With presidential candidate Barack Obama noted for his cool nature under pressure, a radio programme has spoken to his former law school colleagues in a bid to build a better profile of the potential leader.

Obama recently told 60 Minutes: ” One of the things I’m good at is getting people in a room with a bunch of different ideas – who sometimes violently disagree with each other – and finding common ground, and a sense of common direction.”

Researchers from National Public Radio’s All Things Considered programme found that this may not be a new trait, with Obama having been the first black president of the Law Review at Harvard Law School.

His former classmate Brad Berenson told the programme that Obama never took sides, but rather was a negotiator even then and it helped him to build his unflappable reputation, which may take him to the White House.

Obama – whose campaign mantra is ‘No Drama Obama’ – has said he intends to help Africa get out of poverty if he gets into power, aiming to eliminate malaria within seven years.

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Barack Obama’s comprehensive and ambitious plans to reform the U.S. education system have been attributed to his experiences in law school and as a community organizer.

In Mr Obama’s campaign, he states he will rewrite the federal law to offer more help to high-need schools, as well as expanding early childhood education as opposed to providing more remedial classes for older students, the New York Times reports.

This is thought to be due to him witnessing a shortage of textbooks and teachers while working as a community organizer in Chicago in the mid-1980s.

After graduating from Columbia University, he decided to take this role on Chicago’s far south side, focusing on the development of black city neighborhoods.

He also took classes on school issues when he attended Harvard Law School, from which he graduated in 1991.

Mr Obama’s former teacher Christopher Edley said: “Barack became committed to the notion that progress in school reform can’t come through volunteerism and professional aspiration alone.”

He added that Mr Obama became aware while at law school that reform must be achieved through a regulatory structure that tackles failure.

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