Barack Obama's father 'forced out of US in 1960s'
Barack Obama's father was forced out of the US in the 1960s amid concerns about his "playboy ways", it has emerged.
Barack Obama poses with his father in an undated family snapshot from the 1960's Photo: REUTERS
A government file on Barack Obama Sr. said that Harvard University, where he
was studying, told immigration officials it would “cook something up” to
force him to return to Kenya in 1964.
The immigration file, which was released under freedom of information laws,
contains records of Mr Obama Sr.’s time as a student at the universities of
Hawaii and Harvard between 1959 and 1964.
It may solve the long-running mystery, described in the President’s memoir, of
why his father really left the US, only returning to see his son once before
he died.
An April 1961 memo said that a University of Hawaii employee called to report
that Mr Obama Sr. had married Ann Dunham, the future president’s mother.
She warned that he was already married to a woman in Kenya and had been
“running around with several girls” since arriving and that he had been
warned to curb his “playboy ways”.
Mr Obama Sr. and Miss Dunham divorced in January 1964, by which time he had
left Hawaii and was studying for a PhD in Economics at Harvard.
The file said two months later, concerns were raised over Mr Obama Sr.’s relationship with a Kenyan high-school student on an exchange scheme in nearby Boston, who abruptly travelled to England.
“The suspicion exists,” the March 1964 document said, “that she may have gone to London for [redacted]”. It is unclear what the next word is. At the time, abortions were illegal in the US.
Harvard was contacted by May 1964, and while Mr Obama Sr. had passed his exams, the university agreed it would “try to cook something up to ease him out”.
Mr Obama Sr., also described as a “slippery character”, was told that funding for his studies had run out and that he must complete his thesis in Kenya.
The file said officials then received a call in July 1964 from a mother distressed that her 27-year-old daughter had agreed to marry Mr Obama Sr.
The woman is presumed to be Ruth Nidesand, who became Mr Obama Sr.'s third wife and was white, like Miss Dunham.
At the time several US states still had laws banning inter-racial marriage. Miss Nidesand left the US to be with Mr Obama Sr. the following month.
A spokesman for Harvard University did not return a request for comment.
President Obama's father's Kenyan heritage was a key aspect of the so-called 'birther' conspiracy theory that alleged he was born in Africa.
Mr Obama moved to quash the theory once and for all on Wednesday by releasing his "long-form" birth certificate. The campaign had in recent weeks been led by Donald Trump, the property tycoon and would-be Republican presidential candidate.
Following Mr Obama's birth certificate release, Mr Trump's political opponents called on him to make public his tax returns.
The host of the US version of "The Apprentice" had said earlier this month that he would make the returns known if Mr Obama released the birth certificate.
Robert Gibbs, the former White House spokesman, told the Politico website: "Donald Trump said he'd release his tax returns as soon as the president released his birth certificate, so the ball is in his court now, and I know everybody is anxious to see his tax returns over the last ten years."
Mr Trump responded by calling Mr Gibbs a "loser" and added: "Yes, at the appropriate time I'm going to do it."
He suggested the appropriate time would come if he formally announces a presidential bid.
"If I announce, I will have to release very detailed information about my wealth," he said. "That is certainly something I'd be thinking about doing anyway. But before I do anything I have to make the decision in June and the first thing I'm going to be releasing will be financials,"
Mr Trump has said that people will be "shocked" by the strength of his financial records and that he would "love" to give his tax returns.
His net worth was recently put at $2.7 billion (£1.6 billion) by Forbes magazine, and Mr Trump himself claims it is "substantially in excess of that."
The mogul was in New Hampshire, where a key presidential primary is held, and attempted to claim credit for Mr Obama releasing his birth certificate.
He said: "I have done a great service to the American people. He did it for me. The fact is, I get things done." Mr Gibbs said: "The American people are smarter than the candidacy that he is offering."
The file said two months later, concerns were raised over Mr Obama Sr.’s relationship with a Kenyan high-school student on an exchange scheme in nearby Boston, who abruptly travelled to England.
“The suspicion exists,” the March 1964 document said, “that she may have gone to London for [redacted]”. It is unclear what the next word is. At the time, abortions were illegal in the US.
Harvard was contacted by May 1964, and while Mr Obama Sr. had passed his exams, the university agreed it would “try to cook something up to ease him out”.
Mr Obama Sr., also described as a “slippery character”, was told that funding for his studies had run out and that he must complete his thesis in Kenya.
The file said officials then received a call in July 1964 from a mother distressed that her 27-year-old daughter had agreed to marry Mr Obama Sr.
The woman is presumed to be Ruth Nidesand, who became Mr Obama Sr.'s third wife and was white, like Miss Dunham.
At the time several US states still had laws banning inter-racial marriage. Miss Nidesand left the US to be with Mr Obama Sr. the following month.
A spokesman for Harvard University did not return a request for comment.
President Obama's father's Kenyan heritage was a key aspect of the so-called 'birther' conspiracy theory that alleged he was born in Africa.
Mr Obama moved to quash the theory once and for all on Wednesday by releasing his "long-form" birth certificate. The campaign had in recent weeks been led by Donald Trump, the property tycoon and would-be Republican presidential candidate.
Following Mr Obama's birth certificate release, Mr Trump's political opponents called on him to make public his tax returns.
The host of the US version of "The Apprentice" had said earlier this month that he would make the returns known if Mr Obama released the birth certificate.
Robert Gibbs, the former White House spokesman, told the Politico website: "Donald Trump said he'd release his tax returns as soon as the president released his birth certificate, so the ball is in his court now, and I know everybody is anxious to see his tax returns over the last ten years."
Mr Trump responded by calling Mr Gibbs a "loser" and added: "Yes, at the appropriate time I'm going to do it."
He suggested the appropriate time would come if he formally announces a presidential bid.
"If I announce, I will have to release very detailed information about my wealth," he said. "That is certainly something I'd be thinking about doing anyway. But before I do anything I have to make the decision in June and the first thing I'm going to be releasing will be financials,"
Mr Trump has said that people will be "shocked" by the strength of his financial records and that he would "love" to give his tax returns.
His net worth was recently put at $2.7 billion (£1.6 billion) by Forbes magazine, and Mr Trump himself claims it is "substantially in excess of that."
The mogul was in New Hampshire, where a key presidential primary is held, and attempted to claim credit for Mr Obama releasing his birth certificate.
He said: "I have done a great service to the American people. He did it for me. The fact is, I get things done." Mr Gibbs said: "The American people are smarter than the candidacy that he is offering."
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