Barack Obama is an American politician and the 44th President of the United States. Born and raised in Hawaii, he graduated from Columbia University and went on to work as a community organizer in Chicago during the mid-1980s. During his time at Harvard Law School, he became the first black President of the Harvard Law Review. Upon graduation he worked as a civil rights attorney and as a professor of constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School. He also served as a representative in the Illinois Senate until 2004 when he decided to run for US Senate. After a major primary victory, he rose to national attention when he was was invited to make the 2004 Democratic National Convention keynote address, a speech that many mark as a turning point in his political career and a major reason he won the election for US Senator for Illinois by a landslide. In 2007, during his first term as Senator, he announced his campaign for President of the United States. Despite his young age he quickly rose to prominence on a platform of hope and change, particularly on the issues of ending the Iraq War, healthcare reform, and energy independence. Obama went head-to-head with Senator Hillary Clinton during the Democratic Presidential primaries and came out on top by June of 2008, when Clinton formally endorsed him. With Delaware Senator Joe Biden as his Vice Presidential running-mate, Obama ran a historic campaign against Republicans John McCain and Sarah Palin. Not only was he the first African American Presidential major-party candidate, but he became the first major-party candidate to turn down public financing in the general election. Obama won the Presidential Election in another a landslide victory, breaking records in young voter turn-out and effectively becoming the first African American to serve as President of the United States. During his first term, he signed landmark bills such as the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, the Don't Ask, Dont' Tell Repeal Act of 2010, and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. While he increased military presence in Afghanistan, he eventually ended military involvement in Iraq and ordered the military operation that led to the death of known terrorist Osama bin Laden. After he was reelected in 2012, he demonstrated a new fearlessness when it came to both global issues and civil liberties such as climate change, immigration, and LGBT rights. He pressured the Supreme Court to strike down the ban on same-sex marriage, which eventually led to 2015 ruling of Obergefell v. Hodges that deemed state-level bans on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional. As President, Obama was also a fierce advocate for gun control, especially after the events of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. He led discussions that resulted in the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change and issued sanctions against Russia in 2015 and again 2016 following the Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election. Since he left office in 2017, Obama continues to serve the American people through the Obama Foundation, which is dedicated to promoting active citizenship and empowering people to change the world.
