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Structure
Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 25 general entries.
Special Topics
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 Obama, Barack
Hawaii. Obama was born in Honolulu to Barack Obama, Sr. and Ann Dunham of Witchita, Kansas, who met while both were students at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Obama, Sr. and Dunham would separate when the young Barack was two and finally divorce when he was four. The future president would remain with his mother.
Kenya. Barack Obama, Sr. returned to Kenya after his divorce from Dunham and went on to receive a graduate degree in economics from Harvard. At the age of 46, Obama, Sr. was killed in an automobile accident, having lost both of his legs in a previous crash. Although the president's father was raised as a Muslim, he identified as an atheist after moving to the United States.
| After her divorce from Barack Obama, Sr., Ann Dunham married another graduate student, Lolo Soetoro. In 1967, young Barack and his mother moved to Soetoro's home country, where Obama enrolled in grade school. What country was this? | Barack Obama: His Life and Rise in Politics
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Indonesia. From the ages of 6-10, Obama attended various schools within Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. Throughout this period, Barack received education in the Christian faith, although he was formally enrolled as a Muslim (the faith of his stepfather). Obama's third grade teacher recalls how the future senator wrote an essay describing his desire to one day be president (of which country, she wasn't sure)! Barack would eventually return to the United States, living with his maternal grandparents in Honolulu.
| After completing high school, the young Obama moved to Los Angeles and attended Occidental College for two years. To which Ivy League institution did he subsequently transfer? | Barack Obama: His Life and Rise in Politics
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Columbia. Barack graduated from Columbia in 1983 with a BA in political science; it would be another five years until he returned to academia (in this case, Harvard Law School). He remained in New York City for two years, working at both Business International Corporation, an American advisory firm offering its services to American businesses operating abroad, and the New York Public Interest Research Group, a non-profit, student-run "consumer, environmental and government reform" agency.
| On the campaign trail, then-candidate Obama highlighted his decision to work as a community organizer upon graduating college. To which city did the idealistic future president relocate in 1985 and begin working with low-income residents, a city whose south side he would later represent as a state legislator? | Barack Obama: His Life and Rise in Politics
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Chicago. Indeed, Barack Obama planted his future political and vocational roots in the Windy City. He continued as director at the Catholic Church-funded Developing Communities Project until his matriculation at Harvard Law School in 1988. After earning his JD, Obama took a job with the Chicago-based Miner Barnhill & Galland law firm as an associate attorney and lectured on constitutional law at the University of Chicago.
| Beginning in early 2008, the U.S. media reported on multiple controversial statements delivered by Obama's former pastor, the Reverend Dr. Jeremiah Wright. With which Christian denomination is Wright's former congregation affiliated, the church to which President Obama formerly belonged? | Barack Obama: His Life and Rise in Politics
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United Church of Christ. Among other things, Reverend Wright has been vigorously criticized for preaching anti-American and racially divisive sentiments shortly after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Obama maintained that while he was familiar with Wright's penchant for fiery oration, he wasn't privy to the reverend's most inflammatory statements until they broke in the American media. In direct response to the Wright controversy, the then-Democratic presidential candidate delivered a speech in Philadelphia on March 18, 2008, that elaborated his own views on race in America and his thoughts surrounding Wright's statements.
| During the summer of 1989, Obama took a job back in Chicago at the law firm of Sidney & Austin where he met his future wife, then his summer adviser at the firm. Although she initially rebuffed Barack's initial romantic overtures, the young lady and future president eventually married in 1992. What is Mrs. Obama's first name? | Barack Obama: His Life and Rise in Politics
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Michelle. Cindy, Bill and Janet are, of course, the first names belonging to the spouses of Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and former Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR), respectively! Michelle Obama née Robinson was born and raised in Chicago, attending, respectively, Princeton and Harvard for college and law school. She and Barack have two daughters, Malia Ann (b. 1998) and Natasha (b. 2001).
1996. State Senator Obama represented Chicago's 13th District. Some of his accomplishments in this position included negotiating welfare reform, advocating for increased childcare subsidies, promoting interrogation and racial profiling legislation, and focusing on government ethics. In 2002, while still a state senator, he delivered a speech denouncing the Bush administration's intention to invade Iraq in light of intelligence (subsequently debunked) on Saddam Hussein's stockpiling of WMDs. In the 2008 campaign, Obama contrasted his position on the Iraq War with that of his primary Democratic rival, Senator Hillary Clinton, who voted in 2002 with many other U.S. Senators to imbue President George W. Bush with the power to declare war on Iraq.
| Barack Obama lost a race for U.S. Representative in 2000 but began considering a 2004 run for U.S. Senate in mid-2002. Although he was expected to run against Jack Ryan, which Republican did Obama actually face in the 2004 race for the junior U.S. Senate seat from Illinois? | Barack Obama: His Life and Rise in Politics
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Alan Keyes. Obama handily defeated perennial presidential candidate and former ambassador Alan Keyes, going on to serve in the 109th Congress of the United States with Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL). Instrumental in placing Obama on the national stage was his delivery of the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, where Senator John Kerry (D-MA) was nominated to run against President George W. Bush. David Axelrod served as Senator Obama's chief political strategist for the 2004 senate campaign and served in the same capacity for the 2008 presidential campaign. For the record, Jeri Ryan, ex-wife of Jack Ryan, is perhaps best known for her role as Seven of Nine on "Star Trek: Voyager."
"Dreams from My Father" & "The Audacity of Hope". Obama published "Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance" in 1995, detailing his early life and unique experiences growing up in a mixed-race family. He re-released the book in 2004 and appended his Democratic National Convention keynote address. After his election to the U.S. Senate, and arguably in anticipation of his run for the presidency, Barack penned "The Audacity of Hope," in which he expatiated his views on contemporary U.S. politics. His chief Democratic rival for the 2008 nomination, Sen. Hillary Clinton, wrote "It Takes a Village: And Other Lessons Children Teach Us" while serving as First Lady, and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, released his memoir, "My Life," in 2004. "Faith of My Fathers" is 1999 work by Sen. John McCain.
Armed Services. Critics and opponents on both sides of the political aisle have accused Obama of a prohibitively short, if not unremarkable tenure as a U.S. Senator. Supporters often note that when he was elected President, Obama had served the same amount of time in the Senate as former President John F. Kennedy prior to the latter's ascension to the White House. Obama cites his work on the "Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act" (co-sponsored with potential rival John McCain), the "Coburn-Obama Transparency Act," and the "Honest Leadership and Open Government Act" as examples of legislation that exemplify his recent record and ability to collaborate with Republican colleagues.
| After initially stating in 2004 he would not be competing in the 2008 presidential race, President Obama formally declared his candidacy in February 2007. Who among the following notable Americans did NOT endorse Obama during the primaries? | Barack Obama: His Life and Rise in Politics
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Barbra Streisand. Streisand, a longtime supporter of Democratic causes, has been an ardent Clinton supporter ever since Bill first ran for President in 1992; the diva supported Hillary Clinton in the 2008 primary election. Following the suspension of former Senator John Edwards' (D-NC) campaign in late January 2008, Obama and Clinton split many traditionally Democratic constituencies; Obama performed well with African-Americans and young voters, while Clinton polled successfully with Latino and white women voters.
Honolulu, Hawaii. Barack Hussein Obama II was born on August 4, 1961. His parents, Barack Obama, Sr. and Ann Dunham, were married on February 2, 1961. Ann and Barack Obama, Sr. wouldn't stay together long, they would divorce in 1964. His father moved back to Kenya, where he would die in a car crash in 1982; he was only 46. Ann would then marry Lolo Soetoro in 1967, only to divorce thirteen years later. Ann would later be diagnosed with ovarian and uterine cancer; she died in 1995, due to those cancers.
| How long did Barack Obama stay at Occidental College? | Barack Obama
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Two years. Obama moved to Los Angeles, following his completion of high school. He went to Occidental College while in Los Angeles. After he went there for two years he transferred to Columbia University, an Ivy League school in NY city. Obama majored in political science and specialized in international relations. He graduated in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
| Barack Obama went back to school to Harvard Law. He then started to work for the Harvard Law Review. What position did he reach at the end of his first year? | Barack Obama
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Editor. Obama went back to college in 1988. He then began to work for the Harvard Law Review. He was then selected as editor at the end of his first year. At the end of his second year attending Harvard, Barack Obama reached president of the journal. He soon became the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review.
Magna cum laude. Obama graduated in 1991 from Harvard. He graduated with a Juris Doctor, a degree. Magna cum laude is Latin for "with great praise." Summa cum laude translates to "with highest praise." Cum laude is Latin for "with praise." After graduating Barack returned to Chicago.
| Barack Obama was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1996. What district did he represent? | Barack Obama
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The 13th district. In 1996 Barack Obama was elected to the Illinois Senate. He succeeded Alice Palmer as Member of the Illinois Senate from the 13th district. Once, elected he sponsored a law that increased tax credits for low-income families. Barack Obama was reelected in 1998. Obama would maintain that position until November 4, 2004.
| Who preceded Barack Obama as United States Senator from Illinois? | Barack Obama
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Peter Fitzgerald. Peter was an Illinois Senator from January 6, 1999 – January 3, 2005. On January 3, 2005 Barack Obama took office as an Illinois Senator. Obama become the fifth African-American senator in U.S. history. He would remain in that position until November 16, 2008, when he resigned his senate seat, to focus on his transition to becoming President of the United States.
Joe Biden . Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. was born on November 20, 1942. Joe was elected to the New Castle County Council in 1970. Joe would stay on the council until 1972, when he was elected to the U.S. Senate representing the state of Delaware. Joe would stay a senator from January 3, 1973 until January 15, 2009. On January 20, 2009 Joe Biden became the 47th Vice President, preceded by Dick Chaney.
| On January 20, 2009 Barack Obama took the presidential oath of office. John G. Roberts misspoke while reciting the oath to Obama. The White House counsel wanted the Roberts and Barack to recite the Presidential oath of office again. On January 21, 2009 Barack Obama and Roberts met in what room to recite the oath? | Barack Obama
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Map Room. On January 20, 2009 Barack Obama and John Roberts both misspoke during the Presidential oath of office. Obama interrupted John during the first sentence. John misplaced "faithfully" in one of the lines. The line should have read, "that I will execute the Office of President to the United States faithfully." Roberts said this "that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States." At the request of the White House Counsel, Obama and Roberts agreed to redo the Presidential oath of office. During the evening of January 21, 2009 Obama and Roberts recited the Presidential oath of office.
| In what year did Barack Obama marry Michelle Robinson? | Barack Obama
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1992. Barack Obama and Michelle Robinson first met while attending Harvard. Barack Hussein Obama married Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama married in 1992. After marrying the two settled down in Hyde Park. In 1996 Michelle Obama became the Associate Dean of Student Services at the University of Chicago. In 2002 Michelle started working for the University of Chicago Hospitals. Soon she rose through the ranks, becoming Vice President for Community and External Affairs.
| What are Barack and Michelle Obama's children's names? | Barack Obama
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Malia & Natasha (Sasha). Malia Ann Obama was born on July 4, 1998. Natasha Obama was born on June 10, 2001. Natasha is more commonly known as Sasha. A few days before Barack Obama's inauguration Obama had an open letter published in Parade magazine. The letter was to his daughters telling them that he ran for them and all the children of America. Also President Obama told his daughters that they would choose the dog for the White House.
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