Making history

CHICAGO --- It was just before midnight last November when Barack Obama stepped on stage in a darkened auditorium in Iowa, trailing in the polls, taking on one of the biggest names in Democratic politics -- and facing a make-or-break moment.

His star-making turn when he had introduced himself to America at the Democratic convention in 2004 was a fading memory; his 9-month-old presidential campaign had been lackluster at times. Iowa, he knew, could be the end -- or the beginning. The Democrats had gathered that night for the annual Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner in Des Moines. Less than two months before the crucial first-in-the nation Iowa caucuses, the event could be pivotal for presidential hopefuls, a moment to outshine their opponents and wow the party faithful.

Good buzz travels fast. And Mr. Obama, savvy politician and skilled orator, was ready for his debut. As the last candidate to speak, Mr. Obama, considered by some as too cool and cerebral, turned up the heat with a passionate appeal. He condemned the same "old Washington textbook campaigns," chided fellow Democrats -- and even took an indirect swipe at frontrunner Hillary Rodham Clinton.

"I am not in this race to fulfill some long-held ambitions or because I believe it's somehow owed to me," he declared. "I never expected to be here. I always knew this journey was improbable. I've never been on a journey that wasn't."

The crowd of thousands stood and cheered. He was on his way.

In the year since, the freshman U.S. senator has vanquished a Democratic powerhouse, shattered all fundraising records (his campaign has collected more than $640 million), swatted away the he's-too-inexperienced mantra voiced by seasoned rivals and made history by becoming the first black nominee of a major party.

His 22-month journey has put him within reach of the White House.

mr. Obama's life story has been unconventional from the start.

His biography -- white mother, African father, a childhood spent in Hawaii and Indonesia, working in one of the nation's poorest communities, studying and teaching at some of America's most prestigious universities -- is unlike that of any other presidential candidate.

If his eclectic background has fueled his extraordinary rise, his foreign-sounding name and race also have made his candidacy a tough sell in some areas. He has fended off countless rumors that he's Muslim (he's Christian) and this summer, he told the crowd at a Missouri fundraiser that he knows it's "a leap" electing a black man with his name.

The first pages of Mr. Obama's life story are well-known by now.

His Kansas-born mother, Stanley (her father wanted a boy) Ann Dunham. His Kenyan-born father, Barack Obama Sr. Their meeting at the University of Hawaii, their marriage, the birth of Barack -- "blessed" in Arabic -- on Aug. 4, 1961. The father's departure two years later to study at Harvard, his return just once when his son was 10.

The exotic childhood in Indonesia, homeland of his stepfather, Lolo Soetero; the exposure to Third World poverty, disease and beggars.

And then, after his mother's second marriage broke up, the return to Hawaii.

After high school, Mr. Obama entered Occidental College in Los Angeles, where he started using his birth name, Barack, and took his first plunge into politics, speaking at an anti-apartheid rally.

But he wanted broader horizons, so he moved to attend Columbia University in New York. After New York, he moved to Chicago. He knew no one in the city and was stepping into a low-paying job with a formidable mission: motivating poor people to participate in a political system that had traditionally shut them out.

Chicago proved to be a much smarter move than it looked at first.

MR. OBAMA HAD A BEAT-UP HONDA and a city map to navigate the streets as a community organizer on the South Side, a cluster of poor neighborhoods ravaged by the loss of steel mills and factory jobs.

Working for the Developing Communities Project, he met with black pastors and tried to mobilize people to agitate for themselves -- whether it was lobbying for a job training center or cleaning up public housing.

Mr. Obama -- who calls his organizing work "the best education I ever had" -- gradually became a skilled conciliator, says Gerald Kellman, the man who hired him.

"He became very effective at getting people who initially did not get along ... to work together and build alliances," Mr. Kellman said. "He found a way to be tough and challenging when he didn't like something. At the same time, he was not one to burn his bridges."

Chicago also was his political boot camp, where he learned about the power of coalitions and the importance of making connections.

After three years as an organizer, Mr. Obama had become increasingly pragmatic about what he could accomplish.

"The victories were small, they changed peoples' lives, but they didn't change American society, and he wanted to do that," Mr. Kellman said.

Mr. Obama took a giant leap from the gritty South Side to the heady atmosphere of Harvard Law School, the training ground for America's elite. He made history as the first black president of the Harvard Law Review , perhaps the most prestigious law journal in the nation.

After his first year, he worked one summer at a corporate law firm in Chicago, where his adviser was Michelle Robinson, another Harvard law graduate. They later married and had two daughters, Malia, now 10, and Sasha, 7.

As Mr. Obama prepared to leave Harvard, job offers poured in. But he already had a plan. He would return to Chicago for a political career.

AGAIN, HE CHOSE a grass-roots job. Mr. Obama ran a voter registration drive that added tens of thousands to the rolls. He also began carefully mapping out a path that positioned him for public office.

He joined a small, politically connected boutique law firm that did civil rights litigation. He and his wife lived in Hyde Park, the racially mixed neighborhood around the University of Chicago that is home to progressive politics, intellectuals and a sprinkling of Nobel Prize winners.

"He moved in an area where an independent can come out of nowhere to win," said Don Rose, a veteran political strategist. "By choosing to work at (that law firm), he was making a political statement to where he stood."

Mr. Obama was elected to the state Senate in 1996. He had several legislative successes after his party took control of the Senate. He passed measures that limited lobbyists' gifts to politicians, helped expand health care to poor children and changed laws governing racial profiling, the death penalty and the interrogation of murder suspects.

He generally was a liberal, but he reached across party lines to work with Republicans.

In 2002, he eyed another office: U.S. Senate.

He won a crowded primary and quickly emerged as a rising star, impressing Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, who tapped him for the keynote speech at the 2004 convention.

In 17 minutes, Mr. Obama jumped from obscure state lawmaker to a force in national politics.

That fall, he won in a landslide. Almost immediately, talk began of a presidential run.

IN 22 MONTHS ON the campaign trail, Mr. Obama has talked about defining moments -- from his victory in Iowa to the day five grueling months and 53 contests later when he won enough delegates to claim the Democratic nomination.

On that June night, he made history. On Tuesday night, he'll find out whether he can do it again.