Senator Barack Obama
January 26, 2007
Barack Obama |
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United States Senator for Illinois |
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Sworn into office: January 4, 2005 |
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| Born |
August 4th, 1961, in Hawaii |
| Political party |
Democratic |
As many of you know, over the last few months I have been thinking hard about
my plans for 2008. Running for the presidency is a profound decision - a
decision no one should make on the basis of media hype or personal ambition
alone - and so before I committed myself and my family to this race, I wanted to
be sure that this was right for us and, more importantly, right for the
country.
I certainly didn't expect to find myself in this position a year ago. But as
I've spoken to many of you in my travels across the states these past months; as
I've read your emails and read your letters; I've been struck by how hungry we
all are for a different kind of politics.
So I've spent some time thinking about how I could best advance the cause of
change and progress that we so desperately need.
The decisions that have been made in Washington these past six years, and the
problems that have been ignored, have put our country in a precarious place. Our
economy is changing rapidly, and that means profound changes for working people.
Many of you have shared with me your stories about skyrocketing health care
bills, the pensions you've lost and your struggles to pay for college for your
kids. Our continued dependence on oil has put our security and our very planet
at risk. And we're still mired in a tragic and costly war that should have never
been waged.
But challenging as they are, it's not the magnitude of our problems that
concerns me the most. It's the smallness of our politics. America's faced big
problems before. But today, our leaders in Washington seem incapable of working
together in a practical, common sense way. Politics has become so bitter and
partisan, so gummed up by money and influence, that we can't tackle the big
problems that demand solutions.
And that's what we have to change first.
We have to change our politics, and come together around our common interests
and concerns as Americans.
This won't happen by itself. A change in our politics can only come from you;
from people across our country who believe there's a better way and are willing
to work for it.
Years ago, as a community organizer in Chicago, I learned that meaningful
change always begins at the grassroots, and that engaged citizens working
together can accomplish extraordinary things.
So even in the midst of the enormous challenges we face today, I have great
faith and hope about the future - because I believe in you.
And that's why I wanted to tell you first that I'll be filing papers today to
create a presidential exploratory committee. For the next several weeks, I am
going to talk with people from around the country, listening and learning more
about the challenges we face as a nation, the opportunities that lie before us,
and the role that a presidential campaign might play in bringing our country
together. And on February 10th, at the end of these decisions and in my home
state of Illinois, I'll share my plans with my friends, neighbors and fellow
Americans.
In the meantime, I want to thank all of you for your time, your suggestions,
your encouragement and your prayers. And I look forward to continuing our
conversation in the weeks and months to come.
Sincerely,
U.S. Senator Barack Obama
About Barack
“The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States
and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I’ve
got news for them…We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars
and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America”
Barack Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4th, 1961. His father, Barack Obama
Sr., was born and raised in a small village in Kenya, where he grew up herding
goats with his own father, who was a domestic servant to the British.
Barack’s mother, Ann Dunham, grew up in small-town Kansas. Her father worked
on oil rigs during the Depression, and then signed up for World War II after
Pearl Harbor, where he marched across Europe in Patton’s army. Her mother went
to work on a bomber assembly line, and after the war, they studied on the G.I.
Bill, bought a house through the Federal Housing Program, and moved west to
Hawaii.
It was there, at the University of Hawaii, where Barack’s parents met. His
mother was a student, and his father had won a scholarship that allowed him to
leave Kenya and pursue his dreams in America.
Barack’s father eventually returned to Kenya, and Barack grew up with his
mother in Hawaii, and for a few years in Indonesia. Later, he moved to New York,
where he graduated from Columbia University in 1983.
“My mother was from Kansas, which is where I got my accent
from."
Remembering the values of empathy and service that his mother taught him,
Barack put law school and corporate life on hold after college and moved to
Chicago in 1985, where he became a community organizer with a church-based group
seeking to improve living conditions in poor neighborhoods plagued with crime
and high unemployment.
“The best education I received was working with people in
the community on a grassroots basis. Because what it taught me was that ordinary
people, when they are working together can do extraordinary things."
The group had some success, but Barack had come to realize that in order to
truly improve the lives of people in that community and other communities, he
needed the skills that only a more professional education could offer.
He went on to earn his law degree from Harvard in 1991, where he became the
first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. Soon after, he
returned to Chicago to practice as a civil rights lawyer and teach
constitutional law. Finally, his advocacy work led him to run for the Illinois
State Senate, where he served for seven years.
In 2003, Barack launched his improbable race for the United States Senate.
Even with many primary contenders, an imported Republican challenger and a
budget six times smaller than his opponent’s, Barack won a landslide victory.
Even then, he stood out alone among the major candidates, opposing the war in
Iraq.
As a US Senator, Barack has continued to work on the issues that represent
the ideals and aspirations of so many. He’s helped pass major measures that
combat the international trafficking of nuclear weapons, promote the use of
alternative fuels, and open up the budget process to greater public scrutiny.
In all of these efforts, he’s brought Democrats and Republicans together for the
common good.
Above all his accomplishments and experiences, Barack is most proud and
grateful for his family. His wife, Michelle, and his two daughters, Malia, 8,
and Sasha, 5, live on Chicago’s South Side where they attend Trinity United
Church of Christ.
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