USA HISTORY

CONTEMPORARY AMERICA (1992 2013)

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

[SOURCES]
What was Barack’s job before president?

(A) ** He helped poor people for little pay

(B) He worked at a gas station

(C) ** He worked in the Illinois State Senate, then the U.S. Senate

(D) He didn’t work

EXPLANATIONS BELOW

Concept note-1: -After graduating, he became a civil rights attorney and an academic, teaching constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. Turning to elective politics, he represented the 13th district in the Illinois Senate from 1997 until 2004, when he ran for the U.S. Senate.

Concept note-2: -In the redistricting following the 2000 Census, the Democrats gained control of the Illinois Senate, and Obama became more active in his legislation, which included work in areas such as health care, labor, law enforcement, campaign finance reform, welfare, and community reinvestment.

Concept note-3: -The Illinois Senate career of Barack Obama began in 1997 after his first election in 1996 to a two-year term in the Illinois Senate representing Illinois’ 13th Legislative District in Chicago. He was re-elected in 1998 to a four-year term and re-elected again in 2002 to another four-year term.

Concept note-4: -Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich appointed Burris to replace President-elect Barack Obama as the junior senator from Illinois. The appointment was controversial, as the governor was already under investigation and there were rumors of his being paid for the appointment.

Concept note-5: -Obama signed many landmark bills into law during his first two years in office. The main reforms include: the Affordable Care Act, sometimes referred to as “the ACA” or “Obamacare", the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010.