Barack Obama, Where He Came From

Since he is soon going to be inaugurated as the President of the United States, I felt it would be necessary to inform readers of Barack Obama's early years as a child. Maybe this information will help you understand what kind of life he came from, and why he is the type of person he is today.

Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on August 4, 1961, to his parents, Ann Dunham (from Wichita, Kansas) and Barack Obama, Sr. (from Kenya). This would make young Barack Obama half African American and half American, something that didn't register to him as being different.

After his parents seperated and later divorced in 1964, he was in the care of his mother, Ann, and his maternal grandparents, Madelyn and Stanley Dunham. His dad would only be seen by Barack once before he died in a tragic car accident in 1982.

Ann and her new husband, Lolo Seotoro, were forced to move to Indonesia where Barack would live until he was 10 years old. In Indonesia, Barack attended schools in Jakarta.

Ironically, in the third grade, he wrote an essay which said he wants to become president to make everybody happy.

After his stay in Indonesia, he moved back to his birthplace, Honolulu. He once again lived with his maternal grandparents, where he attended the elite private school, Punahou Academy, from the 5th grade until his graduation from high school in 1979. At Punahou Academy, he learned the concept of racism and what it meant to be an African American.

His mother died of ovarian cancer in 1995, leaving Obama without the support of his parents.

Obama was mature for his age, and accredits most of his views and beliefs on the cultural experiences that Hawaii offered to him.

Later in his life, he admitted to drug and alcohol use during his high school years, of which he admitted to be his biggest moral mistakes.

In my opinion, Barack's early years of his life are what made him who he is today. His birth father leaving him at an early age, living in different countries, and his early drug and alcohol use have changed and shaped him into the bright President-Elect he is and the President he will become. Not only has his experiences changed him, but they inspired him to bring change to America. I think the best years are yet to come for the United States, in the direct care of Barack Hussein Obama, Jr.

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