Biography

Barack Hussein Obama was born on August 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii. His
mother, Ann Dunham, grew up in Wichita, Kansas, where her father worked on oil
rigs during the Great Depression. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor,
Dunham's father, Stanley, enlisted in the service and marched across Europe in
Patton's army. Dunham's mother, Madelyn, went to work on a bomber assembly
line. After the war, the couple studied on the G.I. Bill, bought a house through the
Federal Housing Program and, after several moves, landed in Hawaii.
Barack Obama's father, Barack Obama Sr., was born of Luo ethnicity in Nyanza
Province, Kenya. Obama Sr. grew up herding goats in Africa, eventually earning a
scholarship that allowed him to leave Kenya and pursue his dreams of college in
Hawaii. While studying at the University of Hawaii in Manoa, Obama Sr. met fellow
student Ann Dunham, and they married on February 2, 1961. Barack was born six
months later.
Obama did not have a relationship with his father as a child. When his son was still
an infant, Obama Sr. relocated to Massachusetts to attend Harvard University,
pursuing a Ph.D. Barack's parents officially separated several months later and
ultimately divorced in March 1964, when their son was 2. In 1965, Obama Sr.
returned to Kenya.
Concerned for his education, Obama's mother sent him back to Hawaii to live with
her parents, Stanley and Madelyn Dunham, and to attend Hawaii's prestigious
Punahou School from fifth grade through graduation from high school. While Obama
was in school, she divorced Soetoro, returned to Hawaii to study cultural
anthropology at the university, and then went back to Indonesia to do field
research. Living with his grandparents, Obama was a good but not outstanding
student at Punahou, played varsity basketball and, as he later admitted, "dabbled in
drugs and alcohol," including marijuana and cocaine. As for religion, Obama later
wrote, because his parents and grandparents were nonbelievers, "I was not raised in
a religious household."
Obama's mother, who "to the end of her life [in 1995] would proudly proclaim
herself an unreconstructed liberal," deeply admired the civil rights movement of the
1950s and 1960s and taught her son, he later wrote, that "To be black was to be the
beneficiary of a great inheritance, a special destiny, glorious burdens that only we
were strong enough to bear." But, as culturally diverse as Hawaii was, its African
American population was miniscule. With no father or other family members to
serve as role models (his relationship with his white grandfather was difficult),
Obama later reflected, "I was trying to raise myself to be a black man in America,
and beyond the given of my appearance, no one around me seemed to know
exactly what that meant."
Obama left Hawaii for college, enrolling first at Occidental College in Los Angeles for
his freshman and sophomore years, and then at Columbia University in New York
City. He read deeply and widely about political and international affairs, graduating
from Columbia with a political science major in 1983. After spending an additional

year in New York as a researcher with Business International Group, a global

business consulting firm, Obama accepted an offer to work as a community
organizer in Chicago's largely poor and black South Side. As biographer David
Mendell notes in his 2007 book Obama: From Promise to Power, the job gave Obama
"his first deep immersion into the African American community he had longed to
both understand and belong to."
Obama's main assignment as an organizer was to launch the church-funded
Developing Communities Project and, in particular, to organize residents of Altgeld
Gardens to pressure Chicago's city hall to improve conditions in the poorly
maintained public housing project. His efforts met with some success, but he
concluded that, faced with a complex city bureaucracy, "I just can't get things done
here without a law degree." In 1988, Obama enrolled at Harvard Law School, where
he excelled as a student, graduating magna cum laude and winning election as
president of the prestigious Harvard Law Review for the academic year 1990-1991.
Although Obama was a liberal, he won the election by persuading the journal's
outnumbered conservative staffers that he would treat their views fairly, which he is
widely acknowledged to have done. As the first African American president in the
long history of the law review, Obama drew widespread media attention and a
contract from Random House to write a book about race relations. The book,
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance (1995), turned out to be
mostly a personal memoir, focusing in particular on his struggle to come to terms
with his identity as a black man raised by whites in the absence of his African father.
During a summer internship at Chicago's Sidley and Austin law firm after his first
year at Harvard, Obama met Michelle Robinson, a South Side native and Princeton
University and Harvard Law School graduate who supervised his work at the firm.
He wooed her ardently and, after a four-year courtship, they married in 1992. The
Obamas settled in Chicago's racially integrated, middle-class Hyde Park
neighborhood, where their first daughter, Malia Ann, was born in 1998 and their
second daughter, Natasha (called Sasha), was born in 2001.
After directing Illinois Project Vote, a voter registration drive aimed at increasing
black turnout in the 1992 election, Obama accepted positions as an attorney with
the civil rights law firm of Miner, Barnhill and Galland and as a lecturer at the
University of Chicago Law School. He launched his first campaign for political office
in 1996 after his district's state senator, Alice Palmer, decided to run for Congress.
With Palmer's support, Obama announced his candidacy to replace her in the Illinois
legislature. When Palmer's congressional campaign faltered, she decided to run for
reelection instead. But Obama refused to withdraw from the race, successfully
challenged the validity of Palmer's voter petitions, and was easily elected after her
name was kept off the ballot.

Education:

While living with his grandparents, Obama enrolled in the esteemed Punahou
Academy, excelling in basketball and graduating with academic honors in 1979. As
one of only three black students at the school, Obama became conscious of racism
and what it meant to be African-American. He later described how he struggled to
reconcile social perceptions of his multiracial heritage with his own sense of self: "I
began to notice there was nobody like me in the Sears, Roebuck Christmas
catalog ... and that Santa was a white man," he said. "I went to the bathroom and
stood in front of the mirror with all my senses and limbs seemingly intact, looking
the way I had always looked, and wondered if something was wrong with me."
Obama also struggled with the absence of his father, who he saw only once more
after his parents divorced, when Obama Sr. visited Hawaii for a short time in 1971.
"[My father] had left paradise, and nothing that my mother or grandparents told me
could obviate that single, unassailable fact," he later reflected. "They couldn't
describe what it might have been like had he stayed."

Ten years later, in 1981, tragedy struck Obama Sr. He was involved in a serious car
accident, losing both of his legs as a result. Confined to a wheelchair, he also lost
his job. In 1982, Obama Sr. was involved in yet another car accident while traveling
in Nairobi. This time, however, the crash was fatal. Obama Sr. died on November 24,
1982, when Barack was 21 years old. "At the time of his death, my father remained
a myth to me," Obama later said, "both more and less than a man."
After high school, Obama studied at Occidental College in Los Angeles for two years.
He then transferred to Columbia University in New York, graduating in 1983 with a
degree in political science. After working in the business sector for two years,
Obama moved to Chicago in 1985. There, he worked on the South Side as a
community organizer for low-income residents in the Roseland and the Altgeld
Gardens communities.

Law Career
It was during this time that Barack Obama, who said he "was not raised in a
religious household," joined the Trinity United Church of Christ. He also visited
relatives in Kenya, which included an emotional visit to the graves of his biological
father and paternal grandfather. "For a long time I sat between the two graves and
wept," Obama said. "I saw that my life in Americathe black life, the white life, the
sense of abandonment I felt as a boy, the frustration and hope I'd witnessed in
Chicagoall of it was connected with this small plot of earth an ocean away."
Obama returned from Kenya with a sense of renewal, entering Harvard Law School
in 1988. The next year, he met Michelle Robinson, an associate at the Chicago law
firm of Sidley Austin. She was assigned to be Obama's adviser during a summer
internship at the firm, and not long after, the couple began dating. Their first kiss
took place outside of a Chicago shopping centerwhere a plaque featuring a photo

of the couple kissing was installed more than two decades later, in August 2012. In
February 1990, Obama was elected the first African-American editor of the Harvard
Law Review. He graduated from Harvard, magna cum laude, in 1991.
After law school, Obama returned to Chicago to practice as a civil rights lawyer,
joining the firm of Miner, Barnhill & Galland. He also taught part-time at the
University of Chicago Law School (1992-2004)first as a lecturer and then as a
professorand helped organize voter registration drives during Bill Clinton's 1992
presidential campaign. On October 3, 1992, he and Michelle were married. They
moved to Kenwood, on Chicago's South Side, and welcomed two daughters several
years later: Malia (born 1998) and Sasha (born 2001).

Entry into Illinois Politics

Obama published an autobiography, Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and
Inheritance, in 1995. The work received high praise from literary figures like Toni
Morrison and has since been printed in 10 languages, including Chinese, Swedish
and Hebrew. The book had a second printing in 2004, and was adapted for a
children's version. The 2006 audiobook version of Dreams, narrated by Obama,
received a Grammy Award (best spoken word album).
Obama's advocacy work led him to run for a seat in the Illinois State Senate. He ran
as a Democrat, and won election in 1996. During these years, Obama worked with
both Democrats and Republicans to draft legislation on ethics, and expand health
care services and early childhood education programs for the poor. He also created
a state earned-income tax credit for the working poor. Obama became chairman of
the Illinois Senate's Health and Human Services Committee as well, and after a
number of inmates on death row were found innocent, he worked with law
enforcement officials to require the videotaping of interrogations and confessions in
all capital cases.
In 2000, Obama made an unsuccessful Democratic primary run for the U.S. House
of Representatives seat held by four-term incumbent candidate Bobby Rush.
Undeterred, he created a campaign committee in 2002, and began raising funds to
run for a seat in the U.S. Senate in 2004. With the help of political consultant David
Axelrod, Obama began assessing his prospects of a Senate win.
Following the 9/11 attacks in 2001, Obama was an early opponent of President
George W. Bush's push to go to war with Iraq. Obama was still a state senator when
he spoke against a resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq during a rally
at Chicago's Federal Plaza in October 2002. "I am not opposed to all wars. I'm
opposed to dumb wars," he said. "What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by
Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other armchair, weekend warriors in this
administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats,

irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne." Despite his protests,
the Iraq War began in 2003.

Method:
The method I have adopted to perform this assignment is to study and analyze the
life of Barack Obama the president of the United States and to apply the theories of
Alfred Adler as studied in the class.

Objective:
The objective of the research is to apply the theories of Alfred Adler on the life of
Barak Obama, the president of the United States of America and to know/ analyze
the practical implication of such theories on the life of a real person.

Procedure

Reference
Annexures

The Struggle for Perfection

Teleology:
The idea of holism, as written about by Jan Smuts, the South African philosopher
and statesman, was known to have influenced Adler greatly. Smuts posited that, in
order to understand people, we have to take them as summations rather than as
parts, as unified wholes existing within the context of their environments (both
physical and social).
To reflect this notion, Adler decided to call his approach to psychology individual
psychology, owing to the exact meaning of the word individual: un-divided. He
also generally avoided the traditional concept of personality, steering clear of
chopping it up into internal traits, structures, dynamics, conflicts, etc., and choosing
instead talk about peoples style of life (or lifestyle, as we would call it today;
the unique ways in which one handles problems and interpersonal relations).
Teleology was remarkable in the way it removed necessity from the equation; we
are not merely living life in a cause and effect manner (if X happened, then Y
must happen later) or on a set course toward an immobile goal; we have choice,
and things can change along the way as we pursue our ideals.
The Implication of this theory on Obamas life:
Obama in his biography and in his interviews has many a times clearly stated that
he adopted his path himself. He could have been one of the boy from the hood/
ghetto rather he chose to be someone who was serious and was determined.
Teleology, as said by Adler, fits completely over the life of Barack Obama.
During the course of his life and career many a times he came to a place where he
had to make a very difficult decision; a decision that required a great deal of
thinking and in some cases he had to go for a thing that might not prove beneficial
for him.
The greatest example in his life was being a black. He was always determined to
become the president of America. Something that always fascinated him. If Adler
was wrong here, Barack would have definitely stopped himself from adopting a path
towards being a presidential candidate on the basis of being black. The cause being
that he is black and the effect being he cannot live in the white house.

Fictions and fictional finalism

Adler believed that people use fictions actively in their daily lives, such as using the
absolute belief in good and evil to guide social decisions, and believing that
everything is as we see it. Adler referred to this as fictional finalism and believed
that each individual has one such dominating fiction which is central to his or her
lifestyle.
The Implication of this theory on Obamas life:

Obama had loads of fictions in his life. The biggest being the God. Then comes the
right and wrong factor which according to his peers Obama always brought the
factor of right and wrong in his decisions and actions. He would always do what is
ethically right. Thats what some people think was the driving force behind him,
becoming the president of the United States.
In addition to this, he had his father play an important part in his life. His father was
his ideal character. Who always has been his inspirational character.
Thus this theory of Adler also is very much implementable in Obamas life.

Inferiority:
Adler believed that some people become mired in their inferiority; he felt that we
are all born with a sense of inferiority (as children are, of course, smaller and both
physically and intellectually weaker than adults), which is often added to by various
psychological inferiorities later (being told we are dumb, unattractive, bad at
sports, etc.) Most children manage these inferiorities by dreaming of becoming
adults (the earliest form of striving for perfection), and by either mastering what
they are bad at or compensating by becoming especially adept at something else,
but for some children, the uphill climb toward developing self-esteem proves
insurmountable. These children develop an inferiority complex, which proves
overwhelming over time.
The Implication of this theory on Obamas life:
This ofcourse would not be true in Obamas life. If it could have been the inferiority
of being a black in addition to being from a Jew mother and a Muslim father
wouldnt have allowed him to excel in his life and make progress. Inferiority
definitely curtails a persons vision and stops him from flying with high colors and
attain positions of great success. Both which Obama attained as not only being the
president of the United States but being the first black president.
Psychological types:
Ruling Type:
The first type is the ruling type. These people are characterized early on by a
tendency to be generally aggressive and dominant over others, possessing an
intense energy that overwhelms anything or anybody who gets in their way. These
people are not always bullies or sadists, however; some turn the energy inward and
harm themselves, such as is the case with alcoholics, drug addicts, and those who
commit suicide.
The Implication of this theory on Obamas life:
Obama was always perceived to be the dominant figure amongst his friends and
peers. A person who would always be there to lead the mass and would be the
planner in any childhood mischiefs. This ability of his influenced many people in the
Democratic Party and helped him to attain a place of power amongst the party

members. Again this ability also was the prime factor which pushed him to run for
the presidential seat.
Leaning Type:
The second type is the leaning type. Individuals of this type are sensitive, and while
they may put a shell up around themselves to protect themselves, they end up
relying on others to carry them through lifes challenges. They lack energy, in
essence, and depend on the energy of others. They are also prone to phobias,
anxieties, obsessions and compulsions, general anxiety, dissociation, etc.
The Implication of this theory on Obamas life:
Obama never relied on anyone. He was a self-made man and always tend to lead
the masses rather than rely on a few people to guide him through. Though, his
marriage with Michelle brought loads of colorful times in his life but in reality that
was the fruit of his hardwood and determination.
Avoiding type:
The third type is the avoiding type. People of this type have such low energy they
recoil within themselves to conserve it, avoiding life as a whole, and other people in
particular. In extreme cases, these people develop psychosisthe end result of
entirely retreating into ones self.
The Implication of this theory on Obamas life:
Obama always had that energy that power that he exhibited which made him stand
out. This ability of his made him to gain respect amongst the party leadership. Thus,
this theory of Adler doesnt apply over Obama.
Socially useful type:
Adler also believed in a fourth type: the socially useful type. People of this type are
basically healthy individuals, possessed of adequate, but not overbearing, social
interest and energy. They are able to give to others effectively as they are not so
consumed by a sense of inferiority that they cannot look properly outside of
themselves.
The Implication of this theory on Obamas life:
This ofcourse would not be true in Obamas life. If it could have been the inferiority
of being a black in addition to being from a Jew mother and a Muslim father
wouldnt have allowed him to excel in his life and make progress. Inferiority
definitely curtails a persons vision and stops him from flying with high colors and
attain positions of great success. Both which Obama attained as not only being the
president of the United States but being the first black president.