Essay on President Barack Obama

Introduction

Barack Obama is the 44^th president of the United States of America (US). He a president for two terms. He was the first black president of the US. “Yes, We Can,” a slogan known by many individuals worldwide, became a trademark for Barack Hussein Obama during his election campaigns. He has had various achievements throughout his life, both as a president and even after his presidency. Obama has taken part in driving democracy both in the US and the globe at large. He is held in high prestige by various individuals across the globe due to his leadership qualities. Barrack Obama has had a unique and worth emulating life faced with various challenges and hardships. His story from his time of birth to now is worth sharing.

Background

Family and Personal Life

Barack Hussein Obama II was born on August 4, 1961, in Hawaii. (Feinstein, 2008). The mother of Barack Obama, Ann Dunham, and his father, Barack Obama Sr., encountered as students at the University of Hawaii. Ann Dunham is from Hawaii, while Obama Sr. is from Kenya. Barack Obama Sr. was born and raised in Kenya. He was a top student who eventually got a grant to go and have his education in the US. Ann Dunham was initially from Washington and Kansas, Texas, but later went to Honolulu. Ann Dunham and Obama Senior encountered in a Russian linguistic lesson at the University of Hawaii, and their love blossomed, which led to their marriage the following year. In pursuit of knowledge, Obama Sr. went to Harvard University when Barack Hussein Obama II was just two years old. Shortly after, Barack Obama Sr. and Ann Dunham divorced (Dunham, 1942). Ann Dunham remarried Soetoro, an Indonesian International student, and gave birth to Maya (Dunham, 1942). Barack Obama Hussein II spent most of his life in Jakarta, where he lived with his mother, stepfather, and half-sister. Obama received a Christian education as he studied in both government-run schools and catholic private schools. He later moved to Hawaii in 1971 to stay with his grandparents and mother after her mother divorced Soetoro (Dunham, 1942). Barack Obama’s grandparents are Stanley Armour Dunham, Madelyn Dunham, Habiba Akumu Obama, and Hussein Onyango Obama.

Barack Hussein Obama and Michelle Robinson met in 1989 at Sidley Austin, a Chicago law firm, in June 1989 (Consulting Editor: Michael Nelson, 2016). Obama was working as a summer associate. Robinson was Obama’s adviser for three months while at the firm, and she attended many social groups with him. However, she initially turned down his marriage proposal, but later, in 1991, they got engaged and married the following year on October 3 (Consulting Editor: Michael Nelson, 2016). Michelle had a miscarriage that led to her using vitro fertilization that led to the birth of Malia Ann in 1998 and in 2001, Natasha (Sasha) was born (Consulting Editor: Michael Nelson, 2016). Obama is Chicago’s White Sox fan, and he flung out the primary pitch in the 2005 ALCS while a statesman (Weiland, 2017). He did his official primary arena at the All-Star Game having a White Sox jersey on. He is also a Chicago Bears soccer supporter in the NFL, although as a teenager, he was a Pittsburgh Steelers fan. Obama is a basketball player and was a participant of his high school basketball squad. He uses his left hand.

Education

Barack Hussein Obama started his early education at Punahou School, a prestigious preparatory school in Honolulu, in 1979 (Wallenfeldt, 2021). He earned his bachelor’s grade in 1983, in political science at Columbia University in New York City after moving from Occidental College in Los Angeles. Obama was an intelligent student, which caused his professors to influence him to take his educations seriously. Barrack Obama loved reading and was most intrigued by William Shakespeare, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Toni Morrison (Wallenfeldt, 2021). Barrack Obama worked for a while as an author and editor for Business International Corporation based in Manhattan (Wallenfeldt, 2021). He later worked as a community organizer in 1985 after relocating to Chicago.

After three years, Barrack Hussein Obama II returned to Harvard Law School and, later in 1991, graduated with magna cum laude (Wallenfeldt, 2021). He later served at the Harvard Law Review, making him the first African American to do so. Obama later relocated to Chicago and was involved with the Democratic party. He participated in Project Vote, which resulted in many people registering as voters, and it led to Bill Clinton’s victory in Illinois and the presidency in 1992 (Wallenfeldt, 2021). Obama undertook the project which also led to the election of the first Black American female to the United States Congress. Through this period, he searched for multiracial identity through the lives of his late father and kin in Kenya, resulting in the writing and publishing of his first volume, “Dreams from My Father” (Obama, 2007). Barrack Hussein Obama II functioned as a civil rights advocate and educated constitutional law at the University of Chicago.

Political Life

Barack Hussein Obama started his political profession in 1996 and was voted to the Illinois Senate, where he played a vital role in the passing of various legislations that “tightened campaign finance restrictions, expanded health insurance to low-income families, and changed criminal justice and welfare laws” (Wallenfeldt, 2021). Later, he was voted to the United States Assembly in 2004, and in the Senate, he defeated Republican Alan Keyes (Nelson, 2016). Obama rose to prominence in July 2004 by delivering the important speech at the Democratic National Convention during his drive for the presidency of the US (Nelson, 2016). He presented the American people with the idea that all Americans were related to surpassed politics, culture, or geographic divisions. The speech that he delivered furthered his unknown memoir to the top of the seller’s list, and this saw him becoming prominent in his party that led to him taking office the following year. His fame further grew and caught international attention when in 2006, he traveled to Kenya to see his father’s home. The various events made Barack Hussein Obama famous amongst everyone. Obama later published his book “The Audacity of Hope,” which talked about his vision for the United States of America (Obama, 2007). The book gained popularity and ended up becoming a best seller.

Obama, later in 2008, at Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois, declared his candidature for the Democratic Party’s presidential recommendation (Wallenfeldt, 2021). Obama’s appeal, zealous eloquence, and promise to improve the political structure moved many Democrats, particularly the young and the minority supporters. Obama defeated Sen. Hillary Clinton on January 3, 2008, in the first primary nominating competition held in the Iowa caucus (Nelson, 2016). Barack Hussein Obama further won significant votes in Ohio and Texas in early March that led to the slowing down of the momentum of Clinton. Despite his delegate lead, Obama was defeated in Pennsylvania and Indiana two weeks later (Wallenfeldt, 2021). However, he easily won the North Carolina primary that saw him extending his lead over Clinton. Clinton won many superdelegates who later defected to Obama after seeing him win many states. Ensuing the last contests in Montana and South Dakota on June 3, the figure of delegates promised to Obama exceeded the overall required, and Obama clinched the Democratic nomination (MacAskill & Goldenberg, 2017). The nomination made Obama the first Black American to be chosen for president by any main political party. Obama then faced Sen. John McCain from the Republican party. McCain had claimed that Obama was inexperienced for the senate job earlier. Therefore, Obama decided to choose Joe Biden, a veteran Delaware senator with a strong track record in international policy, to be his vice-presidential running mate (Wallenfeldt, 2021).

The contest between Obama and McCain was a costly one. However, due to public support, he forewent federal funding for his movement, and instead, he received huge amounts of money from small donations and internet donations (MacAskill & Goldenberg, 2017). The vast fundraising enabled him to have an edge in advertising his campaigns and establishing extensive grassroots in the regions that were critical battlegrounds, ones that had always gone, Republican. There were various ideological battles between the two presidential candidates, with McCain claiming the need for the US to wait for complete triumph in Iraq while Obama called for a rapid removal of most battle militaries from Iraq and reforming the tax policy that would provide more liberation to lower and middle-income supporters (Wallenfeldt, 2021). Weeks before the election, an economic disaster caused by the September failure of central US banks and financial institutions gave Obama an edge against McCain as he blamed it on the Republican free-market policies implemented during George W. Bush’s eight-year presidency ((Nelson, 2016).

Obama proceeded to win the presidency with more than 53% of the general vote and 365 electoral ballots, and this saw him keeping all the states won by John Kerry in 2004 and also gaining few ones such as Colorado, Florida, Nevada, Ohio, and Virginia, that were previously carried by the Republicans (Wallenfeldt, 2021). After his victory, Obama resigned from the Congress, and he took the pledge of office on January 20, 2009, to become the 44^th president of the US.

Barack Hussein Obama II announced his reelection campaign on April 4, 2011, in a audiovisual called “It Begins with Us.” He then proceeded to the Federal Election Commission to fill the election papers (BBC News, 2012). Being the reigning president, Obama vied unchallenged in the Democratic Presidential primary election, where he managed to secure the 2778 agreement delegates required to triumph the Democratic nomination on April 3, 2012 (BBC News, 2012). During the Democratic National Pact in North Carolina, Bill Clinton, officially designated Obama and Joe Bidden as contenders for the president and vice president, respectively, for the Democratic Party. Mitt Romney, previous governor of Massachusetts, and Paul Ryan, representative of Wisconsin, were their primary opponents. Obama received 332 electoral votes on November 6, 2012, which were more than the required electoral votes for reelection (BBC News, 2012). Such a win made Obama become the first Democratic president since Franklin D. Roosevelt to triumph many of the prevalent votes two times. After his reelection, he told his supporters and volunteers that their choice was solely based on him concentrating on helping the country instead of himself. He was excited to reach out to and collaborate with leaders from both parties in the coming weeks and months.

Achievements During His Presidency

Barack Hussein Obama II had many achievements while he was the president. Various notable achievements left a mark in the hearts of every citizen of the United States.

LGBT rights

On October 1, 2011President Barack Obama argued that “Every single American — gay, straight, lesbian, bisexual, transgender — every single American deserves to be treated equally in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of our society. It’s a pretty simple proposition.” (Office of the Press Secretary, 2016). Barack Obama fought for the equivalent civil rights of every American citizen, despite who they are or who they love. Obama ensured that equal rights prevailed through his progress in equality in thwarting intimidation and hatred against LGBT Americans. Obama, together with the congress, approved and signed into rule on October 2009 the Mathew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law which prevented attacks on individuals based on individual’s real or apparent sexual alignment or gender individuality (Office of the Press Secretary, 2016). Obama also issued a directive in June 2009 supporting LGBT health that gave same-sex domestic partners benefits. The initiative by Obama led to the Office of Personnel Management increasing state aids for same-sex cohorts of state staffs and also allowing them to apply for long-term care cover (Office of the Press Secretary, 2016). Obama directed the Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure that all the hospitals getting Medicare or Medicaid funds to permit visit rights for LGBT patients and ensure that HHS respects the rights of the LGBT patients when it comes to medical decision-making. President Barack Obama also in July 2014, signed an Executive Order that prohibited the discrimination of employees or applicants for employment founded on their “race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin” by the state contractors (Office of the Press Secretary, 2016).

Health Care Reform

President Barack Obama improved access to health care by eliminating lifetime and annual limits on insurance coverage. He also ensured that the health care plans cover children up to 26 (“Improving Health for All Americans,” 2017). Obama prohibited the retroactive cancellation of policies. Obama also expanded Medicaid to individuals whose incomes were under 133% of the federal deficiency level with unparalleled federal backing (“Improving Health for All Americans,” 2017). He also established employer responsibility where the employers must cover for their employees’ health or pay a certain fee to help in the coverage.

Furthermore, Obama simplified the suitability and the registration necessities in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (“Improving Health for All Americans,” 2017). Obama also advanced Biomedical Research to Improve the Health Outcomes of American Citizens by launching the Precision Medicine Initiative to improve health and how we eradicate diseases. Barack Hussein Obama ensured that Health Care and Exposure were within your means by establishing financial aid, ensuring that families that could not afford health coverage are helped by purchasing the coverage through state and federal marketplaces (“Improving Health for All Americans,” 2017). He also improved the answerability, competence, and the value of maintenance by creating innovative transparency necessities and a “star evaluation” structure for hospitals, nursing homes, Medicare Advantage strategies, and doctors to give clients info connected to value and cost (“Improving Health for All Americans,” 2017).

Foreign Policy

Obama worked together with Russia to build a fruitful diplomatic initiative, supported with joint permissions, which swayed Iran to halt its enhancement of bomb-grade uranium (Unger, 2016). The compromise made by Obama ensured a drive-in halting or decelerating Tehran’s development towards manufacturing nuclear weaponries. Obama also reduced the figure of military in Iraq and Afghanistan, which reduced economical dollars expended in military interventions. Obama also extricated the US from a long period of unsuccessful Cuba rules in 2015-2016 (Unger, 2016). The collapse of Venezuelan oil revenue was shifting economic and diplomatic realignments that saw Obama using his executive expert to reestablish diplomatic kindred with Cuba by staying in the island in March 2016 (Unger, 2016).

Death of Osama bin Laden

President Barack Obama on May 2, 2011, declared the murder of Osama bin Laden by the US Navy SEALs (Phillips, 2016). He praised the various individuals who carried the operation and informed the victims of the terror attack of September 11, 2001, that they have never been forgotten (Phillips, 2016). Osama was the mastermind behind the September 11, 2001 attack on US soil that left many individuals dead, families hopeless, and the country in pain (Phillips, 2016). Obama called on Americans to reminisce the accord of that catastrophic period.

Post Presidency

After the end of his term, he decided to remain in Washington, making him the first to do so since Woodrow Wilson (Wallenfeldt, n.d.). He cited remaining in the capital until his daughter Sasha completes high school. In his last press, Obama said that he would not be tangled in politics and has taken part in various speaking activities, plus speeches to Wall Street fiscal companies. Despite not wanting to engage in politics actively, he occasionally took issues with some of the policies that were being rolled out by President Trump, his successor, and the direction in which Trump was taking the nation (Wallenfeldt, n.d.). He became more involved in American politics in2020, where he disapproved Trump’s handling of the coronavirus and the murder of George Floyd that flickered protests countrywide (Wallenfeldt, n.d.). Therefore, Obama proceeded to support Joe Biden for the president, where bidden won.

Conclusion

Barack Hussein Obama II has been the greatest president of the US, and he has achieved various milestones throughout his life and presidency. His story opens the mind of every individual in America and the world to the possibility of having dreams and achieving them. Obama has managed to unite all Americans from every walk of life and the world. His life story proves his familiar phrase, “Yes We Can.”

References

BBC News. (2012, November 7). President Barack Obama defeats Romney to win re-election. Retrieved July 9, 2021, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-20233064

Consulting Editor: Michael Nelson. (2016, October 4). Barack Obama: Life Before the Presidency. Retrieved July 9, 2021, from https://millercenter.org/president/obama/life-before-the-presidency

Dunham, A. (1942). Ann Dunham. Barack Obama, 428.

Feinstein, S. (2008). Barack Obama. Enslow Publishing, LLC.

Improving Health for All Americans. (2017, January 18). Retrieved July 10, 2021, from https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-record/health-care

MacAskill, E., & Goldenberg, S. (2017, July 15). US elections: Barack Obama wins Democratic nomination for president. Retrieved July 9, 2021, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jun/04/barackobama.hillaryclinton

Nelson, M. (2016, October 4). Barack Obama: Campaigns and Elections. Retrieved July 9, 2021, from https://millercenter.org/president/obama/campaigns-and-elections

Obama, B. (2007). Dreams from my father: A story of race and inheritance. Canongate Books.

Obama, B. (2007). The audacity of hope: Thoughts on reclaiming the American dream. Canongate Books.

Office of the Press Secretary. (2016, June 9). FACT SHEET: Obama Administration’s Record and the LGBT Community. Retrieved July 10, 2021, from https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/06/09/fact-sheet-obama-administrations-record-and-lgbt-community

Phillips, M. (2016, December 15). Osama Bin Laden Dead. Retrieved July 10, 2021, from https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2011/05/02/osama-bin-laden-dead

Unger, D. (2016). The foreign policy legacy of Barack Obama. The International Spectator, 51(4), 1-16.

Wallenfeldt, J. (2021, May 13). Barack Obama | Biography, Presidency, & Facts. Retrieved July 9, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Barack-Obama

Wallenfeldt, J. (n.d.). Barack Obama – Life after the presidency. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved July 10, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Barack-Obama/Life-after-the-presidency

Weiland, N. (2017, January 17). President Obama, a White Sox Fan, Welcomes the Cubs to the White House. Retrieved July 9, 2021, from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/16/sports/baseball/president-obama-a-white-sox-fan-welcomes-the-cubs-to-the-white-house.html