Barack Obama

President Barack Obama.jpg

44th President of the United States

Incumbent

Assumed office

January 20, 2009

Vice President Joe Biden

Preceded by George W. Bush

United States Senator

from Illinois

In office

January 3, 2005 – November 16, 2008

Preceded by Peter Fitzgerald

Succeeded by Roland Burris

Member of the Illinois Senate

from the 13th district

In office

January 8, 1997 – November 4, 2004

Preceded by Alice Palmer

Succeeded by Kwame Raoul

Personal details

Born Barack Hussein Obama II

August 4, 1961 (age 54)

Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.

Nationality American

Political party Democratic

Spouse(s) Michelle Obama (m. 1992)

Children

Malia (b. 1998)

Sasha (b. 2001)

Residence White House, Washington, D.C.

Kenwood, Chicago, U.S.[1]

Alma mater

Occidental College

Columbia University (BA)

Harvard Law School (JD)

Religion Protestantism

Awards Nobel Peace Prize (2009)

Signature

Website

White House: Official website

Organizing for Action: Official website

Obama Foundation: Official website

President Barack Obama, 2012 portrait crop.jpg This article is part of a series about

Barack Obama

Early life and career

Illinois Senate U.S. Senate

2008 Democratic primaries

Political positions Public image Family

President of the United States

Incumbent

First term

Campaign for the Presidency 2008

Transition 1st inauguration Presidency

First 100 days Nobel Peace Prize Affordable Care Act Iraq Withdrawal Death of Osama bin Laden

Timeline: '09 '10 '11 '12

Policies [show]

Second term

Reelection 2012 Reactions

2nd inauguration Presidency Immigration executive action Iran Deal Cuban Thaw

Timeline: '13 '14 '15 '16

Electoral history The Audacity of Hope Planned Library

Barack Obama signature.svg

President of the United States

v t e

Barack Hussein Obama II (US Listeni/bəˈrɑːk huːˈseɪn oʊˈbɑːmə/;[2][3] born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office, as well as the first president born outside of the continental United States. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he served as president of the Harvard Law Review. He was a community organizer in Chicago before earning his law degree. He worked as a civil rights attorney and taught constitutional law at University of Chicago Law School between 1992 and 2004. He served three terms representing the 13th District in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004, and ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for the United States House of Representatives in 2000 against incumbent Bobby Rush.

In 2004, Obama received national attention during his campaign to represent Illinois in the United States Senate with his victory in the March Democratic Party primary, his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in July, and his election to the Senate in November. He began his presidential campaign in 2007 and, after a close primary campaign against Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2008, he won sufficient delegates in the Democratic Party primaries to receive the presidential nomination. He then defeated Republican nominee John McCain in the general election, and was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2009. Nine months after his inauguration, Obama was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

During his first two years in office, Obama signed into law economic stimulus legislation in response to the Great Recession in the form of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010. Other major domestic initiatives in his first term included the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, often referred to as "Obamacare"; the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act; and the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010. In foreign policy, Obama ended U.S. military involvement in the Iraq War, increased U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan, signed the New START arms control treaty with Russia, ordered U.S. military involvement in Libya in opposition to Muammar Gaddafi, and ordered the military operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden. In January 2011, the Republicans regained control of the House of Representatives as the Democratic Party lost a total of 63 seats; and, after a lengthy debate over federal spending and whether or not to raise the nation's debt limit, Obama signed the Budget Control Act of 2011 and the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012.

Obama was reelected president in November 2012, defeating Republican nominee Mitt Romney, and was sworn in for a second term on January 20, 2013. During his second term, Obama has promoted domestic policies related to gun control in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, and has called for greater inclusiveness for LGBT Americans, while his administration has filed briefs which urged the Supreme Court to strike down part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act and state level same-sex marriage bans as unconstitutional. In foreign policy, Obama ordered U.S. military intervention in Iraq in response to gains made by the Islamic State after the 2011 withdrawal from Iraq, continued the process of ending U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan, promoted discussions that led to the 2015 Paris Agreement on global climate change, brokered a nuclear deal with Iran, and