RICK BOWMER—AP Senator Barack Obama

Senator Barack Obama

Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on August 4, 1961. His father, Barack Obama, Sr., was born and raised in Kenya, Africa. His mother, Ann Dunham, was raised in Kansas. His parents met while studying at the University of Hawaii.

Obama graduated from to Columbia University in 1983. In 1985, he moved to Chicago, Illinois, to become a community organizer working to improve poor neighborhoods in Chicago. Obama then attended Harvard Law School, graduating in 1991. He became the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review, a student-run publication of articles about the law.

Obama returned to Chicago soon after law school. He worked as a lawyer and taught law for a few years before he ran for the Illinois State Senate in 1996. He served as a State Senator for eight years. Obama joined the U.S. Senate in 2004. He was the third African American to be elected to the U.S. Senate since 1877.

Obama gave the keynote speech at the Democratic Convention of 2004, held in Boston, Massachusetts. His speech earned national attention. He officially announced that he would seek the Democratic Party's presidential nomination on February 12, 2007.

Obama lives in Chicago with his wife, Michelle, and their two daughters, Natasha and Malia Ann.