Things you might not know about Barack Obama
The Rocky
Published August 6, 2008 at 12:05 p.m.
Preston Gannaway © The Rocky
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama speaks in July at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
Editor's note: One of the items on this list has been removed because it mistakenly repeated a report that Barack Obama holds dual United States-Kenyan citizenship. This erroneous information was never reported in the Rocky Mountain News print edition.
Entered Harvard Law School in 1988, was elected the first African–American editor of the Harvard Law Review. He graduated magna cum laude in 1991.
Won two Grammys for Best Spoken Word Albums for an autobiography in 1995 "Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance" and his second book, "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream," published in October 2006.
Mother Ann Dunham died of ovarian cancer in 1995. Father Barack Obama Sr. was killed in a car wreck in 1982.
Spent four years in his stepfather’s native country of Indonesia.
Is the fifth African-American senator in U.S. history
Is the first presidential candidate to come from Hawaii.
Favorite movies: "The Godfather" (Parts I and II) and "Lawrence of Arabia."
In his early years he was known as Barry.
According to his memoirs, he admitted using alcohol, marijuana and cocaine in his youth.
His first name comes from the word that means "blessed by God" in Arabic.
At his wife's suggestion, he quit smoking before his campaign to win the Democratic nomination began.
Named one of Time magazine's "100 most influential people in the world" list in 2005 and 2007.
Chosen as one of "10 people would change the world" by New Statesman magazine (2005).
Source: biography.com, Internet Movie Database, Atlanta Journal Constitution
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