About Barack Obama
Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on August 4th, 1961, to a father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas. Growing up, he was also raised by his grandfather, who served in General Patton's army, and his grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to become vice president at a local bank.
After working his way through school with the help of scholarships and student loans, Barack Obama moved to Chicago, where he worked as an organizer helping to rebuild communities devastated by the closure of local steel plants. He went on to Harvard Law School, where he was elected the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. After graduating, Barack Obama went on to lead one of the most successful voter registration drives in Chicago history, and continued his legal work as a civil rights lawyer and a professor of constitutional law at the University of Chicago.
Barack Obama was first elected to the Illinois State Senate in 1996. During his time in Springfield, he passed the first major ethics reform in 25 years, cut taxes for working families, and expanded health care for children and their parents. Elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004, he reached across the aisle to pass the farthest-reaching lobbyist reform in a generation, lock up the world's most dangerous weapons, and bring transparency to government by tracking federal spending online.
Barack Obama was sworn in as president on January 20th, 2009.
During his first term, the President turned around a failing economy, passed the landmark Affordable Care Act, ended the war in Iraq, passed historic Wall Street reform, and cut taxes for every American worker. He's fought for equal rights and a woman's right to make her own health decisions, and he's made a college education more affordable for millions of students and their families.
President Obama believes an economy built to last starts with a strong and growing middle class. He's driven by the basic values that make our country great: America prospers when we're all in it together, when hard work pays off and responsibility is rewarded, and when everyone—from Main Street to Wall Street—does their fair share and plays by the same rules.
He and his wife, Michelle, are the proud parents of two daughters: Malia, 14, and Sasha, 11.
President Obama and Vice President Biden were re-elected on November 6th, 2012. This January, the President and Vice President will formally recommit themselves to serving the American people. They will be sworn in at an official event on January 20th, with a ceremonial event to follow on January 21st (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day). Continuing the tradition the Obama family began in 2009, President Obama is asking Americans to reflect on our shared values and honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with a national day of service on Saturday, January 19th. Other traditional events that will happen as part of the 57th Inaugural include the parade down Pennsylvania Avenue and the official inaugural balls.