Barack Obama

Michelle Obama (wife)

Malia Obama (daughter)

Sasha Obama (daughter)

**Barack Hussein Obama II** (4 August 1961-) is an American politician who served as President of the United States from 20 January 2009 until 20 January 2017, succeeding George W. Bush and preceding Donald Trump. He had previously served as a senator from Illinois from 3 January 2005 until 16 November 2008, succeeding Peter Fitzgerald and preceding Roland Burris. Obama holds the record for being the first African-American president in United States history, creating social and medical programs such as Obamacare, helping the country recover from the Great Recession, the advancement of gay rights in the military and marriage, the assassination of Osama Bin Laden, withdrawals from the Iraq War and War in Afghanistan, intervention in the Libyan Civil War, the start of the war on the Islamic State, a nuclear deal with Iran, the normalization of relations with Cuba, and the start of sanctions against Russia in response to its annexation of Crimea. In 2017, he was succeeded by Donald Trump after serving two terms as president.

## Biography

#### Early Life and Education

Barack Hussein Obama II was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on 4 August 1961, and was raised in Hawaii, Washington, and Indonesia throughout his childhood. He graduated from Columbia University in New York City in 1983, afterwards working as a community organizer in Chicago. In 1988, Obama enrolled at Harvard Law School, where he was the first black president of the *Harvard Law Review* and after graduation, he became a civil rights attorney and professor, teaching constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 until 2004.

### Political Career

In 2004, he was elected to the US Senate as a member of the Democratic Party, serving the state of Illinois.

#### Presidency

In 2008, Obama was nominated for President after a year of campaigning, defeating Hillary Clinton after a close primary campaign. He defeated the Republican Party candidate John McCain, taking office on 20 January 2009. Obama was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize nine months later, and he became widely celebrated as the first African-American president. During his first two years in office, he signed his Obamacare health care bill into affect, challenged the banks with the Dodd-Frank act, also repealing a law prohibiting gays from serving openly in the military, and assisted major economic institutions with their recovery from the Great Recession. In foreign policy, he increased troop levels in Afghanistan, reduced nuclear weapons with the US-Russia New START treaty, while also ending military involvement in the Iraq War, and later ordering military intervention in the Libyan Civil War to oppose Muammar Gaddafi, and organized the assassination of Osama Bin Laden, the man behind the 9/11 Attacks. Obama was re-elected in 2012 after defeating Mitt Romney, and he convinced the US Supreme Court to strike down same-sex marriage bans as unconstitutional as the result of *Obergefell v. Hodges*, advocated for gun control in response to school shootings such as Sandy Hook, issued wide-ranging executive actions concerning climate change and immigration, ordered military intervention in Iraq in response to the growth of the Islamic State in the mid-2010s, continued the process of withdrawing US forces from Afghanistan, promoted discussions that led to the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, and also initiated sanctions against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine and its interference in the 2016 Presidential Election. Obama left office on January 20, 2017 with a 60% approval rating, and he retired to Washington DC, with Donald Trump succeeding him as president in one of the most controversial elections in US history.

#### Post Presidency

Obama continued to be involved in global matters, making speeches, maintaining activism on social media in response to United States government decisions as well as international decisions. In 2017, Obama travelled various parts of the world, meeting leaders such as Mauricio Macri, Xi Jinping, and the Dalai Lama. In 2019, Obama endorsed Justin Trudeau in the Canadian election and in 2020, endorsed his former Vice President, Joe Biden for the presidential position for the 2020 Presidential Election, also expressing his anger with Donald Trump's handling of the COVID-19 Pandemic. On January 20, 2021, Obama and his wife, Michelle attended the inauguration of Biden after his 2020 victory.

## Gallery

Obama and Biden, 2010sObama Campaigning, 2012Presidential portrait, 2013