The+Election+of+Barack+Obama+as+the+44th+President+of+the+United+States

=by Katelyn Harber, Morgan Van Hoof, Laine Hettel, Kait Eekhoff=

=__Overview__= In a historic election, the Presidential Race of 2008 provided Americans with choices that would, regardless of the outcome, lead to revolutionary firsts for the White House. America would have either its first African American President in Barack Obama, or its first female Vice President in Sarah Palin. Whether you believe he has changed the nation for the better or for worse, President Barack Obama has made history. First, for his election as the first African-American President our nation has had, and second, for the ObamaCare federal takeover of medical financing. Born on August 4, 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii to parents Barack and Ann Obama, President Obama never imagined he would become the 44th President of the United States. Barack Obama, also known as "Barry" to his family, grew up in Indonesia with his mother and step-father. When he was 10, Barack moved back to Hawaii to live with his grandparents in order to receive an education at a top private school. In June of 1979 Obama graduated for Punahou and started at Occidental Colled in California. After two years at "Oxy", he transferred to Columbia University.After he graduated from Columbia, Barack Obama moved to Chicago, Illinois and eventually applied and was accepted into Harvard Law School. There he became the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. He only attend Harvard for a year before meeting a women named Michelle Robinson, who would eventually become his wife, during his summer working a job back in Chicago. By th time Barack had returned and finished Law School, he and Michelle were in love. Upon graduation, he returned to Chicago to help lead a voter registration drive, teach constitutional law at the University of Chicago, and remain active in his community. In 1992, Barack and Michelle were married in living in Chicago. By 1995 Barack had decided to run for one of the State Senate seats in Illinois. At the age of 35, Barack Obama began his political career as a Democrat. President Obama's years of public service were based on the ability to unite people and help out the community. While being in the Illinois State Senate, he passed the first major ethic reform in 25 years to cut taxes for working families, lock up the world's dangerous weapons and to bring transparency to government. Then on September 11, 2001, when our nation was changed entirely, Obama started thinking about running for a higher office. In 2004 Obama ran for the Senate seat again. His delivery of the Keynote speech made him famous overnight, and helped Obama to win the Senate election in Illinois. Two ears later, in February 2007, Barack Obama announced he was going to run for the position of President of the United States. With his wife and two daughters, Malia and Natasha, Obama began his campaign. He was relatively unknown by the American Public at the time, But by June 2008 he had more support for his campaign then his fellow Democrat running mate Hillary Clinton. Then on November 2, 2008, one hundred and twenty-five million Americans went to the polls to vote, and Barack Hussein Obama was decided to be the 44th President of the United States. He stated: "The challenges we face are real, they are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time, but know this, America: they will be met," (Obama 100). He really wants to help the people and it is all part of his plan to make the economy more stable and efficient. With his campaign motto, "Change We Can Believe In," Obama won the votes of sixty-seven million people. His priorities were to create more jobs for the people, and to help improve the environment. On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama was sworn in as the President and moved into the White House with his family by his side. Obama received 365 electoral votes and McCain received 173, he was the fifth youngest President ever elected, was the seventh President to be born to the west of the Mississippi River and has also become the first President to have a last name beginning with the letter "O." With Hillary Clinton as his newly appointed Secretary of State, he began his Presidency at one of our Country's most difficult times. The economy was in danger of collapsing and Obama knew he had a difficult road ahead of him. Since his election, Obama has put forth plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq, keep banks in business, and help people in financial trouble. He created ObamaCare and passed the Stimulus Package. As the leader of the free world, millions look up to him. It is not an easy job, but Obama is facing the challenge of leading our entire nation head-on.

=__Source Annotation__=
 * http://www.biography.com/articles/Barack-Obama-12782369**
 * //Biography.//2011 A&E Television,2011.May 10,2011**
 * Summary:** This website contains the biography of Barack Obama and includes the experience of his childhood, as senator for Illinois and during his career for government and also him elected as our 44th president.
 * Assess:** This information is good and could help us out for this topic because it gives good information about Barack Obama and good facts that we could use. This website also contains a photo gallery and a short film that gives even more information about Obama as long with the biography of his life so far.
 * Reflect:** What might we use this source for is the facts about Barack Obama and photo gallery for our multimedia section and the facts for our overview.


 * http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27531033/ns/politics-decision_08/t/barack-obama-elected-th-president/**
 * Alex Johnson.//msnbc.//Decisio '08 archive on msnbc,Dec.5, 2008. May10,2011**
 * Summary:** This website provides information containing back ground info., the transformation of America from the election of Obama, and the elections/ ballots.
 * Assess:** This website contains good detail and info. needed for this project. This website has quotes, graphs, and videos. It also has a summary of before, during and after elections.
 * Reflect:** We could use this source during the summary, and explaining what roles Obama took to take office and his background of Obama as a first-term senator from Illinois.


 * http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/nov2008/pers-n05.shtml**
 * //wsws.International committee of the fourth International,Nov.5,2008.May10,2011//**
 * Summary**//**:** This website is about the Barack Obama elections and tells about election and process of the electing of Barack Obama in office as our first African American president.//
 * Assess//://** This website contains good info. by the percentage and statistic of what states was in favor of Barack Obama in office and what percentage of citizens voted for Barack Obama.
 * Reflect:** We could use this website for telling what state voted for Obama and which states were in favor for McCain.


 * http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/us/politics/05elect.html**
 * Summary:** The website provides information about Obama's plans, video of Obama's victory speech and a graphic showing the votes for Obama and McCain across the United States.
 * Assess:** Very reliable website and good information.
 * Reflect:** This site could be used to compare the amount of votes per state that each candidate received, the significance of Obamas election, and some objectives of Obama.


 * http://www.usnews.com/news/campaign-2008/articles/2008/11/04/barack-obama-elected-president**
 * Summary:** The website shows statistics, history of the election, and photos of the election.
 * Assess:** Ok information, reliable source, not very thorough. There should be a bit more information, but you can understand the general idea.
 * Reflect:** History about the election, number of votes that Obama and McCain received, and pictures can be found/used from this source.


 * Sirvaitis, Karen. Barack Obama:A Leader in a Time of Change. Lerner Publishing. Minneapolis, MN.2010.Print**
 * Summary:** This book tells about Obama's history, election results, plans for the future, and photos from the election.
 * Assess:** Good information overall. You can get the general idea, but maybe a bit more explanation/detail would be helpful.
 * Reflect:** You can find out about statistics, cool facts, history, and see pictures about Obama's journey.


 * http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/barackobama**
 * Biographical information, government website, The White House's official website**
 * Summary:** This website gives honest information about President Obama's past and his current plans during his presidency.
 * Assess:** The information I have gotten from this website is relatively honest and correct because it is a government site.
 * Reflect:** This website did leave many questions unanswered. The information given tended to stay in the middle of the road and didn't talk about anything bad or controversial.


 * http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27531033/ns/politics-decision_08/t/barack-obama-elected-th-president/**
 * By Alex Johnson, written 11/5/2008, msn site**
 * Summary:** This article provided many quotes from Obama's speeches. It also delved into a lot of detail about the huge changes America had made by electing an African American as president.
 * Assess:** The information I have gotten from this article seems to be more focused on the fact that Obama had broken a huge racial barrier rather than stating a lot of facts. This means that it was a lot of opinion and not a lot of honest facts.
 * Reflect:** This article while giving a lot of opinion and memorable achievements, did not give a lot of background detail and facts to back up the writer's opinion.


 * http://www.america.gov/media/pdf/books/obamaen.pdf**
 * United States Department of State, Bureau of International Information Programs, informational pamphlet**
 * Summary:** This pdf gives very accurate and detailed description of Obama's life as a whole, from his early years, his marriage, to his most recent plans as president.
 * Assess:** This pdf is a document produced by the government, therefore it has very ac information curate information that can be trusted.
 * Reflect:** Although the information is very detailed and descriptive, there is no negative information given, rather they focus on all of Obama's achievements. This means that not all the information is given from both a negative and positive side.


 * http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/president-obama/**
 * "President Barack Obama." The White House. Web. 11 May 2011.**
 * Summary:** This is the official White House website, containing accurate information on the President, the Vice President, the First Lady, and others in office. It gives President Obama's history and information on him before his election as President.
 * Assess:** It has good information on Obama. It doesn't really tell us anything about his actual election, just a brief history of him. It does have some good facts, though.
 * Reflect:** We could probably use this website to tell of the President's journey to presidency and for background information on him.


 * http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/choice2008/obama/**
 * "Barack Obama | The Choice 2008 | FRONTLINE | PBS." //PBS: Public Broadcasting Service//. 14 Oct. 2008. Web. 23 May 2011.**
 * Summary:** It is a credible source with tons of video interviews with those who have closely observed Obama
 * Assess:** The videos are all very informative and give insight on who he is and why he chose to run
 * Reflect:** We could definitely use this cite for our multimedia requirement, or just for information on Obama


 * http://www.pbs.org/newshour/indepth_coverage/white_house/inauguration2009/**
 * "The Inauguration of Barack Obama." //PBS: Public Broadcasting Service//. 20 Jan. 2009. Web. 23 May 2011.**
 * Summary:** Very short article, provides, in little detail, of the inauguration of Obama and some of the challenges that lie ahead for him
 * Assess:** Credible source, could information, but very little of it
 * Reflect:** We could use this to talk about his inauguration, and it also provides quotes by him


 * http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/dreamsofobama/**
 * "Dreams Of Obama | FRONTLINE | PBS." //PBS: Public Broadcasting Service//. 11 Jan. 2009. Web. 23 May 2011.**
 * Summary:** A credible source with links to other sources with good information, and also links to videos
 * Assess:** Good information, and a lot of it
 * Reflect:** We could use this to get other links as well as videos and discussion forums

=__Reflections and Conclusions__= The election of Barack Obama was very memorable. I do feel though that some of his ideas have not been put into affect and many Americans are not very happy. His health care plan is an example of this as it somewhat divided the American public. Basically, he wanted working taxpayers to pay for other peoples health care expenses. Though it may be good for those who really need health care but can't afford it, it also may open a door to lead people to think that they do not have to get a job because their health care is provided for. It really could go either way. The election of Barack Obama as the first African American president was a huge leap towards equality for all ethnicities. He proved that as a citizen of America there are no limits to what you can do or achieve. I have to commend him for persevering throughout the many racial prejudices that surely surrounded him during his entire political career. In my opinion, even if Obama was the worst president in history, I would still support him because of the huge racial feat he accomplished. Some people believe that Obama has done an incredible job in office so far, while others believe he is just making the same mistakes that have been made in the past. "It's the same crappy system, they just try and disguise," Glenn Beck, an opinion radio host stated on an airing of his talk show. Regardless of what you believe, everyone can say that Obama has a very difficult job. He is the leader of our free nation, and he must make difficult decisions to try and better our nation. In our tough economic times, and the recent speculations on the validity of his birth certificate, the difficulty of President Obama's job is magnified. But what it all comes down to in the end, whether you are a supporter of Obama or not, is that he has changed history in becoming our nation's first African-American President, and being yet another leader to the wonderful United States of America. Yes when you are the president you already know what type of job you are offered and what some people may say. But, also when you're in the spotlight and your job is the president people are going to notice the right and wrong decissions you are making in their mind. Obama has made decisions that has helped our counrty and some decisions that the people may not agree with, considering the health care bill. Obama has accomplished many goals, considering he is the a president, but the first African American president and showed that our country has moved passed the history of being racist and the civil rights and just choosing a president on it's opportunity of change. Obama promised good changes in the United States economy, health, education and other things that would improve the U.S. to become better. Yet, Obama has not accomplished all his goals that he promised during his campion, but there's still time in his term to accomplish them.

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Alex Johnson.//msnbc.//Decisio '08 archive on msnbc,Dec.5, 2008. May10,2011

"Barack Obama | The Choice 2008 | FRONTLINE | PBS." //PBS: Public Broadcasting Service//. 14 Oct. 2008. Web. 23 May 2011. .

//Biography.//2011 A&E Television,2011.May 10,2011

Clack, Goerge. Barack Obama 44th President of the United States. United States department of states. web. 5/23/11.

"Dreams Of Obama | FRONTLINE | PBS." //PBS: Public Broadcasting Service//. 11 Jan. 2009. Web. 23 May 2011. .

Edwards, Roberta. //Who Is Barack Obama?// New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 2009. Print.

Johnson, Alex. Barack Obama Elected 44th President. Msnbc.msn.com. 11/5/2008. web. 5/11/11.

"It’s the Same Crappy System in Disguise – Glenn Beck." //Glenn Beck//. 6 May 2011. Web. 23 May 2011. .

Mcauliff, Michael. Daily News. Nydailytimes.com. November 04, 2008. Web. May 11, 2011.

Nagourney, Adam.//Obama Elected President as Racial Barrier Falls//.nytimes.com.11/04/2008.Web.5/10/2011.

Sirvaitis, Karen. //Barack Obama:A Leader in a Time of Change//. Lerner Publishing. Minneapolis, MN.2010.Print

Taranto, James. "Fair and Balanced?" //Business News & Financial News - The Wall Street Journal - Wsj.com//. 12 Apr. 2011. Web. 23 May 2011. .

"The Inauguration of Barack Obama." //PBS: Public Broadcasting Service//. 20 Jan. 2009. Web. 23 May 2011. .

The White House. President Barack Obama. www.whitehouse.gov. 2009. web. 5/12/11.

Walsh, Kenneth T. //Barack Obama Elected President//. usnews.com.11/04/2008.Web.5/10/2011.

wsws.International committee of the fourth International,Nov.5,2008.May10,2011