Barack Obama Biography

Fast Facts

• Named chairman of the Illinois Senate's Health and Human Services Committee beginning in 2003
• Was a founding member of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge in 1995, a public school reform project
• Attended Occidental College, Columbia University and Harvard University Law School
• Born to a white mother and black father in Hawaii, his father left the family to return to Africa when Barack was 2 years old, and he was later raised by his grandparents on his mother's side
• Taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago from 1992 to 2004 before embarking on his political career
• Quote: "Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time․ We are the ones we've been waiting for․ We are the change that we seek․"
• Announced his candidacy for President in February 2007, where he would run against Republican nominee, Senator John McCain before eventually claiming the title by a narrow margin on November 4, 2008
• Elected to the Illinois State Senate in 1996 and ran for the U․S․ Senate in 2004, a campaign he would eventually win with 70 percent of the vote, the largest margin of victory for a seat in the U․S․ Senate at the time
• First President of the United States to have been born in the state of Hawaii
• Agreed that if his family was ever to move into the White House, he would get a new dog for his two girls despite Malia having severe allergies and eventually accepted a Portuguese Water Dog named Bo from Senator Ted Kennedy
• An avid fan of basketball since childhood, when he dreamed of going pro, he can often be seen playing on the grounds of the White House in his spare time