Mediaboss Marketing

Download Low-res (296 KB) Download Hi-res (1256 KB)

Barack H. Obama is the 44th President of the United States.

His story is the American story values from the heartland, a middle-class upbringing in a strong family, hard work and education as the means of getting ahead, and the conviction that a life so blessed should be lived in service to others.

With a father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas, President Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961. He was raised with help from his grandfather, who served in Patton's army, and his grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle management at a bank.

After working his way through college with the help of scholarships and student loans, President Obama moved to Chicago, where he worked with a group of churches to help rebuild communities devastated by the closure of local steel plants.

He went on to attend law school, where he became the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. Upon graduation, he returned to Chicago to help lead a voter registration drive, teach constitutional law at the University of Chicago, and remain active in his community.

President Obama's years of public service are based around his unwavering belief in the ability to unite people around a politics of purpose. In the Illinois State Senate, he passed the first major ethics reform in 25 years, cut taxes for working families, and expanded health care for children and their parents. As a United States Senator, he reached across the aisle to pass groundbreaking lobbying reform, lock up the world's most dangerous weapons, and bring transparency to government by putting federal spending online.

He was elected the 44th President of the United States on November 4, 2008, and sworn in on January 20, 2009. He and his wife, Michelle, are the proud parents of two daughters, Malia and Sasha.

Learn more about President Obama's spouse, First Lady Michelle Obama.

Read more here:
President Barack Obama | whitehouse.gov

His visit Thursday to El Reno Federal Correctional Institution in Oklahoma reflects a President who is willing to take unprecedented steps to highlight the issues he cares about -- in this case, criminal justice reform -- during his final years in office.

Like he said during an impromptu jaunt to Starbucks last summer, it's clear that once again "the bear is loose" -- a sign that Obama is relishing the fourth quarter of his presidency that has allowed him to be less cautious and instead more freewheeling and authentic. That demeanor that has been on display multiple times in the last month, from singing "Amazing Grace" at the Charleston funeral to his decision to use the N-word during a podcast interview.

During a White house press conference on Wednesday, Obama took his critics head on, addressing criticism after criticism leveled against the Iran deal he signed off on this week, rejecting each attack on what will very likely be the capstone to his foreign policy legacy.

"I just want to make sure that we're not leaving any stones unturned here," Obama said Wednesday as he invited more questions on the Iran deal. "I really am enjoying this Iran debate."

On Wednesday he pointed out his press secretary was likely "getting a little stressed here" as he went on taking questions.

RELATED: Albright on 'historic' Iran deal: Read it

The Iran deal is the latest opportunity Obama has had to lay into his critics and make an ardent pitch on an issue he is fiercely devoted to -- in ways he has also done on race issues, gun control and even the fight against ISIS.

"You know what, I will take a question," Obama said after remarks on the latter topic, before taking two questions.

The deal now in Obama's hands is the result of a nearly two-year negotiations haul and an effort to engage Iran that has spanned his entire presidency -- and he can finally play it up in definite terms. And though the deal faces stiff opposition from Republicans -- and some Democrats -- in Congress, it's unlikely lawmakers will be able to muster the veto-proof majority needed to derail the multinational agreement.

In the process, he even laid into a veteran White House reporter who asked why he was "content with all the fanfare around this deal" given that four Americans still languish in Iranian prisons.

Original post:
Looser Barack Obama on display - CNNPolitics.com

President Barack Obama greets people outside the home where he is attending a private campaign event March 16, 2012 in Atlanta. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

ATLANTA (WXIA) -- President Barack Obama landed at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport for an Atlanta campaign swing -- right during the height of the Friday afternoon rush.

The president's motorcade moved up the Downtown Connector, forcing a rolling roadblock through the afternoon rush hour.

PHOTOS | President Obama in Atlanta

President Obama's first stop was a private reception at the Midtown home ofcampaign contributor and entrepreneur Mac Wilbourn. As the president got out of his limo, he greeted neighbors to the sounds of cheers.

"Don't push, don't push," the president said as the group crowded around him for photos across the street from Wilbourn's home.

After leaving Wilbourn's home, the president's motorcade drove to the southwest Atlanta studios of movie mogul Tyler Perry for a fundraiser and reception.

At the campaign appearance at Tyler Perry Studios, Obama cast the Republican Party as holding a "fundamentally different vision about who we are as a country" and compared his challengers unfavorably with his 2008 presidential opponent, Sen. John McCain.

"That shift that has taken place in the Republican Party we haven't seen in a very long time," he said. "In 2008, the guy I was running against, the Republican nominee, he didn't deny that climate change might be a problem, he thought it was a good idea for us to ban torture, he was on record as having supported immigration reform."

The Obama campaign's African American Leadership Council's gala featured a performance by singer Cee Lo Green. General admission tickets were $500. VIP tickets ranged from $2,500 to $10,000.

The rest is here:
President Obama campaigns in Atlanta | 11alive.com

Politics Today is CBSNews.com's inside look at the key stories driving the day in politics, written by CBS News Political Director Steve Chaggaris:

** The president meets with world leaders

** A general's report presses for more troops

** N.Y. Gov. Paterson feels the heat from the White House

(AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

He'll visit "Hudson Valley Community College where he will tour a technology classroom, visit a lab and deliver remarks on his commitment to fostering new jobs, new businesses, and new industries by laying the groundwork and the ground rules to best tap our innovative potential," an administration official tells CBS News. "His remarks will outline the Administration's strategy for innovation: investing in education, infrastructure and research; spurring productive entrepreneurship and sustaining competitive markets and achieving breakthroughs for national priorities including health care and energy."

During his speech, which is scheduled for 11:50am ET, "Obama plans to decry a U.S. economy that relies on explosive growth in some areas that mask long-term weaknesses. Instead, he plans to say, the economy has to be a consistent string of new ideas that refresh the market at a constant pace. The president fond of criticizing 'a bubble-and-burst' cycle also plans to describe a future built by skilled workers and sound investments," adds the Associated Press' Philip Elliott.

"He will point to more than $100 billion in economic stimulus dollars that Congress approved earlier this year to look for breakthroughs in areas as diverse as health, energy and information technology and to his spending priorities, which included the largest increase in basic research in history. Although deeply unpopular among conservatives, administration officials insist the spending pulled the economy back from the brink and avoided a potential economic depression."

Meantime, "The president will ... attend his first meeting of the United Nations General Assembly and then to a summit of the Group of 20 largest economic powers in Pittsburgh on Thursday and Friday," the Wall Street Journal's Jonathan Weisman reports.

"In both venues, expectations will be high for concrete action to counter Iran's nuclear program, reinvigorate Middle East peace talks, and shore up support for the war in Afghanistan. Leaders also will be looking for action to counter global warming, revive free trade and strengthen financial regulation.

Continue reading here:
Politics Today: Obama Faces Tough Choices on War - CBS News

"We don't yet have a complete strategy because it requires commitments on the part of the Iraqis," Obama said during concluding remarks at the G7 conference in Germany, citing recruitment as a key stumbling block facing the central government in Iraq.

Critics of the administration's strategy in Iraq seized upon the President's comments Monday, claiming they indicated a policy failure and referencing similar comments Obama made in August.

"What has President Obama been doing for the last 10 months?" the Republican National Committee wrote Monday. House Speaker John Boehner took the attack another step, responding to Obama with a tweet of a popular emoticon of a person shrugging ("_()_/ ") as a shorter summary of Obama's strategy.

RELATED: Rubio on Iraq: 'Nation-building' vs. help 'building their nation'

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Arizona, hammered Obama on the Senate floor Monday, saying the lack of a strategy is alarming "while ISIS goes from house to house in Ramadi with lists of names and they execute people and they kill 3-year-old children, and they burn their bodies in the streets and the atrocities in Syria continue as Bashar Assad barrel bombs innocent men, women and children."

"One can wonder, one has to wonder, whether this President just wants to wait out the next year and a half and basically do nothing to stop this genocide, bloodletting, horrible things that are happening throughout the Middle East," McCain said.

Obama said during an August press conference his administration was still devising a way to fight ISIS.

"I don't want to put the cart before the horse. We don't have a strategy yet," he said at the time.

Boosting the fighting power of Iraqi forces has proven difficult for the U.S., which is relying on local forces to beat back ISIS terrorists who have gained ground in places like Ramadi and Mosul.

After last month's ISIS siege in Ramadi, the U.S. defense secretary Ash Carter blamed a "lack of will" within Iraqi's military for the setback. Since then, local Sunni fighters and Shia militias have joined the fight.

Read more here:
Obama Iraq troops: 'No complete strategy' on ISIS fight ...