Barack Obama, No. 44
22 June 2024
Chicago, IL
In 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr. predicted the eventuality of a Black president. At the time, he was being interviewed by a local Atlanta TV station and said that he believed that “in the not too distant future,” a Black could be elected president of the United States. Four decades later, that vision would become a reality with the election of Barak Obama in 2008. Had he lived, MLK would have been 79 years old that year. 
Presidential portrait
in National Portrait
Gallery,
Washington, DC
In June 2024, we flew from our home in Maryland to Chicago to see some of the sites associated with President Obama. We flew into Midway Airport, grabbed a car and headed to Grant Park next to Lake Michigan, the site of Obama’s 2008 post-election 
Grant Park
victory speech. Obama, dressed in a dark suit with a red striped tie, gave a speech in front of a crowd of about a quarter million people (Wikipedia). The crowd were reveling in the meteoritic rise of young president-elect. His first words: “If anyone out there still who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.” The electricity of that night has faded into history and the park we saw was largely deserted. Not finding a parking spot, we stopped by the side of the road; Cathy hopped out of the car and snapped a couple pictures before moving on.
How had a 47-year-old first term senator made it to the White House so quickly?
Barack Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961 to a Kenyan father and a White mother. Both his father and mother were students at the University of Hawaii. The marriage did not last partially because Barack Obama, Sr. was already married with a wife and child in Kenya (Moore, 2007). Barack’s mother later married an Indonesian so the family lived there for several years. That marriage was also troubled and Barack and his mother moved back to Hawaii. (Moore, 2007).
Young Barack read ravenously and became interested in helping the downtrodden. He attended college first in California, then in New York after which he became a community organizer (Moore, 2007). It was not long before he was working on the South side of Chicago—the area we visited. To have better success at organizing, he sought a law degree. He attended Harvard Law School as an older student. He excelled and was eventually elected as the first Black editor of the Harvard Law Review.
Between semesters, Obama interned at a large Chicago law firm. His mentor was Michelle Robinson, a lawyer at the firm. The young lawyers took an interest in each other. Their first date was to a grab ice cream at a Bascom Robins, our next stop. The Baskin-Robbins in a small strip center in Hyde Park near the University of Chicago. At the corner of 53rd and Dorchester streets, a large, pinkish rock with a brass plaque signifies the momentous event. It includes an Obama quote: “I kissed her, and it tasted of chocolate.” We couldn’t linger because we were illegally parked. 
Plaque in Hyde Park
Obama and Michelle were married on October 18, 1992. We hunted down their first home, a first-floor condo at 5450 East View Park where they lived from 1994 to 2006 or 2007. This was the longest they have lived in any one place, according to a resident who now lives in the building. The condo complex is 3 floors and is right across the street from Lake Michigan — location, location, location — but the condos have seen better days and could use some sprucing up. We talked to a woman sitting in a folding chair grazing on an ice cream sandwich. She lives on the third floor directly above the Obama’s. We asked her if Obama was still popular. “As popular as any person who was president eight years ago,” she replied.
Not far away, but in a much higher-end neighborhood stands the Obamas’ current home at 5046 South 
Outside the Obama house
Greenwood Avenue. It’s a pretty, residential street, lined with trees and large, stately homes, some fenced in with wrought iron. The Obamas’ entire block is barricaded by the Secret Service, with signs warning motorists not to enter the street: “Do not enter. Presidential traffic only,” they caution. But you can walk to check it out — a large brick mansion resembling a bungalow (a very large bungalow) with white trim. A wrought-iron fence borders the property, which features stately trees and shrubbery. We didn’t see any Secret Service people but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t see us. A couple from Mexico was viewing the house along with us. They didn’t speak any English so our conversation was limited. We didn’t think to ask them why they would be interested in his house. It would be odd for an American to want to see the home of an ex-Mexican president.
Obama served as an Illinois State Senator from 1997 to 2004. In 2000 he ran for Congress but didn’t win. In 2004, he ran for Senate and won big with 70% of the vote—it was the largest landslide that election year. Seen as a rising star, Obama was asked to be the keynote speaker at the 2004 Democratic Convention nominating John Kerry. It was an exhilarating speech. He speaks of hope thus: “It's the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a millworker's son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too. The audacity of hope!” This speech made him highly visible and he started thinking about the presidency. He served only two years in the senate 2006-2008 before deciding to make a presidential run. Obama had a hard primary fight but prevailed over Hillary Rodham Clinton.
During his campaign, Obama’s relationship with Reverend Jeremy Wright of the Trinity United Church of Christ came to light in a troubling way. Reverend Wright, Obama’s minister and friend for 20 years, was found to have made negative statements about the United States including blaming the Unite States for the 9/11 attacks. In spite of the friendship as well as their wedding at his church, the Obamas cut their ties with the Reverend and the candidacy was saved (Moore, 2007).
We found the church on 400 W 95th Street, a lower-income neighborhood, with small, one story houses lining the street. The church is a huge light brick building that looks like a megachurch, and features a bookstore. Down the street a couple blocks we found the much smaller - and older Jeremiah Wright Daycare Center, which Cathy thinks was the original church and was converted to a daycare center after the new church was built.
Trinity United Church of Christ
Obama won the popular vote as well as the electoral vote (365-173) over Senator John McCain.
President Obama’s first order of business was to stabilize the teetering economy from what became known as the Great Recession. Congress passed several mammoth bank and auto bailout bills as well as a large infrastructure bill. It would take years for the economy to recover.
The next order of businesses was to fight for increased health care coverage for the underserved. With a Democratic House and Senate, the administration was able to push through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It became known as “Obamacare.” It is still going strong today with 45 million people using it (hhs.gov).
Ten years after the 9/11 attacks, Osama bin Laden was discovered in a Pakistani compound. Obama sent Seal Team Six to capture or kill him. In a successfully operation on May 2, 2011, bin Laden was killed. His body was identified then taken aboard a Navy ship for burial at sea (history.com).
Obama was reelected in 2012 but was stymied by the Republicans who had taken control in 2010.
Our last stop of the day was at the uncompleted Obama presidential center, near the Science & Industry Building 
Presidential center
in progress
in Jackson Park. The museum structure is currently a gray, hulking monstrosity reaching up into the sky over the lake. It is slated to open in 2026.
DIRECTIONS
The Obama sites are mostly located on the South Side of Chicago.
REFERENCES
Life Books. 2008. The American Journey of Barack Obama. Little Brown and Company. New York, NY.
Keynote Address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. July 27, 2004.
Moore, Kathryn. 2007. The American President. Fall River Press. New York, NY.
Obama, Michelle. 2018. Becoming. Crown. New York, NY.
Smith, C. 2005. Presidents: Every Question Answered. Metro Books. New York, NY.
Websites
Wikipedia
History.com
HHS.gov
