The "skinny kid with a funny name" -- as President Barack Obama
referred to himself in his 2004 Democratic National Convention
keynote address -- made history in 2008 by becoming the first
black man to be elected President of the United States. Breaking
racial barriers is nothing new for him, however. Obama has been
trying to find his place in society as an African-American
starting in elementary school and continuing through his college
years. Obama's diverse background and strong foundation of
American principles matches the melting pot appearance of the
country he hopes to lead.Barack Obama -- Barack means "blessed"
in the Central African language of Luo -- was born Aug. 4, 1961,
in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Ann Dunham and Barack Obama Sr.Obama's
father was born in the Nyanza Province, Kenya, and grew up
herding goats with his own father. In 1959, at the age of 23,
Barack Obama Sr. won a scholarship that allowed him to leave
Kenya and study economics at the University of Hawaii. It was
there that he met Ann Dun