Obama Before He Became President

Barack Hussein Obama was born on August 4, 1961, in Hawaii. His parents were Ann Dunham, a white American, and Barack Obama Sr, a black American. His parents divorced early in his childhood, and his mother remarried to an Indonesian student from the University of Hawaii. From the age of 6 to 10, Obama lived with his mother and stepfather in Indonesia. Obama then moved back to Hawaii, where he stayed all throughout elementary school to the end of high school. Throughout high school, Obama played varsity basketball and even reported using recreational drugs such as marijuana and cocaine. Obama states that he struggled to find a role model and someone to look up to throughout his teen years. Obama left Hawaii to pursue his education at Occidental College in Los Angeles. He then moved to Columbia University in New York City. After graduating from college, Obama accepted to work as a community organizer in Chicago's poor South Side. Not satisfied with his achievements, Obama decided to enroll in Harvard Law School where he excelled and won multiple awards for his achievements. During an internship after his first year at Harvard, Obama met Michelle Robinson, who would become his wife shortly after in 1992. In 1995, Obama wrote Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, which discussed his struggle with his come to terms as a black man raised by whites in the absence of his African American father. Obama then had Malia Ann, his first daughter, in 1998, and his second daughter, Natasha, three years later in 2001. Prior to him winning the election in 2008, Obama had little experience actually being part of the government but was nevertheless able to secure his place as the 44th President of the United States.