Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II (US Listeni/bəˈrɑːk huːˈseɪn oʊˈbɑːmə/ bə-rahk hoo-sayn oh-bah-mə;[1][2] born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th President of the United States from 2009 to 2017. He was the first African American to serve as president, as well as the first American born outside the continental USA to hold the office. Before his presidency, he served in the U.S. Senate representing Illinois from 2005 to 2008, and served in the Illinois State Senate from 1997 to 2004.

Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, two years after the territory was admitted to the Union as the 50th state. He grew up mostly in Hawaii, but also lived one year in Washington State and four years in Indonesia during his childhood. After graduating from Columbia University in 1983, he worked as a community organizer in Chicago. In 1988 he enrolled in Harvard Law School, where he was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. After graduation he became a civil rights attorney and professor. He taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004, and represented the 13th District for three terms in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004. Obama received national attention in 2004, with his March primary win in the U.S. Senate campaign, his July keynote address at the Democratic National Convention, and his November landslide election to the Senate. In 2008, Obama was nominated for president, a year after his campaign began and after a close primary campaign against Hillary Clinton. He became president-elect after defeating Republican nominee John McCain in the general election, and was inaugurated on January 20. Nine months later, Obama was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.