Barack Obama: Political Profiles (Morgan Reynolds Library)

In February 2007, Illinois senator Barack Obama announced that he would run for president in 2008. He was largely unknown and had only been in the U.S. Senate since 2004. Yet many believe he stands a strong chance of becoming the Democratic Presidential Nominee in 2008, as well as the first African American with a realistic chance of winning the office. But who is Barack Obama? Barack Obama was named for a father he barely knew, a Kenyan doctor and scholar. Raised by his devoted mother and grandparents in Hawaii and Indonesia, young Barry was exposed to different cultures and religions. He attended a prestigious prep school where he became a star basketball player. But the half-black, half-white young man never felt that he truly belonged and was haunted by the legacy of the father he only met once.Obamas search for meaning and identity led him to Kenya, where he reconnected with his African family. He then went on to Harvard Law School and eventually to Chicago, where he discovered a cause worth fighting and living for: the cause of social justice. Barack Obamas journey has prepared him to fight for what he believes and transformed the skinny kid with big ears and a funny name into a man who is likely to change the face of American politics.