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Barack Obama

Barack Obama's political career kicked off in the Illinois State Senate, evolved into a two-term presidency

Obama was the 44th President of the United States

By Ashlyn Messier Fox News
Published
  • Barack Obama speaking at Democratic National Convention
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    Barack Obama was the 44th president of the United States. His career in politics began when he was elected to the Illinois State Senate in 1996. (TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)

  • Barack Obama at Senate hearing
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    In 2004, Barack Obama was elected to the U.S. Senate. In February 2007, he announced that he would be running for president. (Chuck Kennedy/MCT/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

  • Barack Obama greeting supporters at rally
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    Then-Sen. Barack Obama spent the following year campaigning and gaining support from around the country to secure the Democratic nomination. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

  • John McCain and Barack Obama at debate
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    Leading up to his first presidential term, then-Sen. Barack Obama was up against Sen. John McCain, a Republican from Arizona. (Jim Bourg-Pool/Getty Images)

  • Joe Biden and Barack Obama
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    Then-Sen. Barack Obama's running mate was then-Sen. Joe Biden, who would later become the 46th president of the United States. (PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP via Getty Images)

  • Barack Obama inauguration
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    On Nov. 4, 2008, then-Sen. Barack Obama defeated Sen. John McCain and became the first African American to be elected president. He was inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2009. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

  • Barack Obama speaking at press briefing
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    After serving as the president for four years, then-President Obama ran for a second term. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

  • Barack Obama shaking hands with Mitt Romney
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    During the 2012 presidential election, incumbent President Obama was up against former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

  • Barack Obama with his family
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    Incumbent President Obama was able to secure a second term after defeating Gov. Mitt Romney. Four years later, he gave his farewell address in Chicago on Jan. 10, 2017. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

  • Barack and Michelle Obama
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    Former President Obama has been supported by his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama, through his political triumphs. The two got married in 1992, and share two children, Malia and Sasha. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Barack Obama was the 44th President of the United States, serving from 2009 until 2017. The former president was born on Aug. 4, 1961, in Honolulu. His parents, Barack H. Obama Sr. and Stanley Ann Dunham, divorced when Obama was 2 years old. 

Obama's mother married a man from Indonesia, where the young boy spent much of his earliest years before returning to Honolulu to live with his grandparents. 

Obama attended Occidental College in Los Angeles for two years before he transferred to Columbia University to study political science and international relations. He later went to Harvard Law School in 1988. 

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After his first year of school, he began working at a law firm in Chicago, Sidley & Austin, where he met his future wife Michelle. The two got married in 1992 and welcomed two children together, Malia and Natasha "Sasha."

Obama's political tenure began in 1996, when he was elected to the Illinois Senate. In 2004, he was elected to the U.S. Senate, and gave the highly anticipated keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. 

In 2007, Obama announced that he would be running for president. He secured the Democratic nomination against former Republican Senator John McCain. Obama ran with the slogan "Change we can believe in."

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Obama defeated McCain and became the 44th President of the United States, the first African American elected to the position. He was inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2009.

After four years as president, he ran for a second term. In 2012, he was elected over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. With the conclusion of his second term in office, he delivered his farewell address to the nation on Jan. 10, 2017, from Chicago. 

Before, during and after his eight years as president, Obama penned four novels. His first, "Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance" was published in 1995. He later published "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream" in 2006. 

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In 2010, his book "Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters" was released. "A Promised Land," by Obama, hit bookshelves in 2020. 

Ashlyn Messier is a writer for Fox News Digital. 

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