Barack Obama is the 44th President of the United States of America. A former US senator from Illinois, the Democrat went on to become the first African American ever to be elected to the presidency. His charisma, brilliant oratory, and inspirational persona has made him one of the most popular US presidents ever elected. Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on October 9, 2009.

Born on August 4, 1961 in Hawaii to a Kenyan father and an American mother, Barack Obama finished his undergraduate studies at Columbia University, earning a BA in Political Science. He proceeded to Harvard Law School to earn his Juris Doctor degree and became the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review. In between his law studies, Barack Obama was an active community organizer in the Chicago area. After obtaining his law degree, he became a civil rights attorney and specialized in representing indigents and underprivileged people. He also taught Constitutional Law at the Chicago Law School from 1992 until 2004.

Barack Obama’s humble background and political inexperience made him a highly improbable presidential candidate, but his stirring oratory during the 2004 National Democratic Convention catapulted him to national prominence. Shortly after, he became a US Senator in November 2004 where he would be best known for his legislative advocacy in public education, health care, jobs creation, and opposition to the Iraq war. He resigned from the Senate thereafter to declare his bid for the highest office.

would ensure a long and exhausting battle against former US First Lady Hillary Clinton to obtain the Democratic nomination for the presidency. A charismatic public speaker, he was famous for attracting jampacked rallies numbering to more than 100,000 people. Barack Obama secured the presidency through an easy win over Republican candidate John McCain. On January 20, 2009, he was inaugurated as the 44th US President. He has two children with wife Michelle Robinson Obama.