Everyone knows Barack Obama, the first black president of the United States, but there's also a Barack Obama Snr. Let's take you back to the past and tell you a few things you may know about his father, Barack Obama Sr.
Barack Obama Sr: 6 things you didn't know about Barack Obama's father
- He earned a scholarship in 1959 and became the first African student at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
- Barack Obama Sr met president Barack Obama's mother at a Russian language class at the University of Hawaii in 1960. At the time he was still the first and only African student at the university.
- When he arrived in Hawaii he wanted to fit in. So he changed his name to "Barry", to help him blend in. However, he was proud enough of his real name that after he and Ann Dunham married in 1961, they named their son Barack Hussein Obama II.
- Barack Sr. only visited his son once, in 1971, when Barack Jr. was 10 years old. While Barack Jr. and his mother were in Seattle, Barack Sr. finished his undergraduate studies. He went on to attend graduate school at Harvard on the east coast.
- He had to leave Harvard University before completing his PhD in economics. The school claimed to be concerned about his personal life and finances.
- Harvard asked the Immigration and Naturalization Service to delay a request by Barack Hussein Obama Sr. to extend his stay in the U.S. until they could decide what action to take in order to get rid of him.
- In 1982, he was driving home when he rammed his white pickup truck into a tree. He died instantly at the age of forty-six.
A few books have been written about the Obama family, including one by the former president himself.
Read also: Michelle Obama talks about love, marriage and more in her new book
New York Times, Politico
