Yes, we all know he's our first (semi) African-American President.

But I think he's also the first President that came from a broken home....

Any ideas on how this will shape his Administration?

from wikipedia:

Ford was born as Leslie Lynch King, Jr. on July 14, 1913, at 3202 Woolworth Avenue in Omaha, Nebraska, where his parents lived with his paternal grandparents. His father was Leslie Lynch King, Sr., a wool trader and son of prominent banker Charles Henry and Martha King. His mother was the former Dorothy Ayer Gardner. Because of her husband's problems, Dorothy separated from him just sixteen days after her son's birth. She took her son with her to the Oak Park, Illinois home of her sister Tannisse and her husband, Clarence Haskins James. From there she moved to the home of her parents, Levi Addison Gardner and his wife, the former Adele Augusta Ayer, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Dorothy and Leslie King divorced in December 1913; she gained full custody of their son. Ford's paternal grandfather Charles Henry King paid child support until shortly before his death in 1930.

So at least one other President from a broken home, Gerald Ford.

Ah hah, but Ford wasn't elected as President....errr

Sixee said nothing about elected, just said President :P

I also said, 'I think', meaning I wasn't so sure about it....

Regardless, Obama is our first elected President, that came from a broken home. Unlike Ford, he won't be just a 'fill in guy', he'll actually have a chance to make policy.

My question is, how will his 'broken home' status, affect his policies?

Let's look at the content of his character, not the color of his skin.

Clinton

i think it will matter as much as it matters you putting (semi) in his description, a mild annoyance that in the end doesnt matter or have any barring

Oh it's a proven fact that coming from a broken home affects your decisions later in life. That being said I think Obama has shown amazing stability throughout his life.

I don't worry about it, I think he breaks the cycle and moves along.

Define a broken home? Broken can mean more than simply divorced parents. How many people grew up in homes when they never had intentions of being divorced, but instead made each others lives living hell for 18 years while the children grew up.

i think it will matter as much as it matters you putting (semi) in his description, a mild annoyance that in the end doesnt matter or have any barring

I think you mean bearing? I don't want to put words in your mouth, nor call you out for your grammar. Just making sure I understand you correctly.

I tend to disagree. I didn't come from a broken home, but my father is a person I have never met.
If I were elected to a position of power, I'd certainly take my mom's example to heart:
Unmarried and pregnant at 20 she, she got into a bad marriage with my first step-father, divorced him due to his physical abuse, used public assistance to get on her own 2 feet, gained job skills that allowed her to work at a CPA for 10+ years before retiring with a disability.

The lessons I learned from that is that the system is there to help, but not support you.

Regarding the (semi) comment, I'm not the only person who has pointed out his bi-racial heritage and questioned it.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1584736,00.html

"Obama's mother is of white U.S. stock. His father is a black Kenyan," Stanley Crouch recently sniffed in a New York Daily News column (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ideas_opinions/story/467300p-393261c.html) entitled "What Obama Isn't: Black Like Me." "Black, in our political and social vocabulary, means those descended from West African slaves," wrote (http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2007/01/22/obama/) Debra Dickerson on the liberal website Salon.

no i meant Barring like in Alaska. Kidding i suck at grammar/spelling.

After typing a response in this very post i had to erase it as i did realize it could have some bearing. I come from a multiple time divorcing father and I personally i feel it has in creased my concept of family values because I do not want to put any kid through the crap i had to go through.

I concede.

I am surprised that having a father from an African nation and a mother from America does not qualify one as being fully African-American, but only (semi)
in Sixee's frame of reference. I would think he may qualify for that classification much more so than a lot of those currently using it in the US.

I don't think it makes a bloody bit of difference, just as it wouldn't really, honestly matter if Obama had two white mummies or three pink french daddies.
Obama is a party man, like almost every politician sitting in a House of representation these days ('Independents' ceased more or less by the mid-nineteenth century), his policies and actions will be shaped ultimately by party influence, not by childhood instincts.

I am surprised that having a father from an African nation and a mother from America does not qualify one as being fully African-American, but only (semi)
in Sixee's frame of reference. I would think he may qualify for that classification much more so than a lot of those currently using it in the US.

While I see your point, its not just *my* frame of reference, as evidenced by the articles I linked. They were written by two people who I would assume are of West African descent, whom also share that frame of reference.

Incidentally, if a person is Caucasion, born in South Africa, and immigrates to America, does that make them an "African-American"? ;)

And Halo, you don't think that his childhood didn't shape his party choice? Democrats tend to be a varied lot. They can range from people like Joe Lieberman to Michael Moore....

Democrats(liberals) by definition tend to have a much wider base and various viewpoints than Republicans(conser). It's why I think they tend to be more prone to infighting if they don't have an external force to galvanize them.