50+ Barack Obama Facts For Kids

Who Is Barack Obama?

Barack Hussein Obama was the 44th president of the United States. He was the first African American to be elected as the president of the United States defeating John McCain and also got reelected in 2012.
He was born on August 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii where he was raised by his mother and parents. When he was of the age of 2, his parents got divorced. He used to live with his mother’s parents.
In 1983, he completed his graduation from Columbia University New York. He did three years of volunteer work in Chicago and then he went on to earn his law degree from Harvard University in Cambridge.
He returned to Chicago to practise law and even taught law at the University of Chicago. After winning the election to the Illinois State Senate in 1996, Barack Obama won a seat in the U.S. Senate in 2004 and then the presidency in 2008.

What Are The Political Career Facts About Barack Obama?

While discussing Barack Obama Facts For Kids, he was a major figure in his democratic party. He won the election to the Illinois State Senate in 1996, Barack Obama won a seat in the U.S. Senate in 2004 and then the presidency in 2008.
In 2007 he made the decision to run for the president of the United States. At a political convention in August 2008, he was chosen to be the candidate for the Democrats where he chose Senator Joseph Biden to be his running mate.
Obama wanted to create equality by bringing people of many backgrounds together. Obama had spoken against the war between the US (some other countries) and Iraq. He was also focused on making healthcare available to everyone in the US.

Facts On President Barack Obama’s Popularity

In 2010, Barack Obama signed a new health care law called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law. This law got so associated with Obama that it was later referred to as the ‘Obamacare’. Through this law, poor people are offered help to be able to afford health insurance and quality health care was being provided for all Americans.
Iraq and Afghanistan wars were ongoing during Obama’s tenure. Even though he managed to successfully end the Iraq war but the Afghanistan war was pretty much active throughout his tenure as a president. US casualties took a surge during the year 2010 making it the worst year of the war. On May 1, 2011, it was reported that Osama Bin Laden, the leader of the terrorist group al-Qaeda, was captured and killed by the US troops.
During Obama’s presidency, the unemployment rate reached 10% in 2009. However, during his tenure, over 11 million jobs were created and the supreme court even settled several legal battles. In 2015, same-sex marriage was legalized throughout the whole nation. In spite of all the efforts, the US economy remained sluggish throughout his tenure.
On April 20, 2010, an accident on an oil rig caused a giant oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Tons of oil got emitted into the oceans for days on end. This oil-contaminated much of the gulf and is considered to be one of the worst environmental disasters in world history.
During his initial years of presidency, he wanted to create an economy with higher taxes, a larger federal government and other plans to get the economy moving.
Obama named two new justices in the Supreme court: Sonia Sotomayor in 2009 and Elena Kagan in 2010. Sotomayor was the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice.
Obama remained highly popular internationally as people of other countries thought that Obama would always make the right decision regarding any international affairs. In May 2015, he signed the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act 2015 which included curbing Iran’s ability to produce nuclear weapons, in exchange for the removal of sanctions on Iran.

What Are Some Fun Barack Obama Facts For Kids?

He likes to play basketball and is an avid sports fan. His favourite teams include the Chicago Bears for football and the Chicago White Sox for baseball.
He has several half-siblings including a younger half-sister named Maya Soetoro-Ng.
In 2009 he made $5.5 million and much more by writing books. He is fluent in Indonesian and even knows some Spanish.
He won a Grammy Award in 2006 for his voice on the audiobook Dreams From My Father.
Barack Obama used to work in Baskin Robbins as a teenager but now he no longer likes ice cream.
He has finished reading all the Harry Potter books.
While he was living in Indonesia, he got the experience of eating several unusual dishes including grasshoppers and even snake meat.

Facts on Barack Obama After His Rejection

In the discussion of Barack Obama Facts For Kids, In 2012, Obama was reelected again and this time, he was fighting against a wealthy businessman who had been the governor of Massachusetts, named Mitt Romney. On November 6, he was elected for his second term even though the competition was close.
During his second term, he faced several problems in the Middle East including the civil war in Syria which had a big impact. Government forces and rebel groups started fighting there in 2011. During that time, thousands of ordinary citizens of Syria had been killed or forced to leave their homes. Even though many people wanted the United States to offer help but Obama didn’t think likewise and was hesitant to send the troops. However, the United States sent food and medical supplies to the rebels in 2013.
In December 2014, Obama finally put an end to the US-led combat mission in Afghanistan. This 13-year conflict was the longest war ever fought by the United States.
Several major issues occurred involving guns and violence during his second term. He tried to address the issues of gun violence in the United States by pressing Congress to pass new gun control laws but despite his efforts, the situation didn’t get any better.
In 2016, as the president of the United States Obama made several international trips to other countries. In mid-March, he became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Cuba in more than 80 years. The United States and Cuba had broken off relations in the 1960s, but Obama made efforts to change that beginning in late 2014.
During the 2016 campaign for president, Barack Obama supported Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton served as his secretary during his first term. However, Clinton lost and Donald Trump was chosen as the president in 2017.