Barack Obama Sr.

18 Stories

Letters From My Father: Writing of Obama Sr. Found

Documents, unread by the president, tell the tale of a deeply complicated man

(Newser) - On this Father's Day, the New York Times takes a look at one of the more notable absentee fathers in modern American history vis a vis a box of his writings found a few years ago in Harlem. "The papers are rich; they tell a fascinating, traditional, self-made...

Obama's Dad Told Feds Baby Would Be Adopted Out

His father told immigrations officials he'd be given up at birth

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s father once told immigration officials that he and Ann Dunham were planning to give their then-unborn child up for adoption, writes Sally Jacobs for the Boston Globe . The elder Obama had been under scrutiny from federal immigration officials, who feared that he had another wife in Kenya....

Did Racism Get Obama's Father Booted From US?

A close reading of his immigration file suggests so, writes Andrew Rice

(Newser) - Why did Barack Obama leave the United States, and his young son, returning just once to visit the future president? The Immigration and Naturalization Service file on the elder Obama , obtained by the Arizona Independent through a FOIA request, sheds some light on the mystery. On Capital New York , Andrew...

Was Obama's Dad Murdered?
 Was Obama's 
 Dad Murdered? 
Oct 21, 2010 8:15 AM CDT

Was Obama's Dad Murdered?

Family members question 'car accident' story

(Newser) - The official story is that President Obama’s father died after crashing his car into a tree—but Obama’s family in Kenya fears foul play had a hand in his death, according to a book Peter Firstbrook is working on about the Obamas. Though Barack Sr.’s car...

Obama's Dad Was No 'Radical'
 Obama's Dad Was No 'Radical' 
OPINION
Oct 15, 2010 11:04 AM CDT

Obama's Dad Was No 'Radical'

'Anti-colonialist' accusations misunderstand father and son

(Newser) - Those who suggest Barack Obama is a “rabid anti-colonialist” based on impressions of his father are way off the mark about both father and son, writes Bruce L.R. Smith in the Washington Post . Dinesh D’Souza recently argued that “the president inherited political radicalism from his father....

White House Bashes Forbes for 'Kenyan' Article

'Did they not fact-check this at all?'

(Newser) - The White House lashed out at Forbes yesterday over a recent cover story accusing Obama of inheriting the "cause of anti-colonialism" from his Kenyan father. Most critics have attacked writer Dinesh D'Souza or Newt Gingrich, who parroted the ideas in a recent interview. But Robert Gibbs took aim at...

For Census Purposes, Obama's African-American

In response to question about race, president checks one box

(Newser) - When he filled out his census form yesterday, President Obama identified himself as African-American. The son of a black Kenyan and a white Kansan, Obama had the option to check more than one box. He didn't hesitate before choosing "Black, African Am., or Negro," White House press secretary...

Dems Roll Out Brown Clip Suggesting Obama Mom Unwed

Mass. Senate candidate compared Obama's mother to Bristol Palin

(Newser) - Frantic Democrats are circulating a 2008 interview in which Scott Brown insinuated that Barack Obama was born out of wedlock. While discussing Bristol Palin's pregnancy during the Republican convention, Brown drew a parallel to Obama's mother, who was 18 when he was born. When another interviewee on the program noted...

Inside Obama's Extended Family

Half-siblings, step-family of president are famous now

(Newser) - New York takes a look at President Obama’s far-flung—and now famous—family, complete with a handy PDF diagram and nicknames to help you remember who is who. George, the youngest half-brother, is arguably the (second) most famous, thanks to a minor drug arrest followed by a memoir...

Obama's Half Bro Says Dad Beat Him, Mom
Obama's Half Bro Says Dad Beat Him, Mom
Interview
Nov 4, 2009 1:24 PM CST

Obama's Half Bro Says Dad Beat Him, Mom

Autobiographical novel details abuse, doesn't mention president

(Newser) - For Mark Ndesandjo, Barack Obama is something of a monster. Not the president, but their father, Barack Obama Sr. Ndesandjo, full name Mark Odoth Obama Ndesandjo, has just released an autobiographical novel depicting the Obama patriarch as a brilliant-but-violent drunk who beat him and his Jewish-American mother, and while some...

G8 Pledges $20B for Farmers in Poor Countries

In pushing for funds, Obama cites father's experience

(Newser) - On the last day of a G8 summit stymied on climate change and trade, leaders have pledged $20 billion to farms in poor countries in the fight hunger, Reuters reports. Some $3.5 billion will come from the US, which wants to focus on farm aid instead of food aid....

Obama: Absent Dad Taught Me Value of Fatherhood

President's Father's Day essay urges father to 'step up' and take responsibility

(Newser) - President Obama came to realize the value of fatherhood through its absence in his own life as a boy, he writes in an essay published in Parade for Father's Day. "The hole a man leaves when he abandons his responsibility to his children is one that no government can...

Obama Half-Bro Clinches Book Deal

Will write about journey from life of crime to life of advocacy

(Newser) - President Obama’s half-brother will publish a memoir next year, in a book deal one official says is worth six figures, the AP reports. George Obama, 27, lives in Kenya and did not grow up with the president, but they share a passion for community organizing—an area George embraced...

Obama's Kenyan Clan Adjusts to Fame
Obama's Kenyan Clan Adjusts to Fame
Nov 22, 2008 6:27 AM CST

Obama's Kenyan Clan Adjusts to Fame

Media, security forces, and opportunists descend on Kenyan village

(Newser) - The election of Barack Obama has changed the lives of his Kenyan relatives forever, the Los Angeles Times reports. Roughly 400 people in western Kenya can claim kinship to the president-elect, and the clan is attracting huge amounts of attention from the world's media and from fellow Kenyans. Their village...

Obama 'Auntie' Lives in Boston Public Housing

Zeituni Onyango trying to stay out of campaign spotlight

(Newser) - Across town from Barack Obama’s Ivy League alma mater, his “Auntie Zeituni” has been living in a public-housing apartment decorated with photos of the Democrat. Zeituni Onyango—a tall, feisty woman Obama writes about meeting in Kenya—works for a stipend as a resident health advocate but made...

Obama Is a Son of Hawaii, but a Man of Chicago

Island looms large among the forces that shaped him

(Newser) - Hawaii and Chicago shaped the Barack Obama we know today in very different ways, David Maranis writes in a detailed look at the candidate's formative years in the Washington Post. Hawaii, multiracial but with its own social stratification, helped form the young Obama's outlook on life, but he found himself...

Obama Brother Surfaces in Britain
Obama Brother Surfaces
in Britain
Jul 26, 2008 10:53 AM CDT

Obama Brother Surfaces in Britain

Kenyan Bernard 'so proud' of candidate

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s Kenyan half-brother Bernard has emerged in England after a British tabloid tracked him down. Bernard Obama told the Sun he was “proud of my brother” and said he was sure Barack would win the White House. “He will be a breath of fresh air for...

Idealism Met Different End for Obama Sr.

Kenya's graft drove Dem's father to drink, untimely death at 46

(Newser) - Like his candidate son, Barack Obama Sr. was charismatic, eloquent and idealistic, those who knew him say—so idealistic he was devastated by the corruption he saw in his native Kenya. The Harvard grad was so disillusioned upon his return to Africa, the Los Angeles Times reports, he turned to...

18 Stories