Barack Obama career
Barack Obama. The landmark achiever. The history maker. The orator. In history, Obama’s name will always be remembered as the first African-American to lead the biggest country in the world, in the United States of America. Besides, it isn’t just Obama becoming the president of the free world, but, the manner in which he got to this position. He is the definition of humble beginnings to the zenith of world power. For instance, in several centuries of America’s existence, no black person has had the opportunity of leading a diverse country like the United States of America. Then, enter Obama. The emergence of Obama as the president is synonymous with a breakthrough against racial discrimination. Interestingly, Barack Obama’s career over the years is worth dipping into and getting life lessons from.
However, this is not just because of his great oratory skills as we have come to attach to him. But, because of the groundbreaking manner in which he emerged. It is worthy of emulation. Anyway, in this article, we will be looking at the intrinsic and extrinsic nature of Barack Obama career and importantly, how he weathered the storms to become what he is.
Firstly, Barack Obama is an American politician and attorney who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. However, before his presidency duties, he was a U.S senator from Illinois from 2005 to 2008. Like that wasn’t enough, he served as an Illinois state senator, again, from 1997 to 2004. In all of these roles, his brilliance shone through. He wasn’t just an attorney, he was quite good at what he does. Besides, as a graduate of Harvard Law School, you’d expect nothing less.
Early Life of Barack Obama
Barack Obama was born on August 4, 1961, at Kapiolani Medical Centre for Women and Children in Honolulu, Hawaii. And to date, he remains the only president born outside the contiguous 48 states. Barack Obama was born to an African father and an American mother of European descent. His mother, Ann Dunham (died 1995), was born in Wichita, Kansas. Barack himself is of Irish, German, Scottish, Swiss, and Welsh origins. His father Barack Obama Sr. (died 1982) was a Luo Kenyan from Nyang’oma Kogelo.
However, after Obama’s birth, his parents moved to Seattle to settle but they got a divorce in March 1964. After this, Obama senior moved back to Kenya to work for the Kenyan government as the Senior Economic Analyst in the Ministry of Finance. On the other side, Dunham met Lolo Soetoro, who was an Indonesian East-West Centre graduate student in geography. The couple married in Molokai on March 15, 1965. But, after two years, Dunham, her son, and her newly wedded husband moved to Indonesia. At the time, Barack was just six at the time. He later attended local Indonesian-language schools for two years and he spoke Indonesian fluently as a child. Obama’s stepfather taught him how to be resilient and gave him “a pretty hard-headed assessment of how the world works.”
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In 1971, Obama moved to Honolulu to live with his maternal grandparents. As a bright student, he got a scholarship to attend Punahou School from his fifth grade till he graduated from high school in 1979.
His College Days
As time passed, Obama moved to Los Angeles to attend Occidental College on a full scholarship in 1979. In 1981, he transferred to Columbia University in New York City as a junior where he majored in Political Science. He finished with a 3.7 GPA and a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1983. In his teenage age, he experimented with cocaine, marijuana, and drugs trying to “discover himself.”
Barack Obama Career
Two years after graduating from Columbia University, Obama moved to Chicago. He became the Director of the Developing Communities Project. He worked for three years. Obama turned down a full scholarship to Northwestern University School of Law to enroll at Harvard Law School in 1988. At the end of his first year, he became the editor of the Harvard Law Review at the end of his first year. His election as the first black President of the Harvard Law Review gained media traction in 1991.
In that same year, he accepted the offer to become the Visiting Law and Government Fellow at the University of Chicago to work on his first book. He taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School for twelve years from 1992 to 2004.
Barack Obama Career As a Politician
Subsequently, Barack Obama took another turn in his career by becoming more politically involved. He contested for a position in Illinois Senate in 1966. The Honolulu-born attorney won, succeeding Democratic State Senator Alice Palmer. In addition, Obama became involved in legislation and restructured health care laws. Additionally, Obama ensured an increase in childcare subsidies. In 1998 and 2002, the people of Illinois re-elected him.
Obama’s steady rise to the political game became out-blown in 2004. This happened after his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Obama’s address was viewed by nine million people. That speech increased his popularity among Americans. However, in the November 2004 general election, Obama won 70% of the votes. It is the largest margin of victory for a Senate candidate in Illinois history.
Barack Obama’s Presidency
On February 10, 2007, Barack announced he’s running for the President of the United States in Springfield, Illinois. However, after so many processes, the choice candidates narrowed down to just Senator Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama. But, on June 7, 2008, Clinton endorsed Obama and dropped her race. On November 4, 2008, Obama won the presidency with 365 electoral votes to 173 received by McCain. Obama delivered his victory speech in front of hundreds of thousands of supporters in Chicago’s Grant Park.
Obama announced his re-election campaign on April 4, 2011. He won the election with 332 electoral votes. This result exceeded the 270 required for his re-election as president.
His Personal Life
Michelle Obama is the wife of Barack and they literally look like the perfect duo ever. Anyway, they began dating in 1991 and married on October 3, 1992. The couple has two daughters; Malia Ann and Natasha. Both were born via in-vitro fertilization.
Barack Obama’s Net Worth
According to reliable Celebrity Net Worth, Barack Obama is worth $70 million. He earns $400,000 as salary. This is from the royalties from his books. Actually, the Obamas became millionaires in the early 2010s. This is as a result of their books becoming national best-sellers.
