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110-708: The Hiroshima Peace Memorial ( 広島平和記念碑 , Hiroshima Heiwa Kinenhi ) , originally the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall , and now commonly called the Genbaku Dome , Atomic Bomb Dome or A-Bomb Dome ( 原爆ドーム , Genbaku Dōmu ) , is part of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima , Japan and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. The building

220-605: A Juris Doctor magna cum laude . University of Chicago Law School In 1991, Obama accepted a two-year position as Visiting Law and Government Fellow at the University of Chicago Law School to work on his first book. He then taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School for twelve years, first as a lecturer from 1992 to 1996, and then as a senior lecturer from 1996 to 2004. From April to October 1992, Obama directed Illinois's Project Vote ,

330-697: A community organizer in Chicago . In 1988, Obama enrolled in Harvard Law School , where he was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review . He became a civil rights attorney and an academic, teaching constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. In 1996, Obama was elected to represent the 13th district in the Illinois Senate , a position he held until 2004, when he successfully ran for

440-561: A junior , where he majored in political science with a specialty in international relations and in English literature and lived off-campus on West 109th Street. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1983 and a 3.7 GPA . After graduating, Obama worked for about a year at the Business International Corporation , where he was a financial researcher and writer, then as a project coordinator for

550-514: A summer associate at the law firms of Sidley Austin in 1989 and Hopkins & Sutter in 1990. Obama's election as the first black president of the Harvard Law Review gained national media attention and led to a publishing contract and advance for a book about race relations, which evolved into a personal memoir. The manuscript was published in mid-1995 as Dreams from My Father . Obama graduated from Harvard Law in 1991 with

660-542: A voter registration campaign with ten staffers and seven hundred volunteer registrars; it achieved its goal of registering 150,000 of 400,000 unregistered African Americans in the state, leading Crain's Chicago Business to name Obama to its 1993 list of "40 under Forty" powers to be. In a 2006 interview, Obama highlighted the diversity of his extended family : "It's like a little mini-United Nations," he said. "I've got relatives who look like Bernie Mac , and I've got relatives who look like Margaret Thatcher ." Obama has

770-487: A "confirmed atheist " by the time his parents met, and his stepfather as "a man who saw religion as not particularly useful." Obama explained how, through working with black churches as a community organizer while in his twenties, he came to understand "the power of the African-American religious tradition to spur social change." In January 2008, Obama told Christianity Today : "I am a Christian, and I am

880-561: A 13-attorney law firm specializing in civil rights litigation and neighborhood economic development, where he was an associate for three years from 1993 to 1996, then of counsel from 1996 to 2004. In 1994, he was listed as one of the lawyers in Buycks-Roberson v. Citibank Fed. Sav. Bank , 94 C 4094 (N.D. Ill.). This class action lawsuit was filed in 1994 with Selma Buycks-Roberson as lead plaintiff and alleged that Citibank Federal Savings Bank had engaged in practices forbidden under

990-522: A 360 degree panorama of the destroyed Hiroshima recreated using 140,000 tiles — the number of people estimated to have died from the bomb by the end of 1945. Near the center of the park is a concrete, saddle-shaped monument that covers a cenotaph holding the names of all of the people killed by the bomb. The monument is aligned to frame the Peace Flame and the A-Bomb Dome. The Memorial Cenotaph

1100-746: A Senate amendment to the State Children's Health Insurance Program , providing one year of job protection for family members caring for soldiers with combat-related injuries. Obama held assignments on the Senate Committees for Foreign Relations , Environment and Public Works , and Veterans' Affairs through December 2006. In January 2007, he left the Environment and Public Works committee and took additional assignments with Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs . He also became Chairman of

1210-506: A basis for the values that I hold most dear." Obama has also written and talked about using alcohol , marijuana , and cocaine during his teenage years to "push questions of who I was out of my mind". Obama was also a member of the "Choom Gang" (the slang term for smoking marijuana), a self-named group of friends who spent time together and smoked marijuana. College and research jobs After graduating from high school in 1979, Obama moved to Los Angeles to attend Occidental College on

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1320-699: A community organizer from June 1985 to May 1988. He helped set up a job training program, a college preparatory tutoring program, and a tenants' rights organization in Altgeld Gardens . Obama also worked as a consultant and instructor for the Gamaliel Foundation , a community organizing institute. In mid-1988, he traveled for the first time in Europe for three weeks and then for five weeks in Kenya, where he met many of his paternal relatives for

1430-522: A decade in the minority, regained a majority. He sponsored and led unanimous, bipartisan passage of legislation to monitor racial profiling by requiring police to record the race of drivers they detained, and legislation making Illinois the first state to mandate videotaping of homicide interrogations. During his 2004 general election campaign for the U.S. Senate, police representatives credited Obama for his active engagement with police organizations in enacting death penalty reforms. Obama resigned from

1540-459: A devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ . I believe that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life." On September 27, 2010, Obama released a statement commenting on his religious views, saying: I'm a Christian by choice. My family didn't—frankly, they weren't folks who went to church every week. And my mother was one of the most spiritual people I knew, but she didn't raise me in

1650-742: A distinctive dome at the top of the building. It was completed in April 1915 and was named the Hiroshima Prefectural Commercial Exhibition (HMI). It was formally opened to the public in August that year. In 1921, the name was changed to the Hiroshima Prefectural Products Exhibition Hall , and again, in 1933, to the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall (広島県産業奨励館 Hiroshima-ken Sangyo Shourei-kan). The building

1760-579: A female. Bo died of cancer on May 8, 2021. Obama is a supporter of the Chicago White Sox , and he threw out the first pitch at the 2005 ALCS when he was still a senator. In 2009, he threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the All-Star Game while wearing a White Sox jacket. He is also primarily a Chicago Bears football fan in the NFL , but in his childhood and adolescence was a fan of

1870-562: A field speculated to include former Indiana Governor and Senator Evan Bayh and Virginia Governor Tim Kaine . At the Democratic National Convention in Denver , Colorado, Hillary Clinton called for her supporters to endorse Obama, and she and Bill Clinton gave convention speeches in his support. Obama delivered his acceptance speech at Invesco Field at Mile High stadium to a crowd of about eighty-four thousand;

1980-558: A full scholarship. In February 1981, Obama made his first public speech, calling for Occidental to participate in the disinvestment from South Africa in response to that nation's policy of apartheid . In mid-1981, Obama traveled to Indonesia to visit his mother and half-sister Maya and visited the families of college friends in Pakistan for three weeks. Later in 1981, he transferred to Columbia University in New York City as

2090-635: A half years, supplemented by English-language Calvert School homeschooling by his mother. As a result of his four years in Jakarta , he was able to speak Indonesian fluently as a child. During his time in Indonesia, Obama's stepfather taught him to be resilient and gave him "a pretty hardheaded assessment of how the world works". In 1971, Obama returned to Honolulu to live with his maternal grandparents, Madelyn and Stanley Dunham . He attended Punahou School —a private college preparatory school —with

2200-714: A half-sister with whom he was raised (Maya Soetoro-Ng) and seven other half-siblings from his Kenyan father's family, six of them living. Obama's mother was survived by her Kansas-born mother, Madelyn Dunham, until her death on November 2, 2008, two days before his election to the presidency. Obama also has roots in Ireland; he met with his Irish cousins in Moneygall in May 2011. In Dreams from My Father , Obama ties his mother's family history to possible Native American ancestors and distant relatives of Jefferson Davis , President of

2310-580: A historical witness that conveys the tragedy of suffering the first atomic bomb in human history and as a symbol that vows to faithfully seek the abolition of nuclear weapons and everlasting world peace, Genbaku Dome was added to the World Heritage List in accordance with the "Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage (World Heritage Convention)." December 7, 1996, Hiroshima City The Children's Peace Monument

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2420-513: A household income of $ 5.5   million—up from about $ 4.2   million in 2007 and $ 1.6   million in 2005—mostly from sales of his books. On his 2010 income of $ 1.7   million, he gave 14 percent to non-profit organizations, including $ 131,000 to Fisher House Foundation , a charity assisting wounded veterans' families, allowing them to reside near where the veteran is receiving medical treatments. Per his 2012 financial disclosure, Obama may be worth as much as $ 10   million. Obama

2530-405: A law that increased tax credits for low-income workers, negotiated welfare reform , and promoted increased subsidies for childcare. In 2001, as co-chairman of the bipartisan Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, Obama supported Republican Governor George Ryan 's payday loan regulations and predatory mortgage lending regulations aimed at averting home foreclosures . He was reelected to

2640-558: A small open-sided structure. Visitors are encouraged to ring the bell for world peace and the loud and melodious tolling of this bell rings out regularly throughout the Peace Park. The Peace Bell was built out in the open on September 20, 1964. The surface of the bell is a map of the world, and the "sweet spot" is an atomic symbol, designed by Masahiko Katori [1899–1988], cast by Oigo Bell Works, in Takaoka, Toyama . The inscriptions on

2750-465: A subject of controversy, with some locals wanting it torn down, while others wanted to preserve it as a memorial of the bombing and a symbol of peace. Ultimately, when the reconstruction of Hiroshima began, the skeletal remains of the building were preserved. From 1950 through 1964, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park was established around the Dome. The Hiroshima City Council adopted a resolution in 1966 on

2860-707: A third time and worked for the Kenyan government as the Senior Economic Analyst in the Ministry of Finance. He visited his son in Hawaii only once, at Christmas 1971, before he was killed in an automobile accident in 1982, when Obama was 21 years old. Recalling his early childhood, Obama said: "That my father looked nothing like the people around me—that he was black as pitch, my mother white as milk—barely registered in my mind." He described his struggles as

2970-449: A young adult to reconcile social perceptions of his multiracial heritage. In 1963, Dunham met Lolo Soetoro at the University of Hawaii ; he was an Indonesian East–West Center graduate student in geography . The couple married on Molokai on March 15, 1965. After two one-year extensions of his J-1 visa , Lolo returned to Indonesia in 1966. His wife and stepson followed sixteen months later in 1967. The family initially lived in

3080-477: Is a Protestant Christian whose religious views developed in his adult life. He wrote in The Audacity of Hope that he "was not raised in a religious household." He described his mother, raised by non-religious parents, as being detached from religion, yet "in many ways the most spiritually awakened person   ... I have ever known", and "a lonely witness for secular humanism ." He described his father as

3190-495: Is a large, grass-covered knoll that contains the cremated ashes of 70,000 unidentified victims of the bomb. Among the 400,000 people who were killed or exposed to lethal post-explosion radiation, at least 45,000 were Korean , but the number is uncertain, because the population has been neglected as the minority. Additionally, 300,000 survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki returned to Korea after liberation from Japanese colonialism . The monument, decorated with Korean national symbols,

3300-497: Is a plaque in front of the tower which has two buttons that narrate the background information in either Japanese or English. Hiroshima Flower Festival is held from the 3rd of May to the 5th during Japanese Golden Week , in the Peace Park and Peace Boulevard . Hiroshima Dreamination is held in winter. Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American lawyer and politician who served as

3410-458: Is a statue dedicated to the memory of the children who died as a result of the bombing. The statue is of a girl with outstretched arms with a folded paper crane rising above her. The statue is based on the true story of Sadako Sasaki ( 佐々木禎子 , Sasaki Sadako ) , a young girl who died from radiation from the bomb. She is known for folding over 1,000 paper cranes in response to a Japanese legend . To this day, people (mostly children) from around

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3520-621: Is intended to honour Korean victims and survivors of the atomic bomb and Japanese colonialism. The monument's inscription reads "The Monument in Memory of the Korean Victims of the A[tomic]-Bomb. In memory of the souls of His Highness Prince Yi Wu and over 20000 other souls" , while the side-inscription reads "Souls of the dead ride to heaven on the backs of turtles." Added in 2005, this monument contains ten gates covered with

3630-732: Is left-handed. In 2005, the Obama family applied the proceeds of a book deal and moved from a Hyde Park, Chicago condominium to a $ 1.6   million house (equivalent to $ 2.5   million in 2023) in neighboring Kenwood, Chicago . The purchase of an adjacent lot—and sale of part of it to Obama by the wife of developer, campaign donor and friend Tony Rezko —attracted media attention because of Rezko's subsequent indictment and conviction on political corruption charges that were unrelated to Obama. In December 2007, Money Magazine estimated Obama's net worth at $ 1.3   million (equivalent to $ 1.9   million in 2023). Their 2009 tax return showed

3740-568: Is one of the three United States senators moved directly from the U.S. Senate to the White House, the others being Warren G. Harding and John F. Kennedy . On April 4, 2011, Obama filed election papers with the Federal Election Commission and then announced his reelection campaign for 2012 in a video titled "It Begins with Us" that he posted on his website. As the incumbent president, he ran virtually unopposed in

3850-577: The 2011 military intervention in Libya to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 , contributing to the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi . Obama defeated Republican opponent Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election . In his second term, Obama took steps to combat climate change , signing the Paris Agreement , a major international climate agreement, and an executive order to limit carbon emissions . Obama also presided over

3960-750: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 , a major stimulus package to guide the economy in recovering from the Great Recession ; a partial extension of the Bush tax cuts ; legislation to reform health care ; the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act , a major financial regulation reform bill; and the end of the Iraq War . Obama also appointed Supreme Court justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan ,

4070-700: The Democratic Party presidential primaries , and on April 3, 2012, Obama secured the 2778 convention delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination. At the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina , Obama and Joe Biden were formally nominated by former President Bill Clinton as the Democratic Party candidates for president and vice president in the general election. Their main opponents were Republicans Mitt Romney ,

4180-658: The Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act, marking the first federal legislation to be enacted with Obama as its primary sponsor. In January 2007, Obama and Senator Feingold introduced a corporate jet provision to the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act , which was signed into law in September 2007. Later in 2007, Obama sponsored an amendment to

4290-867: The Equal Credit Opportunity Act and the Fair Housing Act . The case was settled out of court. From 1994 to 2002, Obama served on the boards of directors of the Woods Fund of Chicago —which in 1985 had been the first foundation to fund the Developing Communities Project—and of the Joyce Foundation . He served on the board of directors of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge from 1995 to 2002, as founding president and chairman of

4400-717: The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 , which authorized the establishment of USAspending.gov, a web search engine on federal spending. On June 3, 2008, Senator Obama—along with Senators Tom Carper , Tom Coburn , and John McCain —introduced follow-up legislation: Strengthening Transparency and Accountability in Federal Spending Act of 2008. He also cosponsored the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act . In December 2006, President Bush signed into law

4510-787: The New York Public Interest Research Group on the City College of New York campus for three months in 1985. Community organizer and Harvard Law School Two years after graduating from Columbia, Obama moved from New York to Chicago when he was hired as director of the Developing Communities Project , a faith-based community organization originally comprising eight Catholic parishes in Roseland , West Pullman , and Riverdale on Chicago's South Side . He worked there as

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4620-574: The South Side of Chicago in 2021. Historians and political scientists rank Obama among the upper tier in historical rankings of American presidents . Barack Obama was born on August 4, 1961, at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children in Honolulu , Hawaii. He is the only president born outside the contiguous 48 states . He was born to an 18-year-old American mother and a 27-year-old Kenyan father. His mother, Ann Dunham (1942–1995),

4730-524: The 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party , he was the first African-American president in U.S. history. Obama previously served as a U.S. senator representing Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and as an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004. Obama was born in Honolulu , Hawaii. He graduated from Columbia University in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and later worked as

4840-612: The A-Bomb Dome to be registered as a World Heritage Site as it was "a symbol of horror and nuclear weapons and humankind's pledge for peace." This collective petition from many citizens groups was finally given influence when the Japanese government officially recommended the dome to the World Heritage Site committee in December 1995. A marker was placed on the A-Bomb Dome on April 25, 1997, by Hiroshima City. It reads: As

4950-580: The Atomic Bomb Victims is an effort by the Japanese national government to remember and mourn the sacred sacrifice of the atomic bomb victims. It is also an expression of Japan's desire for genuine and lasting peace. The Hall contains a number of displays. On the roof, near the entrance (the museum is underground) is a clock frozen at 8:15, the time the bomb went off. The museum contains a seminar room, library, temporary exhibition area, and victims' information area. The Hall of Remembrance, contains

5060-617: The City of Hiroshima holds the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony to console the victims of the atomic bombs and to pray for the realization of lasting world peace. The ceremony is held in the morning from 8:00 AM, in front of the Memorial Cenotaph with many citizens including the families of the deceased. During the ceremony, a one-minute silence to honor the victims is observed at 8:15 AM, the time of

5170-709: The Confederate States of America during the American Civil War . He also shares distant ancestors in common with George W. Bush and Dick Cheney , among others. Obama lived with anthropologist Sheila Miyoshi Jager while he was a community organizer in Chicago in the 1980s. He proposed to her twice, but both Jager and her parents turned him down. The relationship was not made public until May 2017, several months after his presidency had ended. In June 1989, Obama met Michelle Robinson when he

5280-656: The Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. Its inclusion into the UNESCO list was based on its survival from a destructive force (atomic bomb), the first use of nuclear weapons on a human population, and its representation as a symbol of peace. Delegates to the World Heritage Committee from China and the United States had reservations regarding the confirmation of

5390-500: The Defense Authorization Act to add safeguards for personality-disorder military discharges. This amendment passed the full Senate in the spring of 2008. He sponsored the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act supporting divestment of state pension funds from Iran's oil and gas industry, which was never enacted but later incorporated in the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 ; and co-sponsored legislation to reduce risks of nuclear terrorism. Obama also sponsored

5500-610: The Fuel Hall. In 1957, the Hiroshima East Reconstruction Office, which became the core of the city's reconstruction program, was established there. At the time of the bombing, 37 people were working there. All of them perished, with the exception of Eizo Nomura, who had gone down to the basement at that moment and survived the bombing. Nomura, who was then 47, was a worker for the Hiroshima Prefectural Fuel Rationing Union. Nomura managed to escape through rising fire and vigorous smoke. However, after his survival, he struggled with high fever, diarrhea, bleeding gums, and other symptoms caused by

5610-449: The Illinois Senate in 1998, defeating Republican Yesse Yehudah in the general election, and was re-elected again in 2002. In 2000, he lost a Democratic primary race for Illinois's 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives to four-term incumbent Bobby Rush by a margin of two to one. In January 2003, Obama became chairman of the Illinois Senate's Health and Human Services Committee when Democrats, after

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5720-471: The Illinois Senate in November 2004 following his election to the U.S. Senate. In May 2002, Obama commissioned a poll to assess his prospects in a 2004 U.S. Senate race. He created a campaign committee, began raising funds, and lined up political media consultant David Axelrod by August 2002. Obama formally announced his candidacy in January 2003. Obama was an early opponent of the George W. Bush administration's 2003 invasion of Iraq . On October 2, 2002,

5830-574: The Menteng Dalam neighborhood in the Tebet district of South Jakarta . From 1970, they lived in a wealthier neighborhood in the Menteng district of Central Jakarta . At the age of six, Obama and his mother had moved to Indonesia to join his stepfather. From age six to ten, he was registered in school as "Barry" and attended local Indonesian-language schools: Sekolah Dasar Katolik Santo Fransiskus Asisi (St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Elementary School) for two years and Sekolah Dasar Negeri Menteng 01 (State Elementary School Menteng 01) for one and

5940-414: The Obama family has attended several Protestant churches, including Shiloh Baptist Church and St. John's Episcopal Church , as well as Evergreen Chapel at Camp David , but the members of the family do not attend church on a regular basis. In 2016, Obama said that he gets inspiration from a few items that remind him "of all the different people I've met along the way", adding: "I carry these around all

6050-469: The Pacific War. In Hiroshima, there were 8,387 students who were mobilized; 6,907 of which were killed in the Atomic Bombing. The memorial is twelve meters tall, five stories, and is decorated with the Goddess of Peace as well as eight doves which are placed around the tower. To the sides of the tower are plaques which depict the work that the students did, such as factory work, female students sewing, or showing students working to increase food production. There

6160-405: The Peace Memorial Park is not only to memorialize the victims of the bombing, but also to perpetuate the memory of nuclear horrors and advocate world peace . The A-Bomb Dome is the skeletal ruins of the former Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall. It is the building closest to the hypocenter of the nuclear bomb that remained at least partially standing. It was left as it was after

6270-433: The Pittsburgh Steelers and rooted for them ahead of their victory in Super Bowl XLIII 12 days after he took office as president. In 2011, Obama invited the 1985 Chicago Bears to the White House; the team had not visited the White House after their Super Bowl win in 1986 due to the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster . He plays basketball , a sport he participated in as a member of his high school's varsity team, and he

6380-498: The Senate's subcommittee on European Affairs . As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Obama made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa. He met with Mahmoud Abbas before Abbas became President of the Palestinian National Authority and gave a speech at the University of Nairobi in which he condemned corruption within the Kenyan government. Obama resigned his Senate seat on November 16, 2008, to focus on his transition period for

6490-443: The U.S. Senate . In the 2008 presidential election , after a close primary campaign against Hillary Clinton , he was nominated by the Democratic Party for president. Obama selected Joe Biden as his running mate and defeated Republican nominee John McCain . Obama was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize , a decision that drew both criticism and praise. His first-term actions addressed the 2007–2008 financial crisis and included

6600-564: The aid of a scholarship from fifth grade until he graduated from high school in 1979. In high school, Obama continued to use the nickname "Barry" which he kept until making a visit to Kenya in 1980. Obama lived with his mother and half-sister, Maya Soetoro , in Hawaii for three years from 1972 to 1975 while his mother was a graduate student in anthropology at the University of Hawaii. Obama chose to stay in Hawaii when his mother and half-sister returned to Indonesia in 1975, so his mother could begin anthropology field work. His mother spent most of

6710-402: The atomic bomb's explosion. In the evening of the same day, a Lantern ceremony is held to send off the spirits of the victims on lanterns with peace messages floating on the waters of the Motoyasu River. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum is the primary museum in the park dedicated to educating visitors about the bomb. The Museum has exhibits and information covering the buildup to war,

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6820-446: The bell are in Greek (γνῶθι σεαυτόν), Japanese , and Sanskrit . It is translated as "Know yourself." The Greek embassy donated the bell to the Peace Park and picked out the most appropriate ancient Greek philosophical quote of Socrates . The Sanskrit text is a quotation from Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra which was attested by the Indian ambassador. The Japanese text was provided by a university lecturer. The Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound

6930-560: The blast occurred 150 m (490 ft) horizontally and 600 m (2,000 ft) vertically from the Dome. Everyone inside the building was killed instantly. Because the explosion was almost directly overhead, the building was able to retain its shape. The building's vertical columns were able to resist the nearly vertical downward force of the blast, and parts of the concrete and brick outer walls remained intact. The building's durability can also be attributed to its earthquake-resistant design; it has held up to earthquakes before and since

7040-484: The board of directors from 1995 to 1999. Obama's law license became inactive in 2007. Obama was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1996, succeeding Democratic State Senator Alice Palmer from Illinois's 13th District , which, at that time, spanned Chicago South Side neighborhoods from Hyde Park–Kenwood south to South Shore and west to Chicago Lawn . Once elected, Obama gained bipartisan support for legislation that reformed ethics and health care laws. He sponsored

7150-417: The bomb exploded, the roof was crushed, the interior destroyed, and everything consumable burned except in the basement. Eventually, 36 people in the building died of the bombing; 47-year-old Eizo Nomura survived in the basement, which had a concrete roof through which radiation had a more difficult time penetrating. He survived into his 80s. The former Nakajima District, which today is Peace Memorial Park,

7260-507: The bombing in memory of the casualties. The A-Bomb Dome, to which a sense of sacredness and transcendence has been attributed, is situated in a distant ceremonial view that is visible from the Peace Memorial Park's central cenotaph . It is an officially designated site of memory for the nation's and humanity's collectively shared heritage of catastrophe. The A-Bomb Dome was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List on December 7, 1996. Many A-Bomb survivors and Hiroshima citizens were pushing for

7370-418: The bombing on 6 August 1945. Changes to the ruins, meant to ensure the stability of the structure, have been minimal. A metal frame was installed inside to give the ruin more stability. In international politics, Barack Obama became the first sitting U.S. President to visit the Memorial on May 27, 2016. As an act of reciprocity, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the USS Arizona Memorial , Honolulu

7480-407: The bombing. Due to its stone and steel structure, the building was one of the few structures left standing near the bomb's hypocenter . Soon commonly called the Genbaku ("A-Bomb") Dome, due to the exposed metal dome framework at its apex, the structure was scheduled to be demolished with the rest of the ruins, but the majority of the building was intact, delaying the demolition plans. The Dome became

7590-412: The building was purchased by the Prefectural Fuel Rationing Union. At 8:15 a.m. on August 6, 1945, the explosion of the atomic bomb about 600 meters above the hypocenter destroyed the building's concrete roof. The interior was also badly damaged and gutted by ensuing fires, and everyone inside was killed except Nomura, who miraculously survived. The building was restored soon after the war and used as

7700-564: The church. So I came to my Christian faith later in life, and it was because the precepts of Jesus Christ spoke to me in terms of the kind of life that I would want to lead—being my brothers' and sisters' keeper, treating others as they would treat me . Obama met Trinity United Church of Christ pastor Jeremiah Wright in October 1987 and became a member of Trinity in 1992. During Obama's first presidential campaign in May 2008, he resigned from Trinity after some of Wright's statements were criticized . Since moving to Washington, D.C., in 2009,

7810-426: The city decided to demolish the building, but the plan was put aside. One of the reasons was because of the announcement of the A-Bomb Dome as a World Heritage site. Right now, the first floor of the Rest House is used as a tourist information office and a souvenir shop, the second/third floors as offices, and the basement is preserved nearly as it was at the time of the bombing. Every year on 6 August, "A-Bomb Day,"

7920-489: The day President Bush and Congress agreed on the joint resolution authorizing the Iraq War , Obama addressed the first high-profile Chicago anti-Iraq War rally , and spoke out against the war. He addressed another anti-war rally in March 2003 and told the crowd "it's not too late" to stop the war. Decisions by Republican incumbent Peter Fitzgerald and his Democratic predecessor Carol Moseley Braun not to participate in

8030-398: The election resulted in wide-open Democratic and Republican primary contests involving 15 candidates. In the March 2004 primary election, Obama won in an unexpected landslide—which overnight made him a rising star within the national Democratic Party , started speculation about a presidential future, and led to the reissue of his memoir, Dreams from My Father . In July 2004, Obama delivered

8140-467: The error" or as "[they] shall not repeat the error". This was intended to memorialize the victims of Hiroshima without politicizing the issue, taking advantage of the fact that polite Japanese speech typically demands lexical ambiguity in the first place. The epitaph was written by Tadayoshi Saika, Professor of English Literature at Hiroshima University. He also provided the English translation, "Let all

8250-424: The error"—and they criticize the epitaph as a self-accusation by the Japanese empire. In July 2005, the cenotaph was vandalized by a Japanese man affiliated with the Japanese right. The Peace Flame is another monument to the victims of the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima, but it has an additional symbolic purpose. The flame has burned continuously since it was lit in 1964, and will remain lit until all nuclear bombs on

8360-467: The evil of war. It expresses the spirit of Hiroshima — enduring grief, transcending hatred, pursuing harmony and prosperity for all, and yearning for genuine, lasting world peace. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the ambiguity of the phrase has the potential to offend; some right-wing circles in Japan have interpreted the words as an admission of guilt—implicitly reading it as "we (the Japanese people) shall not repeat

8470-642: The first sitting U.S. president to publicly support same-sex marriage . Obama left office in 2017 with high approval ratings both within the United States and among foreign advisories. He continues to reside in Washington D.C. and remains politically active, campaigning for candidates in various American elections, including Biden's successful presidential bid in 2020 . Outside of politics, Obama has published three books : Dreams from My Father (1995) , The Audacity of Hope (2006), and A Promised Land (2020). His presidential library began construction in

8580-500: The first time. Despite being offered a full scholarship to Northwestern University School of Law , Obama enrolled at Harvard Law School in the fall of 1988, living in nearby Somerville, Massachusetts . He was selected as an editor of the Harvard Law Review at the end of his first year, president of the journal in his second year, and research assistant to the constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe while at Harvard. During his summers, he returned to Chicago, where he worked as

8690-570: The former being the first Hispanic American on the Supreme Court. He ordered Operation Neptune Spear , the raid that killed Osama bin Laden , who was responsible for the September 11 attacks . Obama downplayed Bush's counterinsurgency model, expanding air strikes and making extensive use of special forces, while encouraging greater reliance on host-government militaries. He also ordered

8800-583: The former governor of Massachusetts, and Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. On November 6, 2012, Obama won 332 electoral votes, exceeding the 270 required for him to be reelected as president. With 51.1 percent of the popular vote, Obama became the first Democratic president since Franklin D. Roosevelt to win the majority of the popular vote twice. Obama addressed supporters and volunteers at Chicago's McCormick Place after his reelection and said: "Tonight you voted for action, not politics as usual. You elected us to focus on your jobs, not ours. And in

8910-777: The health care system . Numerous candidates entered the Democratic Party presidential primaries . The field narrowed to Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton after early contests, with the race remaining close throughout the primary process, but Obama gained a steady lead in pledged delegates due to better long-range planning, superior fundraising, dominant organizing in caucus states, and better exploitation of delegate allocation rules. On June 2, 2008, Obama had received enough votes to clinch his nomination. After an initial hesitation to concede, on June 7, Clinton ended her campaign and endorsed Obama. On August 23, 2008, Obama announced his selection of Delaware Senator Joe Biden as his vice presidential running mate. Obama selected Biden from

9020-658: The implementation of the Affordable Care Act and other legislation passed in his first term. He negotiated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action , a nuclear agreement with Iran, and normalized relations with Cuba . The number of American soldiers in Afghanistan decreased during Obama's second term, though U.S. soldiers remained in the country throughout the remainder of his presidency. Obama promoted inclusion for LGBT Americans , becoming

9130-628: The keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention , seen by nine million viewers. His speech was well received and elevated his status within the Democratic Party. Obama's expected opponent in the general election, Republican primary winner Jack Ryan , withdrew from the race in June 2004. Six weeks later, Alan Keyes accepted the Republican nomination to replace Ryan. In the November 2004 general election , Obama won with 70 percent of

9240-475: The memorial as a World Heritage Site. China cited the possibility that the monument could be used to downplay the fact that the victim countries of Japan's aggression suffered the greatest losses of life during the war, and the United States stated that having a memorial to a war site would omit the necessary historical context. The United States dissociated itself from the decision. Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park The location of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park

9350-461: The next two decades in Indonesia, divorcing Lolo Soetoro in 1980 and earning a PhD degree in 1992, before dying in 1995 in Hawaii following unsuccessful treatment for ovarian and uterine cancer . Of his years in Honolulu, Obama wrote: "The opportunity that Hawaii offered — to experience a variety of cultures in a climate of mutual respect — became an integral part of my world view, and

9460-606: The permanent preservation of the Genbaku Dome, officially named the Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome). The Dome continues to be the park's primary landmark. Weathering and deterioration of the Genbaku Dome continued in the post-war period. The Hiroshima City Council declared in 1966 that it intended to indefinitely preserve the structure, now termed "Genbaku Dome". The first popularly elected mayor of Hiroshima, Shinzo Hamai (1905–1968) sought funds for

9570-549: The planet are destroyed and the planet is free from the threat of nuclear annihilation. There are three Peace Bells in the Peace Park. The smaller one is used only for the Peace Memorial Ceremony. Except that day, it is displayed in the east building of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum . The more well-known Peace Bell stands near the Children's Peace Monument and consists of a large Japanese bell hanging inside

9680-407: The preservation effort domestically and internationally. During one trip to Tokyo, Hamai resorted to collecting funds directly on the streets of the capital. Preservation work on the Genbaku Dome was completed in 1967. The Genbaku Dome has undergone two minor preservation projects to stabilize the ruin, notably between October 1989 and March 1990. The Genbaku Dome stands almost exactly as it did after

9790-616: The presidency. On February 10, 2007, Obama announced his candidacy for President of the United States in front of the Old State Capitol building in Springfield, Illinois . The choice of the announcement site was viewed as symbolic, as it was also where Abraham Lincoln delivered his "House Divided" speech in 1858. Obama emphasized issues of rapidly ending the Iraq War, increasing energy independence , and reforming

9900-609: The radiation. Although the building was heavily damaged, it still stood and was renovated soon after the war, including a new wooden roof. After the war, the Hiroshima municipal government purchased the building and established a postwar recovery office in it. Today it is used as the Rest House in Peace Memorial Park. The Rest House has been in debates many times over whether or not it should be preserved. In 1995,

10010-533: The role of Hiroshima in the war up to the bombing, and extensive information on the bombing and its effects, along with substantial memorabilia and pictures from the bombing. The building also has views of the Memorial Cenotaph, Peace Flame, and A-Bomb Dome. International Conference Center Hiroshima is in the Peace Park, west side of the main building of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. The Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for

10120-558: The same year. The leaders of the 49th G7 summit visited the Memorial on May 19, 2023. Domestically, the memorial is a common venue for anti-war, anti-nuclear weapons and anti-nuclear power movement in Japan protests. The municipal government of Hiroshima holds annual Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony at the Memorial. In December 1996, the Genbaku Dome was registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List based on

10230-487: The seventeenth century. Obama's father, Barack Obama Sr. (1934–1982), was a married Luo Kenyan from Nyang'oma Kogelo . His last name, Obama, was derived from his Luo descent. Obama's parents met in 1960 in a Russian language class at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa , where his father was a foreign student on a scholarship. The couple married in Wailuku, Hawaii , on February 2, 1961, six months before Obama

10340-441: The souls here rest in peace for we shall not repeat the evil." On November 3, 1983, an explanation plaque in English was added in order to convey Professor Saika's intent that "we" refers to "all humanity", not specifically the Japanese or Americans, and that the "error" is the "evil of war": The inscription on the front panel offers a prayer for the peaceful repose of the victims and a pledge on behalf of all humanity never to repeat

10450-408: The speech was viewed by over three million people worldwide. During both the primary process and the general election, Obama's campaign set numerous fundraising records, particularly in the quantity of small donations. On June 19, 2008, Obama became the first major-party presidential candidate to turn down public financing in the general election since the system was created in 1976. John McCain

10560-551: The time. I'm not that superstitious, so it's not like I think I necessarily have to have them on me at all times." The items, "a whole bowl full", include rosary beads given to him by Pope Francis , a figurine of the Hindu deity Hanuman , a Coptic cross from Ethiopia, a small Buddha statue given by a monk, and a metal poker chip that used to be the lucky charm of a motorcyclist in Iowa. He joined Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland,

10670-691: The vote, the largest margin of victory for a Senate candidate in Illinois history. He took 92 of the state's 102 counties, including several where Democrats traditionally do not do well. Obama was sworn in as a senator on January 3, 2005, becoming the only Senate member of the Congressional Black Caucus . He introduced two initiatives that bore his name: Lugar–Obama, which expanded the Nunn–Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction concept to conventional weapons; and

10780-536: The word "peace" in 49 languages from around the world. The gates represent the nine circles of Hell plus one: "the living hell of Hiroshima caused by the atomic bombing." Each gate is 9 meters high and 2.6 meters wide. The Association for the Mobilized Student Victims of Hiroshima Prefecture built this tower in May 1967 in order to console the souls of over 10,000 students, including those who were Atomic Bomb victims, who died in bombings during

10890-510: The world fold cranes and send them to Hiroshima where they are placed near the statue. The statue has a continuously replenished collection of folded cranes nearby. The Rest House of Hiroshima Peace Park is another atomic bombed building in the park. The building was built as the Taishoya Kimono Shop in March 1929. It was used as a fuel distribution station when the shortage of fuel began in June 1944. On August 6, 1945, when

11000-598: Was a prominent business quarter of the city during the early years of the Showa period (1926–89) and had been the site of many wooden two-story structures. However, in 1929, the three-story Taishoya Kimono Shop was constructed, surrounded by shops and movie theaters. It was said that if you went up to the roof, a panoramic view of the city awaited. In 1943 the Kimono Shop was closed and in June 1944, as World War II intensified and economic controls became increasingly stringent,

11110-609: Was an important port on southern Honshu and was headquarters of the Japanese Second General Army with 40,000 military personnel in the city, and was the only large city that was not known to have a POW camp. Intended for the Aioi Bridge , the bomb missed its target by 240 m (790 ft) and exploded directly over the Shima Hospital , which was very near to the Genbaku Dome. The center of

11220-510: Was born in Wichita, Kansas , and was of English, Welsh, German, Swiss, and Irish descent. In 2007 it was discovered her great-great-grandfather Falmouth Kearney emigrated from the village of Moneygall, Ireland to the U.S. in 1850. In July 2012, Ancestry.com found a strong likelihood that Dunham was descended from John Punch , an enslaved African man who lived in the Colony of Virginia during

11330-539: Was born in 1998, followed by a second daughter, Natasha ("Sasha"), in 2001. The Obama daughters attended the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools . When they moved to Washington, D.C., in January 2009, the girls started at the Sidwell Friends School . The Obamas had two Portuguese Water Dogs ; the first, a male named Bo , was a gift from Senator Ted Kennedy . In 2013, Bo was joined by Sunny ,

11440-559: Was born. In late August 1961, a few weeks after he was born, Barack and his mother moved to the University of Washington in Seattle , where they lived for a year. During that time, Barack's father completed his undergraduate degree in economics in Hawaii, graduating in June 1962. He left to attend graduate school on a scholarship at Harvard University , where he earned an M.A. in economics. Obama's parents divorced in March 1964. Obama Sr. returned to Kenya in 1964, where he married for

11550-444: Was employed at Sidley Austin . Robinson was assigned for three months as Obama's adviser at the firm, and she joined him at several group social functions but declined his initial requests to date. They began dating later that summer, became engaged in 1991, and were married on October 3, 1992. After suffering a miscarriage, Michelle underwent in vitro fertilization to conceive their children. The couple's first daughter, Malia Ann,

11660-476: Was located in the large business district next to the Aioi Bridge and was primarily used for art and educational exhibitions. During the Second World War , at 8:15 a.m. on 6 August 1945, the first atomic bomb to be used in war was dropped on Hiroshima. The bomb possessed a force equivalent to 15,000 tons of TNT , and effectively obliterated the city. Hiroshima was chosen as a target because it

11770-524: Was nominated as the Republican candidate, and he selected Sarah Palin as his running mate. Obama and McCain engaged in three presidential debates in September and October 2008. On November 4, Obama won the presidency with 365 electoral votes to 173 received by McCain. Obama won 52.9 percent of the popular vote to McCain's 45.7 percent. He became the first African-American to be elected president. Obama delivered his victory speech before hundreds of thousands of supporters in Chicago's Grant Park . He

11880-404: Was once the city's busiest downtown commercial and residential district. The park was built on an open field that was created by the explosion. Today there are a number of memorials and monuments, museums, and lecture halls, which draw over a million visitors annually. The annual 6 August Peace Memorial Ceremony , which is sponsored by the city of Hiroshima, is also held in the park. The purpose of

11990-403: Was one of the first memorial monuments built on open field on August 6, 1952. The arch shape represents a shelter for the souls of the victims. The cenotaph carries the epitaph 安らかに眠って下さい 過ちは 繰返しませぬから , which means "please rest in peace, for [we/they] shall not repeat the error." In Japanese, the sentence's subject is omitted , thus it could be interpreted as either "[we] shall not repeat

12100-462: Was the only structure that remained standing in the area around the atomic bombing of Hiroshima at the end of World War II . The ruin of the hall serves as a memorial to the over 140,000 people who were killed in the bombing. It is permanently kept in a state of preserved ruin as a reminder of the destructive effects of nuclear warfare . The Product Exhibition Hall building was originally designed by Czech architect Jan Letzel . The design included

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