AKA Barack Hussein Obama, Jr.

Born: 4-Aug-1961
Birthplace: Honolulu, HI [1]

Gender: Male
Religion: Protestant [2]
Race or Ethnicity: Multiracial
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Politician
Party Affiliation: Democratic

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: US Senator from Illinois

Barack Obama is a multiracial American politician, though he bristles at that label. He served as Democratic state senator in Illinois, and then as US Senator from that state. Only two other blacks have served in the US Senate since Reconstruction. His father was an economics student from Nairobi, his mother a white American anthropology student when they married. They divorced when Obama was young, and his father returned to Kenya. Obama was raised by his mother until about age 10, when his maternal grandmother in Honolulu took him in. He graduated with honors from Harvard Law School, where he was the first African-American to become Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Law Review. Obama practiced civil rights law, representing victims of housing and employment discrimination and working on voting rights legislation. He worked as a community organizer in a slummish Chicago neighborhood. He has spoken against NAFTA and racial profiling, and for universal health care. From the start, he opposed war in Iraq.

His campaign for Senate received an enormous boost when his opponent, Republican Jack Ryan, withdrew amid embarrassing allegations in his divorce from Star Trek actress Jeri Ryan, that during their marriage he had tried to lure her to attend sex clubs in France. Obama received another boost when he was invited to address the 2004 Democratic Party convention in prime time on CSPAN.

In his 1995 memoir, Dreams from My Father, Obama admits using marijuana and cocaine as a teenager.

Obama's net worth may be as high as several million dollars.[3]

[2] Member of the United Church of Christ since the 1980s. Obama's father, while born into a Muslim family, had become atheist by the time he met Obama's mother, the secular Ann Dunham. Despite propaganda being distributed to the contrary, Barack Obama, the Senator, was never a practicing Muslim, and never attended extremist or Wahabbist madrassas.

[3] Estimated net worth of $1.3M, according to Money magazine, December 2007. See also Henry Blodget, "Barack Obama and His Money", Slate, 13 March 2007: "According to Obama's most recent public financial statements, he and his wife, Michelle, were worth between $500,000 and $2 million at the end of 2005 (excluding whatever equity they have in their $1.65 million Chicago house)." Presumably much of this is from pre-tax royalties of $1.2M for The Audacity of Hope. None of Obama's wealth is inherited. The Obama family's 2007 tax returns indicate a combined income of $4.2M, nearly all from book royalties. They paid $1.4M in federal taxes, with donations of $240K to charity.

Father: Barack Hussein Obama, Sr. (economist, b. 1936 Kenya, d. 1982)
Mother: Stanley Ann Dunham (b. 29-Nov-1942, d. 7-Nov-1995 ovarian cancer)
Father: Lolo Soetoro (stepfather, d. 1987)
Sister: Maya Soetoro-Ng (half-sister, history teacher, b. 1971)
Wife: Michelle Obama (m. 1992, two daughters)
Daughter: Malia Ann (b. 1999)
Daughter: Natasha ("Sasha", b. 2001)

    High School: Punahou School, Honolulu, HI (1979)
    University: Occidental College
    University: Columbia University (1983)
    Law School: Harvard Law School (1991)
    Professor: Constitutional Law, University of Chicago (1992-2004)

    US Senator, Illinois (2005-)
    Illinois State Senate 13th (1997-2004)
    Sidley Austin summer associate
    Baskin-Robbins teen years
    Harvard Law Review President
    Hillary Clinton for President $2,300 (Jun-2008)
    Obama for America Candidate
    Grammy 2008 for The Audacity of Hope (spoken word)
    Grammy 2006 for Dreams From My Father (spoken word)
    Funeral: Tim Russert (2008)
    Dubya Nickname Rock, 'Bama
    Secret Service Codename Renegade
    Kenyan Ancestry Paternal
    Risk Factors: Marijuana, Cocaine, Smoking

    FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
    Tanner on Tanner (5-Oct-2004) Himself

Official Website:
http://obama.senate.gov/

Author of books:
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance (1995, memoir)
The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream (2006, nonfiction)

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