Barack Obama

 Barack Obama

 44th President of the United States

January 20, 2009 – January 20, 2017

Vice President    Joe Biden

Preceded by       George W. Bush

Succeeded by     Donald Trump

United States Senator

from IllinoisIn office

January 3, 2005 – November 16, 2008

Preceded by       Peter Fitzgerald

Succeeded by     Roland Burris

Member of the Illinois Senate

from the 13th district

In office

January 8, 1997 – November 4, 2004

Preceded by       Alice Palmer

Succeeded by     Kwame Raoul

Personal details

Born      Barack Hussein Obama II

August 4, 1961 (age 56)

Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.

Political party    Democratic

Spouse(s)     Michelle Robinson (m. 1992)

Children      

Malia Sasha

Parents

Barack Obama Sr.

Ann Dunham

Relatives     See Family of Barack Obama

Education   

Occidental College (transferred)

Columbia University (BA)

Harvard University (JD)

Awards Nobel Peace Prize (2009)

Profile in Courage Award (2017)

Signature   

Website      

Office of Barack and Michelle Obama

Obama Foundation

Organizing for Action

White House Archives (Archived)

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Barack Obama

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Illinois State Senator

U.S. Senator from Illinois

44th President of the United States

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Appointments

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First term

Campaign for the Presidency 2008 General election Primaries

Transition 1st inauguration

First 100 days Affordable Care Act Iraq Withdrawal Death of Osama bin Laden

Timeline: '09 '10 '11 '12

Second term

Reelection campaign

2012 General election Reactions

2nd inauguration Immigration executive action Iran deal Cuban thaw

Timeline: '13 '14 '15 '16 '17

Post-Presidency

Planned Library One America Appeal

Dreams from My Father The Audacity of Hope Nobel Peace Prize

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Barack Hussein Obama II (US: /bəˈrɑːk huːˈseɪn oʊˈbɑːmə/ (About this sound listen) 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. The first African American to assume the presidency in American history, he previously served in the U.S. Senate representing Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and in the Illinois State Senate from 1997 to 2004.

Obama was born in 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii, two years after the territory was admitted to the Union as the 50th state. Raised largely in Hawaii, Obama also spent one year of his childhood in Washington State and four years in Indonesia. After graduating from Columbia University in 1983, he worked as a community organizer in Chicago. In 1988 Obama 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, and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. Obama represented the 13th District for three terms in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004, when he ran for the U.S. Senate. Obama received national attention in 2004, with his unexpected March primary win, his well-received July Democratic National Convention keynote address, and his landslide November 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 was elected over Republican John McCain, and was inaugurated on January 20, 2009. Nine months later, Obama was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

During his first two years in office, Obama signed many landmark bills. Main reforms were the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (often referred to as "Obamacare", shortened as the "Affordable Care Act", or abbreviated as the ACA), the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 served as economic stimulus amidst the Great Recession, but the GOP regained control of the House of Representatives in 2011. After a lengthy debate over the national debt limit, Obama signed the Budget Control and the American Taxpayer Relief Acts. In foreign policy, Obama increased U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan, reduced nuclear weapons with the United States–Russia New START treaty, and ended military involvement in the Iraq War. He ordered military involvement in Libya in opposition to Muammar Gaddafi, and the military operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden.

After winning re-election by defeating Republican opponent Mitt Romney, Obama was sworn in for a second term in 2013. During his second term, Obama promoted inclusiveness for LGBT Americans, with his administration filing briefs that urged the Supreme Court to strike down same-sex marriage bans as unconstitutional (United States v. Windsor and Obergefell v. Hodges). Obama advocated for gun control in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, and issued wide-ranging executive actions concerning climate change and immigration. In foreign policy, Obama ordered military intervention in Iraq in response to gains made by ISIL after the 2011 withdrawal from Iraq, continued the process of ending U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan, promoted discussions that led to the 2015 Paris Agreement on global climate change, initiated sanctions against Russia following the invasion in Ukraine and again after Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, brokered a nuclear deal with Iran, and normalized U.S. relations with Cuba. Obama left office in January 2017 with a 60% approval rating. He currently resides in Washington, D.C. His presidential library will be built in Chicago.