Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. (born August 4, 1961) is a U.S. Senator from Illinois. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He received international media coverage for his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, delivered while he was still an Illinois state senator.

Early life

Barack Obama was born at the Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii to Harvard University-educated economist Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., a native of Kenya, and S. Ann Dunham, of Wichita, Kansas. Ms. Dunham is a distant descendant of Jefferson Davis, the first and only president of the Confederate States of America; she is also part Cherokee Indian http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200409/lizza.

Related Topics:
Honolulu - Hawaii - Harvard University - Kenya - Kansas - Jefferson Davis - Confederate States of America - Cherokee Indian

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At the time of Obama's birth, both his parents were students at the East-West Center at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Barack means "blessed" in Swahili. It is derived from the Arabic verb baraka, "to bless." In Islam, Barakah is a common masculine name of the same origin. http://www.forward.com/issues/2003/03.02.07/arts5.htmlhttp://www.sudairy.com/arabic/masc.html

Related Topics:
East-West Center - University of Hawaii at Manoa - Swahili - Arabic - Islam

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Of his years in Hawaii, Obama has written, "The irony is that my decision to work in politics, and to pursue such a career in a big Mainland city, in some sense grows out of my Hawaiian upbringing, and the ideal that Hawaii still represents in my mind."

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When Obama was two years old, his parents divorced. His father eventually returned to Kenya, and he saw his son only once more before his death in 1982. Ann Obama married another East-West Center student from Indonesia. In his early childhood while growing up with his mother, Barack used the name 'Barry'. The family then moved to Jakarta, where Obama's half-sister Maya was born (Obama has other half-siblings from his father's other marriages). When Obama was ten he returned to Hawaii under the care of his grandparents, and later his mother, for the better educational opportunities. He was enrolled in the fifth grade at Punahou School, a prestigious academy that once taught the Hawaiian royal family, where he graduated with honors.

Related Topics:
1982 - Indonesia - Jakarta - Punahou School - Hawaiian royal family

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