„Wir sind der Wandel, auf den wir gewartet haben.“
— Barack Obama
nach der Aufholjagd des Super Tuesdays am 5. Februar 2008 - BarackObama.com http://www.barackobama.com/
Original engl.: "We are the change we have been waiting for."
Geburtstag: 4. August 1961
Barack Hussein Obama II [bəˈɹɑːk hʊˈseɪn oʊˈbɑːmə] ist ein US-amerikanischer Politiker und seit dem 20. Januar 2009 der 44. Präsident der Vereinigten Staaten.
Obama ist ein auf US-Verfassungsrecht spezialisierter Rechtsanwalt. Im Jahr 1992 schloss er sich der Demokratischen Partei an, für die er 1997 Mitglied im Senat von Illinois wurde. Im Anschluss gehörte er von 2005 bis 2008 als Junior Senator für diesen US-Bundesstaat dem Senat der Vereinigten Staaten an. Bei der Präsidentschaftswahl des Jahres 2008 errang er die Kandidatur seiner Partei und setzte sich dann gegen den Republikaner John McCain durch. Mit seinem Einzug in das Weiße Haus im Januar 2009 bekleidete erstmals ein Afroamerikaner das Amt des Präsidenten. Bei der Wahl des Jahres 2012 besiegte Obama seinen republikanischen Herausforderer Mitt Romney und wurde so für eine zweite Amtszeit bestätigt. Vizepräsident während seiner beiden Amtsperioden ist Joe Biden.
Am 10. Dezember 2009 erhielt er den Friedensnobelpreis.
— Barack Obama
nach der Aufholjagd des Super Tuesdays am 5. Februar 2008 - BarackObama.com http://www.barackobama.com/
Original engl.: "We are the change we have been waiting for."
— Barack Obama
in der Rede zur Ankündigung, US-Präsident werden zu wollen, am 10. Februar 2007, BarackObama.com http://www.barackobama.com/2007/02/10/remarks_of_senator_barack_obam_11.php
Original engl.: "The genius of our founders is that they designed a system of government that can be changed."
— Barack Obama
Spiegel Online
— Barack Obama
über den Irakkrieg in der Ankündigung, US-Präsident werden zu wollen, am 10. Februar 2007, BarackObama.com http://www.barackobama.com/2007/02/10/remarks_of_senator_barack_obam_11.php
Original engl.: "Most of you know I opposed this war from the start. I thought it was a tragic mistake."
— Barack Obama
In der Siegesrede der Vorwahlen von Iowa, am 3. Januar 2008, BarackObama.com http://www.barackobama.com/2008/01/03/remarks_of_senator_barack_obam_39.php
Original engl.: "We are one nation; we are one people; and our time for change has come."
— Barack Obama
Rede an der Berliner Siegessäule am 24. Juli 2008, sueddeutsche.de http://www.sueddeutsche.de/deutschland/artikel/359/187763/
"Partnership and cooperation among nations is not a choice; it is the one way, the only way, to protect our common security and advance our common humanity." - http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/24/obama.words/
— Barack Obama
als Hauptredner auf der Democratic National Convention in Boston am 27. Juli 2004, Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19751-2004Jul27.html
Original engl.: "There are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, there's not a liberal America and a conservative America; there's the United States of America."
— Barack Obama
Rede bei der Entgegennahme des Friedensnobelpreises http://blogs.usembassy.gov/amerikadienst/2009/12/10/obama-bei-seiner-auszeichnung-mit-dem-friedensnobelpreis/ am 10. Dezember 2009
"Evil does exist in the world. A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler's armies. Negotiations cannot convince al Qaeda's leaders to lay down their arms. To say that force may sometimes be necessary is not a call to cynicism – it is a recognition of history; the imperfections of man and the limits of reason." - http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2009/obama-lecture_en.html
— Barack Obama
Wahlslogan von Barack Obama
— Barack Obama
2011, Address on interventions in Libya (March 2011), Context: Much of the debate in Washington has put forward a false choice when it comes to Libya. On the one hand, some question why America should intervene at all — even in limited ways — in this distant land. They argue that there are many places in the world where innocent civilians face brutal violence at the hands of their government, and America should not be expected to police the world, particularly when we have so many pressing needs here at home.
It’s true that America cannot use our military wherever repression occurs. And given the costs and risks of intervention, we must always measure our interests against the need for action. But that cannot be an argument for never acting on behalf of what’s right. In this particular country — Libya — at this particular moment, we were faced with the prospect of violence on a horrific scale. We had a unique ability to stop that violence: an international mandate for action, a broad coalition prepared to join us, the support of Arab countries, and a plea for help from the Libyan people themselves. We also had the ability to stop Qaddafi’s forces in their tracks without putting American troops on the ground.
To brush aside America’s responsibility as a leader and — more profoundly — our responsibilities to our fellow human beings under such circumstances would have been a betrayal of who we are. Some nations may be able to turn a blind eye to atrocities in other countries. The United States of America is different. And as President, I refused to wait for the images of slaughter and mass graves before taking action.
— Barack Obama
2014, Queensland University Address (November 2014), Context: As we develop, as we focus on our econ, we cannot forget the need to lead on the global fight against climate change. [... ] Here in the Asia Pacific, nobody has more at stake when it comes to thinking about and then acting on climate change. Here, a climate that increases in temperature will mean more extreme and frequent storms, more flooding, rising seas that submerge Pacific islands. Here in Australia, it means longer droughts, more wildfires. The incredible natural glory of the Great Barrier Reef is threated. Worldwide, this past summer was the hottest on record. No nation is immune, and every nation has a responsibility to do its part. [... ] We are mindful of the great work that still has to be done on this issue. But let me say, particularly again to the young people here: Combating climate change cannot be the work of governments alone. Citizens, especially the next generation, you have to keep raising your voices, because you deserve to live your lives in a world that is cleaner and that is healthier and that is sustainable. But that is not going to happen unless you are heard. It is in the nature of things, it is in the nature of the world that those of us who start getting gray hair are a little set in our ways, that interests are entrenched -- not because people are bad people, it’s just that’s how we’ve been doing things. And we make investments, and companies start depending on certain energy sources, and change is uncomfortable and difficult. And that’s why it’s so important for the next generation to be able to step and say, no, it doesn’t have to be this way. You have the power to imagine a new future in a way that some of the older folks don’t always have.
— Barack Obama
2008, Context: The problem is, is that the way Bush has done it over the last eight years is to take out a credit card from the Bank of China in the name of our children, driving up our national debt from $5 trillion for the first 42 presidents -- #43 added $4 trillion by his lonesome, so that we now have over $9 trillion of debt that we are going to have to pay back — $30,000 for every man, woman and child. That's irresponsible. It's unpatriotic.
(July 3, 2008): Obama says adding $4 trillion to debt is unpatriotic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUPZJDBJI84