#44 - Barack Obama, 2009-

When I realized that I would need to add another post to this long series, I toyed with the idea of creating two posts, one for each candidate and then posting the one with the victor. I am a little too suspicious for that, so I created a template post and just had to plug in the vital information once the results became known. Even thought the 44th President, according to Hollywood, is this man.

So now that this series is done, any ideas for the next profiles? First ladies? Vice Presidents? British Prime Ministers? Popes? I would be interested in your ideas. I hope that you have enjoyed reading these as much as I have had in writing them. I even learned a few things along the way and I hope that you have as well.

The 44th President of the United States will be Barack Obama. I am still getting used to that wonderful idea. He will become the first African-American to hold that office.

Barack Hussein Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to a black father and a white mother. Obama's parents divorced when he was two and he saw his father only once before Obama's father was killed in an automobile accident in 1982. Obama's mother died of ovarian cancer in 1995. He was raised mostly by his maternal grandparents. Obama's grandmother, Marilyn Dunham died two days before Obama's historic election. Obama graduated from Columbia University and Harvard Law School, at the latter he served as President of the Law Review. After graduating from Harvard, Obama returned to Chicago, where he had been working as a community organizer.

Obama was elected to the Illinois State Senate in 1996, where he was reelected twice. In 2000, he ran for the United States Congress and lost by a wide margin. In 2004, Obama was elected to the United States Senate, an office he had been contemplating a run for since mid-2002. He gave a stirring keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. With his election to the Senate, he became only the fifth African-American to serve in the Senate. As the only African-American in the Senate, he was the sole Senate member of the Congressional Black Caucus.

In February 2007, Obama stood on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois to declare his candidacy for President of the United States. In June 2008, he emerged from a bruising primary battle to become the presumptive nominee of the Democratic party. One week ago, on November 4, 2008, he defeated Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona to become the President-elect.

The Facts

• Born: August 4, 1961
  
• Party: Democrat
  
• Wife: Michelle Robinson, married 1992
  
• Children: Sasha and Malia
  

The Election of 2008 (as of Tuesday November 11, 2008, from CNN)

• Barack Obama / Joe Biden (D) - 66,056,046 (53%) / 365 EVs
  
• John McCain / Sarah Palin (R) - 57,838,800 (46%) / 162 EVs
  

Here's footage of the evening (I'll never get tired of the Fox News guys having to report it):

Trivia

• Obama was known as "Barry" when he was young, but asked to be called Barack starting in college.
• In his election to the United States Senate, it marked the first time that both candidates were African-Americans (Alan Keyes)
  
• He will be the first president to have been born outside the contiguous United States.
• He will be the fifth youngest president to accede to the office.
• He is the second president whose political base is Illinois (Lincoln - although Ronald Reagan was born there).
• Obama is the first Democrat since Lyndon Johnson to receive more than 51% of the popular vote.
  
• The Obama family has received their Secret Service codenames. Barack will be "Renegade," Michelle is "Renaissance," and the two girls are "Radiance" and "Rosebud."
• Today is Veteran's Day - Barack Obama is the first president to be ineligible for the Vietnam Draft, born during the war and came of age after its conclusion.
  

Links

• Wikipedia
• Britannica
• Office of the President-Elect Website
• Official Campaign Website
• Obama's Senate Website (who gets this seat?)