Barack Obama

American politician Barack Hussein Obama II was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States of America, on August 4, 1961. The son of a Kenyan economist and an American anthropologist, Obama grew up in Hawaii, lived for some years in Indonesia, and then moved to New York. There, he studied at Columbia University, where he graduated with a degree in political science in 1983.
In 1985, Obama decided to put his academic life aside for a while and moved to Chicago, where he became a community organizer, working with a religiously oriented group that sought to improve living conditions in poor neighborhoods marked by crime and high unemployment rates. In developing this work, Obama realized that to truly improve the lives of people not only in that community but in others as well, a change was needed in both the legislative and political spheres.
In 1988, he returned to his studies at Harvard University, where he completed his doctorate in Law with distinction three years later. At the same university, the young man would become the first African American to be president of... Harvard Law ReviewShortly after, he returned to Chicago where he practiced law - mainly dealing with cases related to Civil Rights - and taught Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago Law School. The practice of law eventually led him to run for the Illinois State Senate as a Democratic candidate, where he served as a senator for eight years. Despite his affiliation with the Democrats, during his time in office, Barack Obama worked with both Democrats and Republicans in an attempt to improve the living conditions of the inhabitants of that state. Among the measures he took, the following stand out: the creation of a program that increased tax credits (Income Tax Credit Gain), to help low-income workers and families (in three years... more than $100 million in tax cuts for families statewide); promoting increased subsidies for early childhood education; enacting some reforms related to the death penalty (requiring that all interrogations and confessions of defendants involved in capital cases be recorded), after it was discovered that some of the death row inmates were innocent.
In 2004, Barack Obama ran for and won the United States Senate, subsequently resigning from his seat in the Illinois State Senate. He took office in January 2005, becoming the 5th African-American senator in U.S. history and the 3rd to be elected by popular vote. During his tenure, he was involved in several important initiatives: he voted in favor of... Energy Policy Law, was one of those responsible for Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act and created the Coburn-Obama Transparent Act (which allows citizens to access a search engine, called USAspending.gov, and verify how their tax money is being spent), among other decisions.
In February 2007, Barack Obama announced his candidacy for President of the United States of America. Obama's campaign broke all records in terms of fundraising, so much so that he became the first candidate to refuse public funding in a general election since the funding system was created in 1976.
There were several Democratic Party candidates in the primary elections, but the final contest was between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. With Obama's victory almost certain, Hillary Clinton eventually withdrew and endorsed Obama. He was then nominated as the official Democratic Party candidate and ran against the Republican nominee, Senator John McCain. In August 2008, Obama chose Delaware Senator Joe Biden as his running mate.
Barack Obama is considered a master of oratory and advocates for diplomatic means to resolve conflicts. During his election campaign, he made his political positions and goals for the country known: he is a critic of the Bush Administration (particularly its stance on the Iraq War), advocates for an end to the Iraq War, aims to reduce the nuclear arsenal and decrease investment in weaponry, supports investment in alternative fuels to increase US energy independence, and seeks to expand access to healthcare.
On November 4, 2008, Barack Obama defeated John McCain in the presidential election and became the first African American to be elected president of the United States of America. On January 8, 2009, the U.S. Congress certified the count of the Electoral College votes, and Barack Obama was declared the 44th president of the United States. The inauguration ceremony took place on January 20, 2009, at the Capitol.
On October 9, 2009, the American head of state was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Barack Obama. In Infopédia [Online]. Porto: Porto Editora, 2003-2010.