Barack Obama

Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, was the first African-American to hold the position.

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  • Obama's rise

    Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on August 4, 1961. After earning degrees at Columbia University (1983) and Harvard University (1991), he married Michelle Robinson in 1992. Obama practiced civil rights law and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 until 2004. In 1997, Obama ran and won a seat in the Illinois State Senate. In 2004, Obama won the US Senate race in Illinois. In 2008, at age 47, he was elected US President, serving from 2009 - 2017. More details on key moments

  • Notable achievements

    • Two Grammy awards
    • Named Time Magazine's "Person of the Year" twice
    • Nobel Peace Prize recipient
    • Signed the Affordable Care Act into law
    • First US president to address the UK Parliament
    • First US president to endorse same-sex marriage
    • First sitting US president to visit Cuba in 88 years

The Obama family 

The most recent stories 

    President Joe Biden speaks about the government's COVID-19 response, in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House Campus in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)