Obama's father, Barack Hussein Obama Sr., was a black Kenyan economist and the biological father of Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States. His life is full of legends and tragedies, he once had talent, ambition and charm, but also ruined his career and family because of selfishness, arrogance and amorousness. He died in a car accident in 1982, leaving behind a complicated legacy and an estranged son.
The elder Obama was born in 1936 to a native of the Romanian ethnic group in Kenya. He showed a talent for intelligence and studious from an early age, served in the British colonial army and traveled to Europe, India and Zanzibar. There he converted from Catholicism to Islam and changed his name to Hussein. He later became a cook and herbalist, met his first wife, Cathya, in Nairobi, and gave birth to two sons and two daughters.
In 1959, the elder Obama received a scholarship from the Kenyan government to study at the University of Hawaii. There, he met Ann Dunham, an 18-year-old white girl, with whom he fell in love. The two married in 1961 and gave birth to Barack Obama Jr. the same year. This marriage, which crossed races and cultures, caused a lot of controversy and opposition at the time.
In 1962, the elder Obama received a scholarship to Harvard University to continue his studies in Boston. There, however, he falls into another affair, falling in love with a white woman, Ruth Nedsander, and impregnating her. For this, he had to divorce Ann Dunham and marry Ruth. He also left little Obama in the care of his ex-wife.
Although the elder Obama earned a master's degree in economics at Harvard, he failed to complete his doctoral program. He returned to Kenya in 1964 in hopes of putting his talents and ideas to use in government. However, he soon found himself out of step with the times and politics. He has expressed some radical socialist and African nationalist views, in conflict with the conservative policies of Kenyan President Jomo Kenyatta. As a result, he was ostracized and oppressed, unable to secure senior positions or achieve his ideals.
The elder Obama's private life was also a mess. His marriage to Ruth soon breaks down, and he returns to Cathya's side, but argues with her again. He also had inappropriate relationships with several other women and had eight children together. He drank, gambled, violent, and eventually led to his physical and mental breakdown. He died in a car accident in 1982 at the age of 46.
The relationship between the elder Obama and the younger Obama was very distant. He met his son only once, in 1971, when Obama Jr. was 10 years old. He wrote several letters to his son, but never really got involved in his upbringing and education. What little Obama knows about his father comes mainly from the descriptions of his mother and maternal grandparents, as well as some photos and articles left by his father.
Little Obama had mixed feelings for his father. He admired his father's talent and ambition, but also disgusted his selfishness and irresponsibility. He tried to trace his father's footsteps and even made a special trip to Kenya to visit his family and cemetery. In his autobiography, The Origin of Dreams, he wrote: "I am a boy without a father and I want to know what a man should look like. ”
During the 2008 presidential campaign, Obama Jr. mentioned his father in a speech. "I know I'm not a perfect person, and I won't be a perfect president," he said. But I promise you one thing: I will always tell you the truth as I know. He then quoted a quote his father once wrote to him: "There is no progress without challenges." ”
This sentence reflects Obama Jr.'s identification with and transcendence of his father. He admits that his father gave him some positive influences, such as courage, wisdom and ideals. But he also realized that his father had given him some negative effects, such as insecurity, guilt and doubt. He tried to overcome these influences in his own life and become a better person and leader.
Obama once said of his father, Barack Obama Sr., "He's a brilliant bastard." "It can be said that it is an accurate summary of the old Obama's life, the elder Obama has been merciful in his life, only cares about life, abandons his wife and children, and his personality shows that he is an out-and-out bastard, but his ability to study in the United States from backward Kenya and obtain a master's degree in economics shows that he is indeed talented.