The political row over President Barack Obama’s heritage was dramatically reignited today as a 1991 booklet boldly announced that he was “born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii”.
In the cover for a 1991 promotional booklet by Barack Obama’s then-publisher Acton & Dystel, he is as “the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review, [who] was born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii”.
The information, which could be used as more ammunition against the incumbent, comes months before what will likely be a close campaign between Barack Obama and likely Republican nominee Mitt Romney.
The 36-page promotional booklet was exclusively obtained by Breitbart, and was sent out to colleagues within the publishing industry in the early 1990s.
A later biography, which can still be found on Acton & Dystel’s archives, reads: “Barack Obama is the junior Democratic senator from Illinois and was the dynamic keynote speaker at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
“He was also the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. He was born in Kenya to an American anthropologist and a Kenyan finance minister and was raised in Indonesia, Hawaii, and Chicago. His first book, <<Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance>>, has been a long time New York Times bestseller.”
The blue, teal, and silver booklet was printed in part to celebrate Acton & Dystel’s 15th anniversary, and also to display the breadth and depth of authors the imprint published.
Other authors featured include Ralph Nader, former Speaker of the House Thomas P. O’Neill, and pop group New Kids on the Block.
Miriam Goderich, who now works at partner company Dystel & Goderich, is listed as the pamphlet’s editor.
Acton spoke with Breitbart about the cover, saying that “almost nobody” wrote their own biography, though non-athletes were “probably” approached to confirm the veracity of it.
Barack Obama later left Acton & Dystel, submitting a book proposal to Simon & Schuster imprint Poseidon Press worth more than six figures.
The book, tentatively called Journeys In Black And White, was later abandoned for the autobiography Dreams From My Father.
A note from Breitbart’s senior management at the top of the article offers the following disclaimer: “It is evidence – not of the President’s foreign origin, but that Barack Obama’s public persona has perhaps been presented differently at different times.”
President Barack Obama released his birth certificate to the public last April. He said during a press briefing at the time that he was “puzzled at the degree to which this thing just keeps going on”.
He said: “We’ve had every official in Hawaii, Democrat and Republican, every news outlet that has investigated this, confirm that, yes, in fact, I was born in Hawaii, August 4, 1961, in Kapiolani Hospital.”
The president concluded his speech by acknowledging that some people – despite the evidence – would not let go of the issue.
“I know that there’s going to be a segment of people for which, no matter what we put out, this issue will not be put to rest,” he said.
“But I’m speaking to the vast majority of the American people, as well as to the press. We do not have time for this kind of silliness. We’ve got better stuff to do. I’ve got better stuff to do.”
Though the White House was certainly hoping to silence the “birther” movement by releasing the president’s birth certificate, grumbles and murmurs have been commonplace since the April 27, 2011 release.
On May 12, Colorado Republican Congressman Mike Coffman brought up the issue at a fundraiser, saying: “I don’t know whether Barack Obama was born in the United States of America.
“I don’t know that. But I do know this – that in his heart, he’s not an American.
“He’s just not an American.”
According to 9 News, Mike Coffman was first met with silence, but after several moments, fundraiser attendees offered tentative applause.
However, the congressman issued an apology later in the week, writing: “I have confidence in President Obama’s citizenship and legitimacy as President of the United States.”
He further qualified his statement by saying: “I don’t believe the president shares my belief in American Exceptionalism. His policies reflect a philosophy that America is but one nation of many equals.
“As a Marine, I believe America is unique and based on a core set of principles that makes it superior to other nations.”
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