Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on August 4, 1961. This photo from the early 1960s shows Obama with his mother, Ann Dunham. Dunham met Obama’s father, Barack Obama Sr., who was from Kenya, when they were students at the University of Hawaii. They married in 1961. 

From fifth through twelfth grade, Obama attended Punahou School, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Classmates called him Barry. This 1979 photo shows Obama at his high school graduation, with his grandparents, Madelyn and Stanley Dunham, at his side.

After graduating from Columbia University, in New York City, in 1983, Obama moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he worked as a community organizer. He then went on to attend Harvard Law School, in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1988. After graduating in 1991, Obama returned to Chicago. That is where he met his future wife, Michelle Robinson. Here they are on their wedding day, October 3, 1992.

Barack Obama served in the Illinois State Senate from 1997 to 2004. After that, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, serving as one of the two senators from Illinois. He was a U.S. Senator from 2004 to 2008. This photo shows Obama after he won the 2004 Senate race. His wife, Michelle, cheers him on.

In 1998, Barack and Michelle Obama welcomed daughter Malia (left) into the world. Sasha (right) was born in 2001. In this 2006 photo, taken in Chicago, the Obamas spend time together as a family. Two years later, Barack Obama was elected President. He is the first African American to hold the nation’s top job.