Barack Hussein Obama II ( (listen); born August 4, 1961) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Obama made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa. He met with Mahmoud Abbas before Abbas became President of the Palestinian National Authority, and gave a speech at the University of Nairobi in which he condemned corruption within the Kenyan government.