Obama was elected to the Illinois Senate with 1996. Four years later, he failed to run for a seat in the US House of Representatives. Later, he focused on his state's Senate work and was re-elected in 2002. Obama made a keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004 and became a famous American politician. In 2004 165438+ 10, he was elected as a federal senator with 70% of the votes [2].
On February 10, 2007, Obama officially announced his participation in the 2008 US presidential election. [3] His campaign platform focuses on ending the Iraq war and promoting the universal health insurance system. In June 2008, he won the Democratic primary election, becoming the first African-American presidential candidate nominated by a major political party in American history, and was elected president on June 4.
Early life and career
Barack obama was born in Honolulu. His father barack obama Sr is a Kenyan-born Luo. His mother ann dunham was born in Wichita, Kansas. His grandfather was a civil servant during the British colonial rule in Kenya.
growing period
Obama's parents met at the University of Hawaii in Manoa, Honolulu, when his father was an international student. When Obama was 2 years old, his parents separated and then divorced. His father went to Harvard University for a doctorate and finally returned to Kenya [5]. His mother married Lolo Soetoro, an Indonesian student, and gave birth to a daughter. When Obama was six years old, he and his mother moved to Jakarta, Indonesia. Four years later, Obama returned to Hawaii to live with his grandparents. From the fifth grade, Obama attended Punahou School, a large private school located in Honolulu [8], where he studied 12 and graduated 1979 [9].
When Obama was 2 1 year old, his father died in a car accident in Kenya [10]. My mother died a few months after his 1995 memoir, My Father's Dream [1 1] was published.
In Father's Dream, Obama describes his experience of growing up in his mother's white middle-class American family. Most of his information about his black father who died young came from family stories and photos. On childhood, Obama wrote: "My father is completely different from the people around me-his skin is as black as asphalt and my mother is as white as milk-I am deeply impressed." [12] When Obama was young, it was difficult for him to gain social recognition because of his multi-ethnic background. He recalled that he used to smoke marijuana and cocaine in order to "squeeze the question of' who am I' out of his mind" [13]; Later, for the sake of the 2008 presidential election and health, and in exchange for his wife, Michelle Obama, to participate in his own campaign, he gave up smoking for 20 years at the beginning of that year [14].
college days
After graduating from high school, he studied at Occidental College in California for two years, and then transferred to Columbia College in new york City, majoring in political science and international relations. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree from 65438 to 0983, Obama worked in an international business company for one year. 1985, he moved to Chicago and presided over a non-profit plan to help local churches organize vocational training for poor residents [15][ 16].
Law school era
Obama entered Harvard Law School on 1988. 1In February, 1990, Obama was elected as the first African-American chairman of Harvard Law Review [17][ 18], and gained national recognition for the first time. 199 1 year, Obama received a magna cum laude degree from Harvard University (doctor of law, graduated from American law school, doctor of law is S.J.D). [16] After returning to Chicago, Obama hosted a voter registration campaign and worked for Miner, Barnhill &: Galland works, a civil rights law firm. Later, from 1993 to 12, when running for the US Senate in 2005, Obama served as a constitutional lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School [16].
The career of a state senator
Obama and his family
1996, Obama was elected as an Illinois senator from the 13 constituency in Hyde Park, south of Chicago. June 5438 +2003 10, the democratic party regained control of the parliament, and he was nominated as the chairman of the state health and human services Committee [19]. In Obama's legislative proposal, he helped to compile the labor income tax credit to provide assistance to low-income families; It also helps to increase the budget by increasing AIDS prevention and patient care programs for some legislation-related projects specifically for residents who cannot afford medical insurance [20].
The achievements of state senators
In 2000, Obama challenged Bobby Rush for a four-year seat in the Federal House of Representatives, but ultimately failed. Rush, a former member of the Black Panther Party and a community activist, accused Obama of "not being in the first constituency for a long time and not seeing the real situation" [2 1]. Rush got 6 1% of the votes, and Obama got 30%[22]. After losing the election, Obama focused on his Senate work and compiled a law requiring that the interrogation of criminals who may be sentenced to death must be videotaped [7][23][24]. Obama ran for re-election in 2002 and met no opponent. [25]
Throughout Obama's career as an Illinois senator, political critics have noticed that he is not only efficient, but also United with Democrats and Republicans [26][27]. Later, when running for the United States Senate, although Obama supported some bills opposed by police unions, he was supported by the police brotherhood and praised him for his "support for gun control for many years and his willingness to negotiate and compromise" [28].