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At the beginning of 2004, Barack Obama was an almost unknown Illinois state legislator and a candidate for the U.S. Senate whom a mere 15 percent of likely voters in the state’s Democratic primary favored. Among the many electoral challenges he faced, he had to make it clear to the public that, despite the similarity in their names, he was not Osama bin Laden. By the end of 2004, he had not only won his U.S. Senate election by the largest margin in Illinois history, but had become a “rock-star’’ politician who had captured the imagination of voters and the media nationwide. Thus, in less than a year he went from battling to gain name recognition to entertaining speculation that he would become the nation’s first black president. On February 12, 2007, he took the next step in announcing his bid for the presidency in front of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois.

Barack Obama is just the fifth African American to serve in the U.S. Senate and only the third since the Reconstruction era. Racial issues continue to be an important aspect of American politics. The Obama campaign illustrates the progress people of color have made in winning public office, and it allows us to explore the role race plays in politics today. The candidacy of Barack Obama permits an examination of the changing climate and political culture for minority politicians.

Although racial discrimination is another factor in the difficulty of electing African Americans to statewide offices, Barack Obama represents a new age of African American public officials. Recently elected black officials try to appeal to all races in their campaigns, but dismiss the term “post-racial’’ as a media construct. Barack Obama has the potential to make significant contributions on both the domestic and international political scene. After decades of bitter partisanship, he offers pragmatic policy considerations. After too many cycles of negative campaigning, he demonstrates that it is better to stand for something in politics than to besmirch others. Barack Obama represents a new face in American politics, and he isinspiring many other people to care about the challenges and opportunities that face the next generation.

1. E pluribus unum 词语来自于拉丁文，意思是合众为一，成为美国体现国家政治的标语。

2. Magna Carta大宪章，是英文Great Charter的拉丁文书写，1215年颁布。其宗旨为限制封建君主的权力，也成为了英国君主立宪制的法律基石。

3. Monroe Doctrine门罗主义发表于1823年，主要观点由詹姆斯·门罗总统发表于其国情咨文中。它表明美国当时的涉外政治观点，即欧洲不应再殖民美洲，或干涉美洲独立国家之主权相关事务。

I. Fill in the blanks according to the text.

1. _________________ is perhaps the best-known motto of the United States of America. Translated from Latin, it means “From many, one,” or “Out of many, one.”

2. The 13 original colonies’ first attempt at a national government was a system provided by______________ in 1776 in which there was a unified country with a weak national government.

3. Before the 1890s the U.S. had no distinct foreign policy other than an adherence to the 1823_____________ （that pronounced all of the Americas to be within the U.S. sphere of interest） and a wish to support U.S. economic investment abroad.

4. In January 1924 __________ made a speech saying “the chief business of the American people is business”.

5. In February 1925 ______________ cut the maximum surtax （tax on the rich） payable from 40 per cent to 20 per cent and led to spending and investment.

6. Despite Wilson’s efforts to create a just and lasting peace settlement after the war, the Paris Peace Conference led to a harsh and punitive __________________ against Germany.

7. ______________ is just the fifth African American to serve in the U.S. Senate and only the third since the Reconstruction era.

II. Define the following terms.

2. the separation of powers

3. “Roosevelt Corollary”

III. Questions for discussion.

1. What about American governmental restrictions on the use of land and other natural resources?

2. Why did early immigrants come to the New World?

3. What are the three branches of government in American political system?

4. What are the changes to the Constitution since its implementation?

5. What does Isolationism mean to the United States of America in the 1920s and 1930s?

6. At the outbreak of the Civil War, what situation was the minorities of America in?