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George W. Bush .................................................................... 42 Barack Obama
Born in Hawaii in 1961, Barack Obama was elected to his first term in office in 2008. He served eight years in the White House, with his wife and two daughters. As the first black president of the United States, he also won the Nobel Peace Prize and a Profile in Courage Award. Early Life
Obama is the only U.S. president that was born outside the contiguous 48 states. His mother is Ann Durham, a Kansas native who lived in Hawaii, and his father is Barack Obama Sr., a Kenyan who was attending college in Hawaii when he met Durham. The Obamas divorced in 1964 and Durham remarried an Indonesian man, meaning the younger Obama spent some of his childhood in Indonesia, where he learned to speak the language fluently. Education
In 1971, Obama returned to Hawaii to live with his maternal grandparents. There, he attended the Punahou School, a private college prep school, on scholarship. After graduation, he attended Occidental College before transferring and graduating from Columbia University. After a few years in the workforce, where he was a writer, researcher and community organizer, Obama entered Harvard Law School, where he served as editor and then president of the Harvard Law Review. He graduated in 1991 and returned to Chicago, where he taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago.
Personal Life
Obama met Michelle Robinson in 1989 while both were at the law firm of Sidley Austin. The couple married in 1992 and had daughter Malia in 1998 and Sasha in 2001. Obama is an avid sports fan and basketball player. Political Life
Obama’s first political office was election to the Illinois state Senate in 1997, where he represented parts of Chicago’s South Side. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004, where he supported transparency in federal spending, relief for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, de-escalation of the Iraq War, and sanctions on Iran. Obama chaired the Senate Subcommittee on European Affairs and held seats on several Senate Committees, including Foreign Relations. Presidency
Obama became the first black president of the United States in 2009, with Delaware Sen. Joe Biden as his vice president. Obama and Biden held office for two four-year terms.
During his time in office, he appointed two women as Supreme Court justices; pushed reforms for LGBT rights, such as signing the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act and repealing the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Act military sexual orientation policy; pushed for increased conservation of public lands and more strict regulation of carbon emissions; and advocated for and eventually passed health care reform. Post Presidency
After the Obama family left the White House in 2017. A survey of historians by the American Political Science Association in 2018 ranked Obama the 8th greatest American president. His presidential library will be built in Chicago’s Jackson Park.
Donald John Trump was born in Queens, New York, on June 14, 1946. His father, Fred Trump, was a highly successful real estate developer. The elder Trump was of German heritage, and his wife, Mary McLeod, of Scottish background. Their son Donald was the second youngest of five children. He was educated at the New York Military Academy and the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania. Even before he graduated he was drawn to real estate and construction, and as a young man he took over his father’s firm, renaming it the Trump Organization.
The Trump Organization soon became involved in a myriad of projects, including hotels, resorts, residential and commercial buildings, casinos, and golf courses, both in the United States and abroad. His first of many books was The Art of the Deal, published in 1987. In 2004 he launched the Apprentice (later The Celebrity Apprentice), a popular television series that aired until 2015. During the 2016 primary season Trump defeated more than a dozen seasoned rivals to win the Republican nomination and went on to win the election over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. His campaign slogan was “Make America Great Again,” and he moved swiftly to reinvigorate “Buy American and Hire American” policies. He signed a major tax reform bill into law and directed the reduction of federal regulations intended to secure a long-running economic expansion and a historically low unemployment rate. His trade policies encouraged tariffs on foreign aluminum and steel and a series of renegotiations of trade agreements with Mexico, Canada, China, Japan, and South Korea.
Other priorities included Supreme Court and federal judiciary appointments, tackling the opioid crisis, seeking to reduce the cost of prescription drugs, and improving health care for veterans. Trump’s commitment to “America first” abroad shaped not only his trade and tariff policies but his approach to immigration and overseas commitments. At his urging, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member states increased their contributions to the alliance. Trump recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and moved the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, recognizing the ancient city as Israel’s capital.
His approach to the problem of nuclear proliferation included applying maximum economic pressure on both North Korea and Iran. Trump increased the budget for the U.S. military, and during his administration the self-proclaimed Islamic State (ISIS), which had taken territory in Iraq and Syria and was responsible for inciting terrorist attacks, was defeated.
President Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, have one son, Barron. President Trump also has four adult children from previous marriages: Donald Jr., Ivanka, Eric, and Tiffany, as well as nine grandchildren.
Donald Trump
Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the first of four children. In 1953, the Biden family moved to Claymont, Delaware. President Biden graduated from the University of Delaware and Syracuse Law School and served on the New Castle County Council.
JOE BIDEN’S FAMILY
At age 29, President Biden became one of the youngest people ever elected to the United States Senate. Just weeks after his Senate election, tragedy struck the Biden family when his wife Neilia and daughter Naomi were killed, and sons Hunter and Beau were critically injured, in an auto accident.
Biden was sworn into the U.S. Senate at his sons’ hospital bedsides and began commuting from Wilmington to Washington every day. He would continue to do so throughout his time in the Senate.
Biden married Jill Jacobs in 1977, and in 1980, their family was complete with the birth of Ashley Blazer Biden.
Beau Biden, Attorney General of Delaware and Joe Biden’s eldest son, passed away in 2015 after battling brain cancer.
A LEADER IN THE SENATE
As a Senator from Delaware for 36 years, President Biden established himself as a leader in facing some of our nation’s most important domestic and international challenges. Biden is widely recognized for his work writing and spearheading the Violence Against Women Act
Biden played a pivotal role in shaping U.S. foreign policy. He was at the forefront of issues and legislation related to terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, post-Cold War Europe, the Middle East, Southwest Asia, and ending apartheid.
THE 47TH VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
As Vice President, Biden continued his leadership on important issues facing the nation and represented our country abroad. Biden helped President Obama pass and then oversaw the implementation of the Recovery Act.
President Obama and Vice President Biden also secured the passage of the Affordable Care Act, which reduced the number of uninsured Americans by 20 million by the time they left office and banned insurance companies from denying coverage due to pre-existing conditions.
He served as the point person for U.S. diplomacy throughout the Western Hemisphere, strengthened relationships with our allies both in Europe and the Asia-Pacific, and led the effort to bring 150,000 troops home from Iraq.
In a ceremony at the White House, President Obama awarded Biden the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction — the nation’s highest civilian honor.
A NEW CHAPTER
After leaving the White House, the Bidens continued their efforts to expand opportunity for every American with the creation of the Biden Foundation, the Biden Cancer Initiative, the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, and the Biden Institute at the University of Delaware.
On April 25, 2019, Biden announced his candidacy for President of the United States. Biden’s candidacy was built from the beginning around 3 pillars: the battle for the soul of our nation, the need to rebuild our middle class — the backbone of our country, and a call for unity, to act as One America. It was a message that would only gain more resonance in 2020 as we confront a pandemic, an economic crisis, urgent calls for racial justice, and the existential threat of climate change.
“WE ARE LIVING THROUGH A BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF THIS NATION.”
