Of Thee I Sing_ A Letter to My Daughters - Barack Obama [2]
NEIL ARMSTRONG (1930– ) was an aviator and astronaut who became the first person to walk on the moon, which he did on July 20, 1969, as part of the Apollo 11 mission. When he set foot on the lunar surface, he famously declared, “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom that same year, along with fellow crewmember Buzz Aldrin.
CESAR CHAVEZ (1927–1993), a farmworker since childhood, was a major leader of the nonviolent movement for the rights and dignity of farmworkers, using techniques such as strikes, boycotts, and fasts to implement social change. He cofounded the National Farm Workers Association, which became United Farm Workers, and won many crucial labor reforms. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN (1809–1865) was the sixteenth president of the United States. He held office during the Civil War, which broke out on the eve of his inauguration, and he saw the nation restored to unity in 1865. In 1863 he signed the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves in the Confederate states, and pressed for the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery in the United States. He was a brilliant orator whose famous speeches include the Gettysburg Address in 1863, honoring fallen soldiers of the Civil War. Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth five days after the end of the war.
GEORGE WASHINGTON (1732–1799) was a gentleman farmer who became the commander of the Continental Army during the American Revolution, served as a delegate to and president of the Constitutional Convention, and ultimately was unanimously elected as the first president of the newly formed United States of America.
BARACK OBAMA is the forty-fourth president of the United States. Born in Hawaii to a mother from Kansas and a father from Kenya, he himself is now the father of two daughters, Malia and Sasha. It was spending time with them that inspired him to write Of Thee I Sing. After Barack Obama became president, he and his wife, Michelle, and their daughters moved into the White House in Washington, DC, where they currently live with their dog, Bo.
LOREN LONG is the bestselling and award-winning author and illustrator of many beloved books for children, including Drummer Boy and the New York Times bestseller Otis. Born in Missouri and raised in Lexington, Kentucky, he is also the illustrator of Watty Piper’s The Little Engine That Could, as well as Toy Boat, I Dream of Trains, and Wind Flyers. He lives in Ohio with his wife, Tracy, their two sons, Griffith and Graham, and their dogs, Elle and Moon.