The Barack Obama Senior Harvard Story

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Barack Obama Sr., born in Kenya in 1936, was part of a group of elite Kenyan students selected for U.S. education in the late 1950s and early 1960s to prepare for Kenya's independence from Britain in 1963. He initially studied at the University of Hawaii, where in 1961 he married Stanley Ann Dunham—the mother of future President Barack Obama—while still legally married to his first wife, Grace Kezia Obama, back in Kenya. This situation raised concerns with U.S. immigration officials, who considered deporting him for bigamy but instead monitored him closely, noting his polygamous background common among the Luo ethnic group.

In 1962, Obama Sr. transferred to Harvard University to pursue graduate studies in economics, aiming for a PhD. By 1964, he had passed his qualifying exams and was initially cleared to remain in the U.S. for his dissertation. However, Harvard administrators, including the economics department chairman, John Dunlop, and Harvard's Foreign Student Advisor, Mr. Henry, decided to "ease him out" due to ongoing issues with his personal life and finances. Primary source materials obtained by Sally Jacobs via FOIA in 2009 reveal the details. For instance, a May 19, 1964, INS memo from N.F. McKeon notes a conversation with Mr. Henry, stating that although Obama Sr. had passed his general exams and was academically entitled to stay and write his thesis, university officials were "going to try to cook something up to ease him out. All three will have to agree on this, however. They are planning on telling him that they will not give him any money, and that he had better return to Kenya and prepare his thesis at home."

A subsequent INS memo dated June 8, 1964, also from McKeon, describes Harvard's response to Obama Sr.'s application for a visa extension: "They weren't very impressed with him and asked for us to hold up action on his application until they decided what action they could take in order to get rid of him. They were apparently having difficulty with his financial arrangements and couldn't seem to figure out how many wives he had." The memo recommends denying the extension, placing him under docket control, and giving him until July 8, 1964, to depart, attaching a copy of Harvard's May 27, 1964, letter advising him to terminate his stay and return to Kenya to carry on his research and write his thesis.

Harvard's international office informed him he had three weeks to leave the country. He departed in July 1964 without completing his PhD, though the university later cited a lack of funds as the official reason for his exit.

Obama Sr. was awarded a terminal master's degree from Harvard in 1965. The PhD rejection, attributed in part to the university's discomfort with his concurrent marriages, derailed his academic and professional trajectory. Upon returning to Kenya, he struggled to secure high-level positions, working in lower roles until his death in a car accident in 1982. His unfinished thesis was reportedly stolen in 1964, and he never earned the doctorate despite later claims to the contrary. Journalist Sally Jacobs, who obtained his INS files via FOIA in 2009, detailed this story in her book "The Other Barack" and a Boston Globe article^[1].

On X

Eric Weinstein

@EricRWeinstein

Let’s start talking academic conspiracies then. We need a swift & devastating takedown of the idea that they are rare. They are, in fact, common. Ubiquitous. Everywhere.

I’ll start. Why is @BarackObama not the son of a Harvard PhD? Have fun.

Millions are dead. I’m done playing.

3:57 PM · Nov 4, 2022

lonewolf

@AgramSeth

Here is the moment quoted by @Ayjchan … “this is beginning to reek of conspiracy theory” is the only shield these lying cowards have left. We must reject the label & boldly follow the facts wherever they lead. We owe it to our children. #slipTheDisc @EricRWeinstein

3:45 PM · Nov 4, 2022