Drex brooks biography of barack obama

Game Change is the New York Times bestselling story of the presidential election, by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, two of the best political reporters in the country. Both men are young, brilliant, charismatic, charming, determined to change the course of the nation, and completely at odds on almost every major constitutional issue.

In Julyfour years before his presidency, Barack Obama electrified the Democratic National Convention with an address that spoke to Americans across the political spectrum. He explores those forces — from the fear of losing to the perpetual need to raise money to the power of the media — that can stifle even the best-intentioned politician. He also writes, with surprising intimacy and self-deprecating humor, about settling in as a senator, seeking to balance the demands of public service and family life, and his own deepening religious commitment.

Brooksy Society. Barack Obama: The Story by David Maraniss David Maraniss has written a deeply reported generational biography teeming with fresh insights and revealing information, a masterly narrative drawn from hundreds of interviews, including with President Obama in the Oval Office, and a trove of letters, journals, diaries, and other documents.

When Barack was still young, his father abandoned the family and Barack would only meet his father on a few future occasions. After a brief spell living in Indonesia, he moved back to Hawaii where he was raised by his grandparents. Obama later produced two birth certificates to prove his nationality. After studying law at Harvard, he worked as a civil rights lawyer in Chicago.

It was here in Chicago that he met his future wife, Michelle. They married in and had two children. Inhe gained his major political breakthrough serving in the Illinois State Senate. Inhe was elected to the US Senate where he gained a reputation as one of rising stars in the Democrat Party. In the aftermath of the Iraq war, his reputation was enhanced by his previous opposition to the war.

July Despite a lack of political experience, he put forward his name for the Democratic presidential candidate in Against the stiff opposition of Hilary Clinton, Obama ran a near perfect campaign. His campaign generated a flood of popular grassroots support, making use of social media and internet networking. Against the much older Republican candidate Senator John McCain, Obama won a hard-fought contest taking the presidential election.

His victory was greeted with an unusual degree of enthusiasm and excitement — not just in America, but around the world. There, he met Michelle Robinson, a young lawyer who was assigned to be his adviser. Initially, Michelle refused to date Barack, believing that their work relationship would make the romance improper. However, she relented not long after, and the couple fell in love.

On October 3,he and Michelle were married.

Drex brooks biography of barack obama: Jonathan Elkind is the Principal

Barack and Michelle welcomed two daughters several years later: Maliaborn inand Sashaborn in The couple has stated that their personal priority is their children. During his years as a state senator, Obama worked with both Democrats and Republicans to draft legislation on ethics, as well as expand health care services and early childhood education programs for the poor.

He also created a state earned-income tax credit for the working poor. InObama made an unsuccessful Democratic primary run for the U. House of Representatives seat held by four-term incumbent candidate Bobby Rush. Undeterred, he created a campaign committee in and began raising funds to run for a seat in the U. Senate in With the help of political consultant David Axelrod, Obama began assessing his prospects for a Senate win.

Encouraged by poll numbers, Obama decided to run for the open U. Senate seat, vacated by Republican Peter Fitzgerald. In the Democratic primary, he defeated multimillionaire businessman Blair Hull and Illinois Comptroller Daniel Hynes with 52 percent of the vote. That summer, he was invited to deliver the keynote speech in support of John Kerry at the Democratic National Convention in Boston.

Obama emphasized the importance of unity and made veiled jabs at the George W. Bush administration and the diversionary use of wedge issues. After the convention, Obama returned to his U. Senate bid in Illinois. His opponent in the general election was supposed to be Republican primary winner Jack Ryan, a wealthy former investment banker. However, Ryan withdrew from the race in June following public disclosure of unsubstantiated sexual deviancy allegations by his ex-wife, actor Jeri Ryan.

That August, diplomat and former presidential candidate Alan Keyes accepted the Republican nomination to replace Ryan. With his win, Obama became only the third African American elected to the U. Senate since Reconstruction. Sworn into office on January 3,Obama partnered with Republican Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana on a bill that expanded efforts to destroy weapons of mass destruction in Eastern Europe and Russia.

Then, with Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, he created a website to track all federal spending. In FebruaryObama made headlines when he announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination. He was locked in a tight battle with then-U. He campaigned on an ambitious agenda of financial reform, alternative energy, and reinventing education and health care—all while bringing down the national debt.

Because these issues were intertwined with the economic well-being of the nation, he believed all would have to be undertaken simultaneously. When he took office at age 47, Obama inherited a global economic recession, two ongoing foreign wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the lowest-ever international favorability rating for the United States.

They are serious, and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time.

Drex brooks biography of barack obama: Alumna Kiandra Bair, '13,

But know this, America: They will be met. Obama coaxed Congress to expand health care insurance for children and provide legal protection for women seeking equal pay. Housing and credit markets were put on life support, with a market-based plan to buy U. The government made loans to the auto industry, and new regulations were proposed for Wall Street.

Obama cut taxes for working families, small businesses, and first-time home buyers. He reached out to improve relations with Europe, China, and Russia and to open dialogue with Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba. He lobbied allies to support a global economic stimulus package.

Drex brooks biography of barack obama: The financial crisis, the deep recession,

He committed an additional 21, troops to Afghanistan and set an August date for withdrawal of nearly all U. Obama was an early opponent of President George W. In more dramatic incidents, Obama ordered an attack on pirates off the coast of Somalia and prepared the nation for a swine flu outbreak. He signed an executive order banning excessive interrogation techniques and ordered the closing of the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba within a year—a deadline that ultimately would not be met.

Obama signed his signature health care reform plan, the Affordable Care Act, into law in March The new law prohibited the denial of coverage based on preexisting conditions, allowed citizens under 26 years old to be insured under parental plans, provided for free health screenings for certain citizens, and expanded insurance coverage and access to medical care to millions of Americans.

We have great discussions on many different topics but invariably come back to the discussion of what makes a great leader or president. Do you have thoughts and time to share a few of your ideas on this topic? I am also wondering if you might be able to recommend a few good books that compare presidents and their leadership traits?

Drex brooks biography of barack obama: BARACK OBAMA: Well, Brian,

Thanks again so very much. December 21, at am. The rifle-shot topic which has long been of great interest to me is the question of what makes a great president and how would one really attempt to go about comparing presidents from different eras who each faced a variety of dissimilar challenges. Like Loading Steve said: February 18, at pm.

Many thanks for the project, for your reviews. Best of luck. Thank you! John said: February 28, at pm.