Barack Obama
Video: Inauguration of Barack Obama as US president – 21 Jan 2009 AlJazeeraEnglish
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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
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| Born | August 4, 1961 Honolulu, Hawaii, United States[1] |
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| Birth name | Barack Hussein Obama II[1] |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Michelle Obama (m. 1992) |
| Children | Malia Ann (b. 1998) Sasha (b. 2001) |
| Residence | Chicago, Illinois (Private) Washington, D.C (Official) |
| Alma mater | Occidental College Columbia University (B.A.) Harvard Law School (J.D.) |
| Profession | Community organizer Attorney Author Professor Politician |
| Religion | Christian (Most recent denomination:[2] United Church of Christ) |
| Signature |  |
| Website | WhiteHouse.gov |
This article is part of a series about
Barack Obama
Background · Illinois Senate · U.S. Senate
Political positions · Public image · Family
2008 primaries · Obama–Biden campaign
Transition · Inauguration · US Presidency
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Barack Hussein Obama II (pronounced /bəˈrɑːk hʊˈseɪn oʊˈbɑːmə/; born August 4, 1961) is the forty-fourth and current President of the United States of America. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama was the junior United States Senator from Illinois from January 3, 2005 until his resignation on November 16, 2008, following his election to the presidency. He was sworn in as President on January 20, 2009 in an inaugural ceremony at the U.S. Capitol.
Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. He worked as a community organizer, and practiced as a civil rights attorney in Chicago before serving three terms in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004. He also taught Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. Following an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000, Obama was elected to the Senate in November 2004. Obama delivered the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in July 2004.
As a member of the Democratic minority in the 109th Congress, Obama helped create legislation to control conventional weapons and to promote greater public accountability in the use of federal funds. He also made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. During the 110th Congress, he helped create legislation regarding lobbying and electoral fraud, climate change, nuclear terrorism, and care for U.S. military personnel returning from combat assignments in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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