Mr. 44 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Japan

Barack Obama was born in Hawaii to Ann Dunham and Barack Obama Sr. in 1961. Soon after, his parents separated when Dunham went to Washington for college and Obama Sr. went back to Kenya. Dunham later married Lolo Soetoro and brought her family to Indonesia soon after. The future president later returned to his grandparents' house in Hawaii for high school in his teenage years.

Answer: A law firm

Sidley Austin is the law firm where future president Barack Obama met Michelle Robinson, the future First Lady, in June 1989. Michelle was working there as an associate while Obama was there as a summer associate. Michelle was actually appointed to be her future husband's adviser.

Sidley Austin is one of the largest law firms in the world. It was founded in Chicago in 1866. One of Michelle's predecessors as First Lady, Mary Todd Lincoln, was an early client when the firm opened.

Answer: Illinois State Senator for the 13th District

Obama won the 13th District seat in the Illinois State Senate. The seat covered Chicago's Southside at the time. The seat was being vacated by Alice Palmer. However, Palmer, after losing a congressional primary, tried to win her seat's primary but was prevented from doing so because she had invalid signatures on her nominating petition. Palmer had previously endorsed Obama for her old seat, however his re-entrance into the race caused tension in their relationship. Palmer later endorsed Hillary Clinton in the Democratic Primary in 2008 for President over Obama.

Answer: First U.S. Senate race where both major party nominees were African-American

The Republican nominee was Alan Keyes who was a minor diplomat at the State Department under President Reagan nearly 20 years prior to the election. Keyes was a replacement for Jack Ryan, who stepped down because of a series of personal scandals. Obama easily won the election with 70% of the vote, receiving over 3.5 million total votes.

This was the best performance for any U.S. seat in Illinois in history.

Answer: Virginia

Virginia had not previously voted for a Democrat since Lyndon Johnson's landslide in 1964. Obama also won Indiana, a first for the Democrats since 1964 as well. In addition, he won Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District, another first for a Democrat since 1964. He also claimed North Carolina which had not previously voted Democratic since 1976.

Virginia was the only state or district mentioned here that voted to re-elect Obama in 2012. It also voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, which election experts suggested meant the state was gradually moving away from Republican control.

Answer: Canada

Obama met with several Canadian leaders including Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Ottawa where they discussed various issues relating to both countries and their countries' relationship. Canada was also the first country visited by former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush visited the U.S.'s other neighbor Mexico first.

Answer: Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was passed in response to the 2007 Supreme Court case Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. In that case, the Supreme Court ruled that the statute of limitations had expired for Lilly Ledbetter and her lawsuit against Goodyear Tire for paying her less than her male counterparts.

The new law extended the statute of limitations for such claims. Previous to the law, the statue of limitations clock began at the time of the first discriminatory paycheck. The new law changed to where each paycheck started a new clock.

Answer: He supported same-sex marriage

Obama became the first sitting U.S. President to announce he supported same-sex marriage. Previously, Obama supported non-discriminatory policies against the LGBT community, including repealing the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. He later would support marriage equality in a number of Supreme Court cases. Previous to Obama's announcement, Vice President Joe Biden had announced his support for same-sex marriage, becoming the first Vice President to do so.

Answer: Hiroshima

President Obama generated controversy when he visited Hiroshima, one of the Japanese cities the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on during World War II. The controversy mainly stemmed from the false belief that the president was going to apologize on behalf of the U.S. for dropping the bomb. Some critics contended that Obama's very visit signalled an apology indirectly.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with Obama at Pearl Harbor, the site of a Japanese attack on the U.S., on December 27, 2016.

Answer: Ted Kennedy

Bo was a gift from Ted Kennedy, who soon fell sick afterward and died in August 2009. Over the course of Barack Obama's presidency, the family acquired another Portuguese water dog named Sunny. Bo and Sunny were often seen running around the White House lawn or greeting guests and journalists.