In the spring of 1961, President Obama’s father revealed a plan for his unborn son that might have changed the course of American political history.
The elder Barack H. Obama, a sophomore at the University of Hawaii, had come under scrutiny by federal immigration officials who were concerned that he had more than one wife. When he was questioned by the school’s foreign student adviser, the 24-year-old Obama insisted that he had divorced his wife in his native Kenya. Although his new wife, Ann Dunham, was five months pregnant with their child - who would be called Barack Obama II - Obama declared that they intended to put their child up for adoption.
Obama Sr was a member of the Luo ethnic group, the third largest of Kenya’s tribes, among whose members polygamy was common. His own father had at least four wives. In fact, Obama Sr was still married to his Kenyan wife, Grace Kezia Obama, and apparently worried about the financial burden of another child.
Noting that Obama Sr appeared to have a wife in Kenya and another in Hawaii, Dahling raised the possibility in his memo of charging Obama Sr with polygamy or bigamy in order to get a deportation order against him. In the end, he suggested they keep an eye on him.
Read the whole article HERE: http://www.boston.com/news/politics/art ... a_adopted/
The elder Barack H. Obama, a sophomore at the University of Hawaii, had come under scrutiny by federal immigration officials who were concerned that he had more than one wife. When he was questioned by the school’s foreign student adviser, the 24-year-old Obama insisted that he had divorced his wife in his native Kenya. Although his new wife, Ann Dunham, was five months pregnant with their child - who would be called Barack Obama II - Obama declared that they intended to put their child up for adoption.
Obama Sr was a member of the Luo ethnic group, the third largest of Kenya’s tribes, among whose members polygamy was common. His own father had at least four wives. In fact, Obama Sr was still married to his Kenyan wife, Grace Kezia Obama, and apparently worried about the financial burden of another child.
Noting that Obama Sr appeared to have a wife in Kenya and another in Hawaii, Dahling raised the possibility in his memo of charging Obama Sr with polygamy or bigamy in order to get a deportation order against him. In the end, he suggested they keep an eye on him.
Read the whole article HERE: http://www.boston.com/news/politics/art ... a_adopted/