Barack Obama was the 44th President of the USA. He was president for two terms i.e, 8 years. Obama was known for being the first black president of the USA and his historic win was revered as one of the greatest wins in American Politics. He had a fresh young look and a really optimistic attitude. But How old was Obama when he became president? Let us find out!
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So, What was Obama’s age when he became the president?
Barack Obama was 47 years old when he became the president of the United States of America on January 20, 2009. He was the fifth youngest man to become the president of America. Obama was a really fresh guy as he connected to the younger voters and they supported him immensely.
Barack Obama’s Short Biography
Barack Obama was born as Barack Hussein Obama at the Kapiolani Medical Center in Hawaii. His birthdate is August 4 and he was born in 1961. His mother is Ann Dunham and his father was Barack Obama, Sr. Obama was born to an American mother and an African father. His dad was actually from Kenya.
Growing up, Obama did not spend much time with his father but he was very close to his mother. His father had another family so, this created tensions between them. Obama Sr only visited his once once and he died in a car accident in 1982. Barack’s mother remarried after Obama Sr died.
They shifted to live in Indonesia and Obama lived with his mother and stepfather. In Indonesia, Obama learned about different cultures and saw the reality outside of the America.
He returned back to the United States in 1971 and lived with his maternal grandparents. Obama was deeply influenced by his grandparents and his view of the world was drastically different than most. This was because of the different perspectives he saw in life.
Obama was just like any other kid though. He did become interested in politics and started studying philosophy and race relations but he has identity crisis as well. As he was of mixed race, Obama found himself to be an outsider. He started drinking and even indulging in drugs. The confused sense of identity was really hard for him.
But things changed after High School, Obama attended the Occidental College in LA and then transferred to Columbia University in NYC where he studied Political Science. He was always looking ways to help communities and impact change across the country.
Political Career
Barack Obama got interested in politics later in his life. After marrying lawyer Michelle and giving birth to his two daughters, Sasha and Malia, Obama became super interested in local politics. At this time, he was living in Chicago and was thinking of running for the post of president.
He was already the state senator for Illinois but did not see much progress in it so, he wanted to get a bigger job. In 2003, she started running for the US senate seat. He quickly got popular among various residents and was regarded one of the most vocal politicians of the time.
The senate race was pretty brutal but Obama managed to win by a landslide. This made him a rising force in the Democratic Party. He was considered to be the candidate for the US president but he did not become a candidate during this time.
Anyway, while he was the Senate of Illinois, Obama worked on many issues such as immigration, nuclear proliferation, wiretapping and more. He also held positions in the Foreign Relations and Veterans’ office.
Battle for Presidential Nomination
Obama’s presidential run was announced in 2007. He said that his intention was to run for the President elections of 2008. This created shock waves in America and people started touting Obama as the savior of the country.
His presidency rave was supported by people and for the first time, citizens in the USA were actually looking forward to an election. Obama’s campaign was based on hope and equality. He promised to lift the country up and change the financial situation as well.
The campaign was still very challenging though. The race for White House is generally filled with roadblocks. This was the same case for Obama. His race, age and style made him really popular with young and idealistic voters but he had trouble convincing older voters and women.
Obama had strong competition in the same party though, he was up against Senator Hillary Clinton. They had a really big fight for the Nomination an it was just long and drawn out but eventually, the ticket was given to Obama. And the choice was the right one as Obama won the presidential election with a landslide victory.
Election of 2008 and Presidential Win
Obama’s competition in the opposite party proved to be Senator John McCain but he was no match for Obama. The campaign though was long, heated and resulted in a record number of voters for the time.
Obama’s biggest strength was his calmness. He was a really cool candidate and everything he said and did was applauded. Obama had the dangerous mixture of Swagger and Humbleness. He was, in one word, Charismatic. And He catered to the younger voters. He had the American youth on the palm of his hands and this was the only reason for his victory.
Obama managed to easily beat McCain in the 2008 election and by November, it was clear who the next President of America was. Finally, Obama was sworn in in 2009, at the age of 47 years and 169 days. Obama literally made history that day. He was elected as the first Black President in the United States of America. Add to that, he was probably the youngest President in 20 years and one of the youngest presidents in the History.
Obama appealed to the African-American youth to vote and make a change and vote, they did. In addition, he helped bring communities together with his chilling speeches and charisma.
This resulted in another presidential win in 2012 and the rest is history. Barack Obama managed to come from humble beginnings as an African-American person and managed to become the president of the United States of America.
Source:
https://www.potus.com/presidential-facts/age-at-inauguration
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1035542/age-incumbent-us-presidents-first-taking-office/
