as ‘Barry’ until university when he asked to be addressed by his full name: Barack.
3. Obama has had his share of strange food. He ate dog meat, snake meat, and roasted grasshopper while living in Indonesia.
4. As a teenager, Obama worked in an ice cream shop. Since then, he says he can’t stand ice cream.
5. Obama’s favorite sport is basketball, and his high school team nicknamed him “O’Bomber” because of his extraordinary talent.