Untitled

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. As a United States Senator, he reached across the aisle

to pass groundbreaking lobbying reform, lock up the world's most

dangerous weapons, and bring transparency to government by

putting federal spending online.

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.