"We have an obligation and a responsibility to be investing in our students and our schools. We must make sure that people who have the grades, the desire and the will, but not the money, can still get the best education possible."

—Barack Obama

Biography

Barack Obama is the current junior U.S. senator from Illinois and the president-elect of the United States. On Jan. 20, 2009, he will become the 44th individual and the first African-American to assume the office of the president.

President-elect Obama was born on Aug. 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii. His father, Barack Obama Sr., was born in Kenya, and his mother, Ann Dunham, was born in Wichita, Kansas. Obama spent part of his youth living with his family in Jakarta, Indonesia. At the age of 10, he returned to Hawaii to live with his grandparents, Madelyn and Stanley Dunham.

After high school, Obama studied at Occidental College in Los Angeles for two years. He then transferred to Columbia University in New York, where he graduated with a degree in political science. Following a brief stint in the corporate world, Obama moved to Chicago in 1985, where he worked as a community organizer with low-income residents of the city's South Side.

Three years later, in 1988, Obama entered Harvard Law School. That year, he met his future wife Michelle, whom he married in 1992. In 1990, he was elected the first African-American editor of the prestigious Harvard Law Review. He graduated from Harvard Law School magna cum laude in 1991. After his graduation from law school, Obama returned to Chicago, where he practiced as a civil rights attorney and taught at the University of Chicago Law School. He also published a biography, Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, in 1995. The audio version of the book won a Grammy Award.

In 1996, Obama successfully ran for the Illinois State Senate as a Democrat. While serving as state senator, he worked extensively on legislation focused on healthcare, ethics and early childhood education. In 2000, Obama ran for the U.S. House of Representatives. He lost the primary to four-term incumbent Bobby Rush and returned to the state Senate. It was as a state senator that Obama spoke out against authorizing the use of military force in Iraq in 2002.

In 2003, Obama decided to run for the open U.S. Senate seat in Illinois. Starting as the underdog, Obama won the Democratic primary. He was invited to give the keynote address (video below) at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. In a memorable speech, Obama stressed the need for unity. He said, "There is not a liberal America and a conservative America-there is the United States of America."

Keynote address at the 2004 Democratic
National Convention

Obama went on to win election to the United States Senate in November 2004. As U.S. senator, Obama worked to develop bipartisan legislation on several issues, including foreign policy, ethics and alternative energy. He published his second book, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, in 2006, and announced his bid for the presidency in February 2007 in Springfield, Ill.

After a hard-fought primary campaign against New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, Obama became the presumptive Democratic nominee for president on June 7, 2008, when Sen. Clinton suspended her campaign. Obama formally accepted his party's nomination for president at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, after being introduced with a memorable biographical video.

Along with running mate Sen. Joe Biden, Obama ran an efficient and well-funded campaign against Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain and his running partner, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska. The campaign included three debates between McCain and Obama.

Barack and Michelle Obama have two daughters, Malia and Sasha, and will maintain a permanent residence in the Kenwood section of Chicago until their move to the White House after the inauguration in January 2009.