Barack H. Obama is the 44th
President of the United States.
His story is the American
story — values from the heartland, a middle-class upbringing in a strong
family, hard work and education as the means of getting ahead, and the conviction
that a life so blessed should be lived in service to others.
With a father from Kenya
and a mother from Kansas, President Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961.
He was raised with help from his grandfather, who served in Patton's army, and his
grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle
management at a bank.
After working his way
through college with the help of scholarships and student loans, President
Obama moved to Chicago, where he worked with a group of churches to help
rebuild communities devastated by the closure of local steel plants.
He went on to attend law
school, where he became the first African—American president of the Harvard Law
Review. Upon graduation, he returned to Chicago to help lead a voter registration
drive, teach constitutional law at the University of Chicago, and remain active
in his community.
President Obama's years of
public service are based around his unwavering belief in the ability to unite
people around a politics of purpose. In the Illinois State Senate, he passed
the first major ethics reform in 25 years, cut taxes for working families, and
expanded health care for children and their parents.
He was elected the 44th
President of the United States on November 4, 2008, and sworn in on January 20,
2009. He and his wife, Michelle, are the proud parents of two daughters, Malia,
10, and Sasha, 7.
