I Wish I Knew That: U.S. Presidents: Cool Stuff You Need to Know (21 page)

Born

August 4, 1961 Honolulu, Hawaii

Political Party

Democrat

Vice President

Joseph Biden

First Lady

Michelle

Children

Malia and Sasha

Pets

Bo, a Portuguese water dog

From Unknown to Famous

The son of a white mother from Kansas and a black father from Kenya, Barack Obama was a largely unknown politician when he gave the keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. But once the electrifying speech was over, people across the country knew his name.

A Global Education

Born in Hawaii, Barack Obama (or Barry, as he was known as a child) moved with his mother to Indonesia when he was six years old. She woke him up at 4 o’clock every morning to learn American school skills before sending him off to his Indonesian school three hours later. When he was ten, his mother sent him back to Hawaii to live with his grandparents and study at a nearby private school.

After college, he became a community organizer in Chicago, helping poor people find jobs and improve their living conditions. He then went to Harvard Law School.

Political Career

After law school and a short time working in a law firm in Chicago, he ran for the U.S. House of Representatives, but lost, and later won a seat in the U.S. Senate. In 2008 he became the first mixed-race person to be elected president of the United States.

FUN FACT

Barack Obama had to recite the oath of office twice because the judge who gave him the oath said it wrong the first time.

Presidential Challenges

President Obama faced two wars and a worldwide economic recession when he took office. He sent more troops to fight in the war in Afghanistan but set a date for withdrawing soldiers from the war in Iraq. He provided hundreds of millions of dollars to make the economy grow, and gave car makers big loans so they wouldn’t go out of business. He also worked to expand health care for more people. In 2011, he ordered a small military team to raid the compound of Osama bin Laden, the mastermind terrorist behind the World Trade Center attacks; bin Laden was killed in the raid.

One World

The father of two daughters, Barack Obama stressed that American people are more alike than they are different. “There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America,” he said, “there’s the United States of America.”

AIR FORCE ONE

WINGS FOR THE PRESIDENT

Symbol of the President

No matter where in the world the president travels, when he flies in
any
Air Force jet, that plane is called Air Force One. But when we hear the words Air Force One, we think of one of the two specially custom-built Boeing 747s. Brightly painted with the words “United States of America,” the American flag, and the Seal of the President of the United States, Air Force One is one of the most recognizable symbols of the president, not just in this country but everywhere around the world.

Best Security

Air Force One can refuel in midair, which means it can carry the president wherever he needs to travel without landing to get fuel. It carries the most up-to-date security equipment and the best computers and telephone equipment so no one can listen in on what the president is saying when he is on board. If the United States is ever under attack, Air Force One can become a flying command center for the president!

Room for All

Inside, Air Force One has plenty of room: over 4,000 square feet on three levels. That’s the size of a professional basketball court! It includes a bedroom, bathroom, and office just for the president, a conference room for staff meetings, and a separate area for reporters traveling with the president. Most of the furniture on the plane was handcrafted by master carpenters. Air Force One also has quarters for the president’s senior advisors, Secret Service officers, and other guests. Several cargo planes typically fly ahead of Air Force One to provide the president with services needed in remote locations.

A doctor is always on board in case of emergency, and Air Force One includes a room with all the equipment for an operation if needed. And most important, there is a big kitchen and crew that can prepare food for 100 people.

From Propeller to Jet

Beginning with President Franklin Roosevelt, Air Force One was a propeller plane, and for the next 20 years, different propeller-driven aircraft were used by the president. In 1962, President Kennedy became the first president to use a jet aircraft, a specially build Boeing 707. The Air Force One that is being used today was first delivered to President George H.W. Bush in 1990. Both of the current Air Force One planes are maintained at Andrews Air Force base in Maryland and they are due to be replaced with new planes beginning in 2017.

INDEX

A

Adams, Abigail

Adams, John

Adams, John (son)

Adams, John Quincy

Afghanistan war

Air Force One

Alaska

Alien and Sedition Acts

Anderson, Marian

Armstrong, Neil

Arthur, Chester A.

assassinations

atomic bomb

B

balance of power

bathtubs, in White House

Bell, Alexander Graham

Bill of Rights

bin Laden, Osama

Booth, John Wilkes

Brown, John

Buchanan, James

Bush, George H.W.

Bush, George W.

C

Camp David

capital city

Capitol building

Carter, James Earl

checks and balances

China-U.S. relations

Chinese Exclusion Act

civil rights

Civil War

Cleveland, Stephen Grover

Clinton, Hillary Rodham

Clinton, William J.

Cold War

Compromise of 1850

Confederate States of America

Congress

Constitution

Constitutional Convention

Coolidge, Calvin

Coolidge, Grace

Cuban missile crisis

D

Davis, Jefferson

Declaration of Independence

Dred Scott Decision

duties, of President

E

economic stimulus

Edison, Thomas

Eisenhower, Dwight D.

election process

Emancipation Proclamation

energy crisis

Executive Branch

F

Fillmore, Millard

First Ladies
See also specific names

Ford, Betty

Ford, Gerald R.

France, treaty with

Franklin, Benjamin

G

Garfield, James A.

Gettysburg Address

Gore, Al

governmental branches

Grant, Nellie

Grant, Ulysses S.

Great Depression

H

Hamilton, Alexander

Harding, Warren G.

Harrison, Benjamin

Harrison, William Henry

Hayes, Lucy

Hayes, Rutherford B.

health care reform

Hoover, Herbert

I

impeachments

Independence Day

Indian Removal Act

Interstate Commerce Act

Interstate Highway System

Iran hostage crisis

Iraq war

J

Jackson, Andrew

Japan, trade with

Jefferson, Thomas

job description and qualifications

Johnson, Andrew

Johnson, Lyndon B.

Judicial Branch

K

Kansas-Nebraska Act

Kennedy, Jacqueline

Kennedy, John F.

“Kitchen Cabinet”

L

laws, making

League of Nations

Lee, Robert E.

Legislative Branch

Lewis and Clark Expedition

Library of Congress

Lincoln, Abraham

Lincoln, Mary Todd

Louisiana Purchase

lunar landing

M

Madison, Dolley

Madison, James

Manifest Destiny

Marshall, Thurgood

Marshall Plan

McKinley, Ida

McKinley, William

Mexican-American War

Missouri Compromise

money, pictures on

Monroe, James

Monroe Doctrine

Mt. Rushmore

N

Nixon, Richard M.

Nobel Peace Prize

O

Obama, Barack

O.K. (term)

Oswald, Lee Harvey

P

Peace Corps

Pearl Harbor attack

Pendleton Act

Perkins, Frances

Perry, Matthew

Persian Gulf War

Pierce, Franklin

Polk, James K.

power, of President

President position

Presley, Elvis

Profiles in Courage
(Kennedy)

Prohibition

Q

qualifications, of President

R

Reagan, Ronald

Revolutionary War

Roosevelt, Eleanor

Roosevelt, Franklin D.

Roosevelt, Theodore

Rough Riders

S

slavery

Civil War

Compromise of 1850

Dred Scott Decision

Emancipation Proclamation

Kansas-Nebraska Act

Missouri Compromise

national argument over

Presidents against

Presidents for

Spanish-American War

“Star-Spangled Banner”

Stowe, Harriet Beecher

Supreme Court

T

Taft, William H.

Taylor, Zachary

terrorism

Tilden, Samuel

Tippecanoe, battle of

Truman, Harry A.

Truman Doctrine

Tyler, John

U

Uncle Tom’s Cabin
(Stowe)

United Nations

V

Van Buren, Martin

vetoes

Vice President position

Vietnam War

W

War of 1812

War on Drugs

Washington (state)

Washington, George

Washington, Martha

Watergate scandal

Weddings, in White House

White House

bathtubs in

building of

burning of

early Presidents and

electricity in

interior decorating

name of

weddings in

Wilson, Edith

Wilson, Woodrow

World War I

World War II

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