Many in the world call him an unpredictable politician who, guided exclusively by cold reason, strictly observes the national interests of the country entrusted to him. Some still do not understand how this black man of Kenyan descent managed to get the highest post in the state where they profess democratic values. Barack Obama, whose biography contains a lot of interesting and noteworthy, became the forty-fourth president of the United States of America. His political rating rarely fell, but just such a trend has recently been outlined. According to experts, the reason for the decline in authority of the current US president is the use of unpopular methods of doing business in foreign policy.
Years of childhood
Barack Obama, whose biography is known to most Americans, is a native of Honolulu, which is located in the Hawaiian Islands. He was born on August 4 in 1961. Naturally, the question of how old Barack Obama is cannot but arouse interest.
Soon he will be fifty-five. It is natural that such a mature age implies serious political ambitions, which are inherent in the current president. However, not everyone knows not only how old Barack Obama is, but also who his parents are. Father (Barack Obama Sr.) and mother (Stanley Ann Dunham) of the future head of the American state married as students, and this crucial step was not approved by their relatives. Naturally, the dad and mother of Barack Abama were forced to devote little time to their offspring, since studying at the university was in the first place for them. The boy was raised by his maternal grandmother.
The family broke up
When he was only two years old, the family idyll came to an end and his parents divorced. A few years later, Barack Obama's Mother will remarry. In a new marriage, she will give birth to a girl Maya, who will become the sister of the future US leader.
He mastered the school curriculum in a prestigious institution called Panhehou.
About his childhood, Barack Obama, whose family is a priority in life, will subsequently tell in his biographical essay “Father's Dream”. He will write about how he “went all out” in his youth: he started to use drugs, but he was able to stop in time, became addicted to alcohol, but then changed his mind ...
After school
After receiving a certificate of maturity, Barack Obama, whose biography was just beginning, went to Los Angeles and became a student at Western College.
After some time, the young man changes the university: he continues to gnaw at the granite of science, but already in New York, at Columbia University. He chose the profession of a diplomat. In parallel with his studies, he works in a large international business company and a research center.
Lawyer career
In 1988, after he was awarded a bachelor's degree, Obama decides to get a second higher education and submits documents to Harvard Law School, located in Chicago. He successfully passes exams and becomes a student of the above university. Again, the young man is not sitting idle and getting a job at the Harvard Law Review University newspaper, where he subsequently takes the post of editor.
In 1991, Barack Obama, whose biography is almost impeccable, graduated with honors from law school. From this moment, he begins to practice, becoming an ardent defender of those who suffered from discrimination.
In addition, he devoted a lot of time to teaching, giving lectures on constitutional law for students of the University of Chicago.
The beginning of a political career
The first steps in big politics, the future president began to take in 1997, when he was elected a senator in Illinois. Even then, he was an ardent supporter of the US Democratic Party. What was the policy of Barack Obama of that time? He declared the need for such crucial decisions as supporting the poor, withdrawing the American army from Iraq, tightening the penalties for law enforcement officials for their misconduct, and developing preschool education. The popularity rating of the future president has grown significantly due to the fact that he actively defended those who suffered from racism. Also, a law school graduate approved the reform of medical insurance, which also increased his credibility as a civil servant.
Legislative Elections
In 2004, another campaign for the mandate in the Senate of the US Congress began. Barack Obama took an active part in it.
His opponent was the Republican Jack Ryan. But after the scandal surrounding his visits to brothels in New York, Paris, and New Orleans, he was forced to withdraw his candidacy. As a result, Barack Obama won a crushing victory in the legislative elections.
Political career is booming
A year later he became a member of several committees at once, whose competence included issues of environmental protection, the development of international relations, social support of the population, etc. He even went on a working visit to Russia to resolve the problems of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Of course, the US political establishment could not fail to notice the seething activity of the Kenyan Republican. Articles are regularly appearing in the press about how Obama is successfully coping with his tasks as congressman.
By the end of 2006, American society began to more clearly understand that a leader appears on the political Olympus who has high chances to take the presidency. And such expectations soon came true.
Presidential election
In 2007, a black Republican publicly announced his intention to run for president and began preparing his political program. And it was based on solving the most important social problems. Naturally, the lion's share of American citizens was ready to vote for this politician of Kenyan descent, chanting: "Barack Obama is the president of the United States."
Moreover, ordinary citizens made a significant contribution to paying off the expenses of the election race. As a result, a law school graduate completely refused state funding for his company and was able to get ahead of competitors.
As a result, Barack Obama was the first of the black people to take over as head of the American state. Among his political opponents was Hillary Clinton, but a Republican from Honolulu secured 51% of the vote and won.
Presidency
The first term of US rule for Obama turned out to be far from rosy. They demanded a competent solution to the problems of the financial system of the country, which began to increase relevance since the 30s of the last century. It was necessary to do something with the political instability, which has become an integral feature of the United States. But Obama was not afraid of these difficulties, and he began to systematically put into practice what he promised his voters in the election program. And the 44th president of the United States of America was able to somewhat modernize the political and economic systems in the country, having spent about $ 787 billion on these goals. In addition, innovations also affected the healthcare system: almost every American received an insurance policy.Barack Obama also completed the American military mission in Iraq, and units of the national army left the territory of this Middle Eastern country.
Participation in the next election
In 2012, the Americans again faced the question of who would become the future president of the country. Obama considered himself worthy of the country's top post and again put forward his candidacy in the election.
However, the money in the state treasury for the implementation of the election program was close, but the republican said that all the provisions of the anti-crisis bill, if won, would be strictly implemented. As a result, Obama was able to raise more than $ 900 million, and ¼ of this amount was spent only on the maintenance of the election staff. Despite the fact that the political rating of the forty-fourth US president declined slightly, his position in politics remained strong and he was able to win the second time in the presidential election
Second term
And the next segment of his tenure as president turned out to be far from cloudless for Obama. Health care reforms were stalled, taxation policies needed to be updated, and a chemical attack in Syria caused bewilderment in society. Gradually, the black Republican began to lose support from voters. During the six months of the second reign, Obama lost 12% of his supporters, and in 2014 50% of Americans became dissatisfied with Obama's policies.
Attitude to Ukraine and anti-Russian sanctions
The current president of the United States supported the State Department’s general policy regarding the situation in Ukraine. In his opinion, the Kremlin should stop all attempts to encroach on the independence and territorial integrity of the new state. The initiative of comprehensive assistance to the Ukrainian authorities in upholding sovereignty is spelled out even in the legislative act, which was adopted at the end of 2014. According to its provisions, the United States has the right to supply Kiev with military equipment: anti-tank weapons, unmanned aerial vehicles, artillery radars, etc. At the same time, Barack Obama emphasizes that the provision of military assistance is a secondary measure, but the use of diplomatic levers in resolving the conflict is the main task of the United States. The forty-fourth president of the United States of America in the destabilization of the political situation in Ukraine sees the fault of Russia. In this regard, the US authorities imposed a number of sanctions on Moscow.
According to Obama, such a measure will affect the political course pursued by Vladimir Putin. Moreover, with the development of the conflict in southeastern Ukraine, sanctions tightened and expanded, but the long-awaited result for America did not come. The Russian course in foreign policy has not changed, despite the externally imposed intensification of negative processes for the economy of our country.
Out of politics
The personal life of the current president does not hold any secrets. His dark-skinned wife Michelle Obama is far from "blue blood", but despite this, she is quite coping with the duties of the first lady of the country.
Their acquaintance occurred in 1989, when a Republican of Kenyan descent was just preparing to become a successful lawyer. Of course, the first years of life together, from the point of view of material well-being, were, as they say, “below average”. Wife of Barack Obama and the future head of the White House, like most couples, faced life problems and overcome family troubles, but they did not forget about their feelings for each other and realized the degree of responsibility to children, so their union did not break up.
In 1998, the first child appeared in the family of the future American president - daughter Malia Ann. Three years later, the second was born - the daughter Natasha. The children of Barack Obama adore his father, who carefully monitors their upbringing. Often, he organizes many celebrations for children in his country.
Despite the fact that the wife of the head of the White House, Michelle Obama, has established herself as a lady with an impeccable reputation, not all representatives of the American press believe that a complete idyll reigns in the president’s family. There are even rumors in certain circles that a divorce between the forty-fourth president of the United States and his wife is inevitable. The reason for their occurrence was the allegedly not quite decent behavior of Barack Obama at the memorial service for the deceased Nelson Mandela: there was not even a shadow of sadness on the face of the American president, he was having fun and smiling. One way or another, but there is no official confirmation of the above fact. Whether the wife of Barack Obama will file for divorce is also unknown. Externally, the first couple of the country demonstrates complete harmony in relations.
Many are interested in the question of how the head of the White House spends his leisure time. He is an active user of the World Wide Web, has an account in more than ten Internet services. Barack Obama is the author of two books that have become bestsellers, as well as a biographical essay, "My Father's Dreams." He also wrote a book on a political subject called “The Insolence of Hopes”, which gained great popularity among the world reader.
In the fall of 2009, Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Prize "for extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between people."