An haifi Obama a Honolulu, Hawaii . Bayan kammala karatu daga Jami'ar Columbia a shekara ta( 1983 ), yayi aiki a matsayin mai shirya al'umma a Chicago . A cikin shekara ta( 1988 ), yayi rajista a Makarantar Shari'a ta Harvard, inda ya kasance shugaban baƙar fata na farko na Dokar Harvard Law. Bayan kammala karatunsa, ya zama lauyan kare hakkin jama'a da kuma ilimi, yana koyar da dokar tsarin mulki a Jami'ar Chicago Law School daga shekara ta( 1992 ) zuwa shekara ta (2004). Da ya koma siyasa mai zaɓe, ya wakilci gundumar( 13 ) a majalisar dattijai ta Illinois daga shekara ta (1997) zuwa shekara ta (2004), lokacin daya tsaya takarar Majalisar Dattawan Amurka. Obama ya sami kulawar ƙasa a cikin shekara ta( 2004) tareda lashe zaɓen farko na Majalisar Dattawa, babban jawabinsa na Babban Taron Dimokraɗiyya na watan Yuli, da zaɓensa na watan Nuwamba a Majalisar Dattawa. A cikin shekara ta (2008), shekara guda bayan fara kamfen ɗin sa, kuma bayan babban kamfen nakusa da Hillary Clinton, Jam'iyyar Democrat ta tsayar dashi takarar shugaban ƙasa.