Barack Obama

Background
Also Known As: Barack Hussein Obama II
Famous As: 44th U.S. President
Nationality: American
Political Ideology : Political party Democratic
Birth Date: August 4, 1961
Age: 56 Years
Sun Sign: Leo
Height: 1.85 m
Born In: Honolulu, Hawai, USA
Father: Barack Obama, Sr.
Mother: Ann Dunham
Siblings: Maya Soetoro-Ng, Mark Okoth Obama
Ndesandjo, George Obama, Malik Abongo
Obama, Bernard Obama, David Ndesandjo,
Abo Obama, Auma Obama
Spouse/Partner: Michelle Obama
Children: Natasha Obama, Malia Ann Obama
Religion: Christianity
Ideology: Democrats
City, States, Provinces & Districts: Hawaii
Founder/Co-Founder: Major Economies Forum on Energy and
Climate Change, National Commission on
Fiscal Responsibility and Reform,
Developing Communities Project,
President's Council on Jobs and
Competitiveness, White House Task Force
to Protect Students from Sexual Assault
Career Progress
1. He took up a part-time teaching position at the University of Chicago
Law School in 1992 as a lecturer, eventually becoming a Senior
Lecturer in 1996.
2. He joined the firm of Miner, Barnhill & Galland to practice as a civil
rights lawyer. He served as an associate for three years from 1993 to
1996, then as counsel from 1996 to 2004.
3. He ventured into politics and successfully ran as a Democrat for a seat
in the Illinois State Senate in 1996. He sponsored a law that increased
tax credits for low-income workers, negotiated welfare reform, and
promoted increased subsidies for childcare. He was reelected in 1998
and then again in 2002.
4. He decided to run for the U.S. Senate in 2004 and won in an unexpected
landslide in the primary election in March. He delivered the keynote
address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention following which
he became very popular. He was sworn in as a senator on January 3,
2005
5. As the Senator, he cosponsored the Secure America and Orderly
Immigration Act and introduced the Federal Funding Accountability
and Transparency Act of 2006. He also sponsored the Iran Sanctions
Enabling Act and an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act to
add safeguards for personality-disorder military discharges.
6. An ambitious man and a successful political figure in the U.S., Barack
Obama decided to run for the presidency and announced his candidacy
for President of United States, in 2007. He was chosen as Democratic
Partys presidential candidate
7. He defeated Republican presidential nominee John McCain in the
United States presidential election on November 4, 2008. Obama
received 365 electoral votes as compared to 173 electoral votes received
by McCain. His running mate, Delaware Senator Joe Biden, became
vice president.
8. Barack Obama was sworn in as the president on January 20, 2009. He
assumed the position at a time when the American economy was in a
chaos, in the midst of a severe global recession.
9. He set to work immediately and started implementing financial reforms
to bring down the national debt while also focusing on the education
and health care system in the country. His top most priority was to
stabilize the American economy which had taken a beating during the
global recession.
10.In order to help the economy recover from the recession, he signed the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, a $787 billion
economic stimulus package that included increased federal spending for
health care, infrastructure, education, various tax breaks and incentives.
11.He stressed on the importance of innovation economics to make the
United States more competitive globally in his 2011 State of the Union
Address. The same year, he signed the Budget Control Act in an effort
to control government spending and prevent the government from
defaulting on its financial obligations.
12.Obama became the president at a politically turbulent time and handled
a number of military and security issues during his presidency. He
authorized a raid on what was believed to be the location of Osama bin
Laden, the founder of al-Qaeda, in Pakistan. The operation, conducted
by United States Navy SEALs on 1 May 2011 resulted in the death of
bin Laden and the seizure of papers, computer drives and disks from the
compound where he was hiding.
13.In his first term as the president, he supported same-sex marriages and
fought for a womans right to make her own health decisions. He also
made college education more affordable for millions of students. All
these moves, along with the pivotal role he played in helping the
American economy recover from the recession and in controlling
terrorism made him an extremely respected and popular president.
14.Barack Obama faced Republican opponent Mitt Romney in the 2012
presidential election. He won the election and was sworn in for a second
term on 20 January, 2013. In his second term, he has called for full
equality for LGBT Americans and has sought to normalize U.S.
relations with Cuba.
15.Barack Obama's term came to an end on January 20, 2017, immediately
after the inauguration of his successor, Donald Trump, and he left office
with a 60% approval rating. Obama currently resides in Washington,
D.C.
Achievements
He is the recipient of two Best Spoken Word Album Grammy Awards.
He won the awards for the abridged audiobook versions of Dreams
from My Father (2006) and for The Audacity of Hope (2008).
In 2009, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Barack Obama "for his
extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and
cooperation between peoples".
The Time magazine named Obama as its Person of the Year twice, in
2008 and in 2012.

10 Fun Facts
1. Obama was just a young boy when his mother recognized his potential
and told a friend she believed he could be president of the United States
when he grew up.
2. He used to write poetry when he was a young man in love.
3. The name Barack means one who is blessed in Swahili.
4. As a young boy growing up in Indonesia, he had a pet ape named Tata.
5. Obama admits he took drugs including marijuana and cocaine as a
teenager.
6. His basketball-playing skills earned him the nickname OBomber in
high school.
7. He loves comics! He has read every Harry Potter book and collects
Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comics.
8. He has tried some very peculiar dishes like dog meat, snake meat, and
roasted grasshopper while living in Indonesia.
9. His childhood nickname was Barry and it was only during his
university years that he came to be addressed by his full name.
10. He owns four identical pairs of black size 11 shoes.
Qualities
Conviction and Perseverance:
The campaign slogan of Obama for the 2008 presidential campaign when he
was elected the president for the first time was Change we can believe
in.Obama always has a firm belief that if something is right and if you think
you are on the right track then you can influence others too and get your
message across. This will take some time but eventually youll succeed.When
he took a stand on many issues, like most recently on a UN resolution on Israel-
Palestinian conflict, everyone believed that he has a valid point and he is not
taking the American people and the world community for granted. He talked
with logic and knew his job well in influencing people and other leaders so that
his point of view was understandable.
Change:

Obama just didnt use the word change for his campaign. Across his 8 years
tenure as the president, he tried to achieve so much by applying a change in every
aspect of running the country and what he was doing for the people in general. His
critics may have a valid point that he didnt deliver on all his promises but he I
guess most of you will agree that he did what was in his power as the house and
the senate was in Republican control during the later stages of his second term.

We-not-I Attitude:

You may have noticed when Obama delivers a speech, he talked with the first
person plural we rather than I. This is somewhat distracting at first but when
you will take a closer look, this is a clever and smart way to engage the audience.
The act of using we is not just pure politics as some of you might comprehend but
rather a unique way of making people involved in a conversation and then making
them believe they have actually contributed something positive to a cause.When a
person say we have done it together, everyone listening to it feels a part of the
proceedings even if he was not involved in any step. This is a very important part
of being a leader, making everyone around you involved and giving them the
ownership of a successful project, for example. Countless times in his speeches,
Obama used we in and making people believe the people of a particular city or
the whole country has done something which they can be proud of.

The Art of Communication:

A person cannot become a leader until and unless he is a great communicator. And
it isnt limited to just being a great speaker. The listening, writing, and reading
skills are also important as only a great listener can become a great speaker. Mr.
Obama is a leader par excellence as he knows how to talk to any person, group or
audience regardless of their background, age, race, gender, etc. And thats where
he truly deserves all the praise for being an immaculate person having perfected
the art of communication.When Barack Obama got the Marketer of the Year
Award in 2008 by Advertising Age, many people were surprised and some even
raised eyebrows but I knew at that time too that he thoroughly deserves that award.
His entire campaign was a classic case of how to communicate with virtually each
and every person in the USA who is eligible to vote, gain his confidence and send
the message across in clear terms. And thats why he was able to win the election
in both 2008 and 2012 hands down.

Turning Endings into New Beginnings: A leader is a person who is never

Listen or watch 4-5 of his speeches and in 1-2 speeches for sure you will find the
phrase Lets get back to work. Thats his way of celebrating a victory in a battle
or just after inaugurating a new project. He did that time and again and made sure
everyone listened to it. He uses the positive public reaction and sentiment to begin
a fresh project so that the buoyant mode keeps the momentum going and help in
completing the new task with ease.