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Barack Obama's Hawaii
"You can't really understand Barack until you understand Hawaii"
- Michelle Obama
Hawaii will always be home for US President, Barack Obama. There can be no doubt that growing up in this idyllic, multicultural setting was a major influence in shaping who Obama is today. The Hawaiian word kama'aina means someone who is native born or who has lived in Hawaii for some time. When Barack Obama returns to Hawaii with his family, he comes as a kama'aina, a local who knows where to go, where to eat and what to do.
Barack Obama was born on August 4, 1961 at the Kapiolani Hospital for Women & Children in the city of Honolulu on the island of Oahu. Honolulu is home to the majority of Hawaii’s diverse population and it was here at the University of Hawaii that Barack’s father and mother, Barack Obama Sr. and Ann Dunham, met.
Raised in Hawaii until he was six, Obama spent four years in Indonesia after his mother remarried. Obama returned to Hawaii at age ten to attend the prestigious Punahou School, where Steve Case, co-founder of AOL, and golf phenomenon, Michelle Wie, also attended. Far from a Presidential hopeful, Obama dreamed of becoming a pro basketball player, playing on the State championship basketball team.
Obama lived with his maternal grandfather and grandmother, Stanley and Madelyn Dunham, a few blocks from school in the neighborhood of Makiki, just ten minutes away from Waikiki. He spent his youth enjoying picnics at the scenic Puu Ualakaa State Park near his home and Kapiolani Park in Waikiki as well as body surfing at Sandy Beach on the eastern tip of Oahu.
Obama continued on to Columbia and Harvard Law but made frequent visits back to see his ohana, or family, in Hawaii. His mother, who earned a Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of Hawaii, died of cancer in 1995. More recently, Obama’s grandmother “Toot,” short for tutu (Hawaiian for grandmother), passed away in Hawaii just one day before Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States.
Beyond Hawaii’s natural beauty, the islands are a place of incredible diversity. Dating back to plantation days, Hawaii has been home to a multicultural mix of people. It is this culture of acceptance and aloha that has had a profound affect on Barack Obama and will continue to influence him in the future.
On 9 October 2009, Barack Obama was announced as recipient of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples".
"Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future," the Norwegian selection committee said .
"His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population" .
“What’s best in me, and what’s best in my message, is consistent with the tradition of Hawaii.”
- 44th President of the United State of America and Winner of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, Barack Obama
Click here for a list of some other famous Hawaiians - past and present.
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Hawaiian Island Information
You can still buy ice-cream at the Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream store on South King Street in Honolulu where Barack Obama used to work!
Great Value Hawaii in 2010!If we find cheaper prices on your travel dates we'll pass the savings on to you!
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