Barack Obama
Barack Obama (1962- ) is a Democratic politician from Chicago, Illinois. A state legislator, Obama is currently running for the United States Senate from the State of Illinois, which would be the highest elected office he would hold thus far. If successful, Obama would be only the third African-American senator since Reconstruction.
Early Years
Barack Obama was born at the Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawai'i on the island of O'ahu to economist Barack Obama, Sr. of Kenya and S. Ann Dunham of Kansas. Both his parents were students at the East-West Center at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. At the age of two, the couple were divorced and Obama's mother re-married to another East-West Center student from Indonesia. The family moved to Indonesia for a couple of years but Obama returned to Hawai'i to be raised by his grandmother on Beretania Street in downtown Honolulu. He was enrolled in the fifth grade at Punahou School, a prestigious academy that once taught the Hawaiian royal family, and got his first job at Baskin-Robbins on the corner of King and Punahou Streets. He graduated from Punahou School with honors.
College Education
Upon finishing high school, Obama went on to study at Columbia University in New York City majoring in political science. He then moved to Chicago, Illinois and took up community organizing. He left Chicago briefly to study law at Harvard University where he became the first African-American editor of the internationally recognized publication Harvard Law Review. After graduating magna cum laude from Harvard Law, Obama returned to his adopted hometown of Chicago in 1992 and was quick to organize an aggressive election effort for the Bill Clinton presidential campaign claiming to have registered over 100,000 voters. His talents gained him a seat at a local civil rights law firm and became a lecturer of constitutional law at the University of Chicago. Obama still serves as a professor there.
Political Life
In 1996, Obama was elected to the Illinois State Senate from the south side of Chicago. He served as chairman of the Public Health and Welfare Committee. The Chicago Tribune called him "one of the General Assembly's most impressive members."
Regarded as a staunch liberal during his tenure in the legislature, he helped to author a state earned income tax credit providing benefits to the poor. He also pursued laws that extended health coverage to Illinois residents who could not afford insurance. Speaking up for leading gay and lesbian advocacy groups, he successfully passed bills to increase funding for AIDS prevention and care programs.
In the 2004 Senate race, his early opponent was businessman and educator Jack Ryan. Ryan effectively withdrew from the race after a California court ruling opened files related to his 1999 divorce from actress Jeri Ryan, leaving Obama without an effective Republican rival. Prior to Ryan's embarassment, he was already trailing Obama in the polls (Illinois usually votes Democratic). Chicago Bears former coach Mike Ditka had considered running as a Republican to replace Ryan, but opted not to due to family and business considerations. Whoever is eventually chosen to run will have an uphill battle building recognition among voters and facing a candidate who they will most certainly be behind in the polls. As such, Obama's victory is generally considered a given. Obama was chosen shortly afterward to deliver the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts.