Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to a Kenyan father and a Kansas-born mother. Raised largely by his maternal grandparents, he navigated questions of identity and belonging that would later inform his empathetic leadership style.
After graduating from Columbia University, he worked as a community organizer on Chicago's South Side before attending Harvard Law School, where he became the first Black president of the Harvard Law Review. He taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago and served in the Illinois State Senate before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004.
In 2008, Obama made history by becoming the first African American elected President of the United States, winning with the message of Hope and Change. His presidency saw the passage of the Affordable Care Act, marriage equality, and the restoration of America's global standing. He was re-elected in 2012 and left office in 2017 as one of the most admired leaders in the world.
"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for."— Barack Obama
Key Milestones
A Life in Firsts
Keep Exploring
