At the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, the party's presidential nominee, Sen. John Kerry, tasked a little-known state legislator from Illinois named Barack Obama with delivering the party's keynote address.
"The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States. But I've got news for them, too," Obama said in the attention-grabbing speech. "We worship an awesome God in the Blue States … and have gay friends in the Red States."
A few months later, Obama went on to defeat GOP opponent Alan Keyes by the widest margin of victory in Illinois history, becoming the U.S. Senator from Illinois and only the third African American to serve in the U.S. Senate since the reconstruction era.
Born in Hawaii in 1961 to a Kenyan father and a mother from rural Kansas, Obama also made history at Harvard Law School in 1990, when he became the first black president of the Harvard Law Review.
Before entering law school, Obama attended Columbia University and worked in Chicago as a community organizer. After receiving his law degree, Obama returned to Chicago as a civil rights attorney and eventually earned a seat on the Illinois state Senate.
In his eight years on the Illinois Senate, Obama created the state's Earned Income Tax Credit and pushed for improvements in early childhood education. During his time in the U.S. Senate, Obama has held positions on the Health, Education Labor and Pensions Committee, the Foreign Relations Committee and the Veterans' Affairs Committee.
While holding largely liberal views on issues such as abortion and health care, the senator gained early recognition for his bipartisan efforts, working with both Republican senator -- and presidential opponent -- John McCain of Arizona on campaign finance reform and GOP Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas on raising awareness about the crisis in Darfur.
After his first two years in the U.S. Senate, Obama published the best-selling book, "The Audacity of Hope," to critical acclaim in 2006. Obama published his first book, "Dreams from My Father," in 1995, before he began his life in national politics. "Dreams from My Father" was republished after his 2004 convention address.
As buzz began to grow over the 2008 presidential race, Obama fell squarely in the spotlight amid a crowded Democratic field. Obama announced his decision to run for the White House via a Web video statement on Jan. 16, 2007, during which he promised to advance a "different kind of politics."
Obama opened the primary season with a win in the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3. But the primary road proved anything but predictable, as Obama traded victories with his top rival, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton. After more than five months of intense competition in the historic primary race, Obama earned enough delegates to clinch the nomination in early June.
While his political foes often criticize Obama for a lack of experience, the Illinois senator's ties to controversial figures such as his long-time pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright have proved equally contentious.
In March 2008, Obama sought to quell an uproar over video of Wright delivering an incendiary sermon by delivering a speech on race and religion in the United States that addressed the history of deep religious and racial tension existing in America.
"I have asserted a firm conviction -- a conviction rooted in my faith in God and my faith in the American people -- that working together we can move beyond some of our old racial wounds," he said at the Philadelphia Constitution Center.
Obama lives in Chicago's South Side with his wife, Michelle, whom he met at a Chicago law firm and married in 1992. The couple has two daughters, Malia, born in 1998, and Sasha, born in 2001.
-- By Alexis Matsui, Online NewsHour
|
