50 Facts About President Obama

He collects Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comics. He was known as "O'Bomber" at high school for his skill at basketball. His name means "one who is blessed" in Swahili His favourite meal is wife Michelle's shrimp linguini. He won a Grammy in 2006 for the audio version of his memoir, "Dreams From My Father." He is left-handed – the sixth post-war president to be left-handed. He has read every Harry Potter book. He owns a set of red boxing gloves autographed by Muhammad Ail. He worked in a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop as a teenager and now can't stand ice cream. His favourite snacks are chocolate-peanut protein bars. He ate dog meat, snake meat and roasted grasshopper while living in Indonesia. He can speak Spanish. While on the campaign trail, he refused to watch CNN and had sports channels on instead. His favourite drink is black forest berry iced tea. He promised Michelle he would quit smoking before running for president – he didn't. He kept a pet ape called Tata while in Indonesia. He can bench press an impressive 200 pounds. He was known as Barry until university when he asked to be addressed by his full name. His favourite book is "Moby Dick" by Herman Melville. He visited Wokingham, Berks, in 1996 for the stag party of his half-sister's fiancé, but left when a stripper arrived. His desk in his Senate office once belonged to Robert Kennedy. He and Michelle made $4.2 million (£2.7 million) last year, with much coming from sales of his books. His favourite films are "Casablanca" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." He carries a tiny Madonna and child statue and a bracelet belonging to a soldier in Iraq for good luck. He applied to appear in a black pin-up calendar while at Harvard but was rejected by the all-female committee. His favourite music includes Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Bach and The Fugees. He took Michelle to see the Spike Lee film "Do The Right Thing" on their first date. He enjoys playing Scrabble and poker. He doesn't drink coffee and rarely drinks alcohol. He would have liked to have been an architect if he were not a politician. As a teenager, he took drugs including marijuana and cocaine. His daughters' ambitions are to go to Yale before becoming an actress (Malia, 10) and to sing and dance (Sasha, 7.) He hates the youth trend for trousers which sag beneath the backside. He repaid his student loan only four years ago after signing his book deal. His house in Chicago has four fireplaces. Daughter Malia's godmother is Jesse Jackson's daughter Santita. He says his worst habit is constantly checking his BlackBerry. He uses an Apple Mac laptop. He drives a Ford Escape Hybrid, having ditched his gas-guzzling Chrysler 300. He wears $1,500 (£952) Hart Schaffner Marx suits. He owns four identical pairs of black size 11 shoes. He has his hair cut once a week by his Chicago barber, Zariff, who charges $21 (£13). His favourite fictional television programmes are "Mash" and "The Wire." He was given the code name "Renegade" by his Secret Service handlers. He was nicknamed "Bar" by his late grandmother. He plans to install a basketball court in the White House grounds. His favourite artist is Pablo Picasso. His speciality as a cook is chili. He has said many of his friends in Indonesia were "street urchins." He keeps on his desk a carving of a wooden hand holding an egg, a Kenyan symbol of the fragility of life. His late father was a senior economist for the Kenyan government.