Age: 47
Birthdate: Aug. 4, 1961
Birthplace: Honolulu, Hawaii
Education: Columbia University; Harvard Law School
Wife: Michelle Robinson Obama
Children: Daughters Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7
<>Religious affiliation: United Church of Christ
Party: Democrat
In Photo: President elect Barack Obama takes the stage before introducing Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., at a dinner in Washington, Monday, Jan. 19, 2009.
Family: Barack Obama was born to a Kenyan father and a white American mother. His father, Barack Obama Sr., married his mother, Ann Dunham, while studying at the University of Hawaii. The couple separated two years after Obama was born. His father ultimately returned to Kenya, where he became a noted economist. He died in a car accident in 1982.
Obama's mother's second marriage was to an Indonesian man named Lolo Soetoro. The family moved to Indonesia and Obama remained there until he was 10 when he moved back to Hawaii and lived with his grandparents while studying on a scholarship at the elite Punahou Academy.
He has seven half brothers and sisters in Kenya from his father's other marriages, and a half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, from his mother's second marriage.
In photo: In this Jan. 3, 2008 file photo, Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., with his wife Michelle and daughters Malia, left, and Sasha, center, at an after caucus rally at the Hy-Vee Center after winning the Iowa democratic presidential caucus in Des Moines, Iowa.
Career: After finishing college in 1983, Obama worked for a New York financial consultancy and a consumer organization. He landed a job in Chicago in 1985 as an organizer for Developing Communities Project, a church-based group seeking to improve living conditions in poor neighborhoods.
Three years later, Obama left to go to Harvard Law School, where he became the first black president of the law review. He worked as a summer associate at the Sidley Austin law firm in Chicago, where he met his future wife. After graduation from Harvard in 1991, Obama practiced civil rights law at a small firm in Chicago, then became a lecturer in constitutional law at the University of Chicago in 1993.
In photo: U. S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., receives an honorary Doctor of Laws degree during the commencement program at Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans on Saturday, Aug. 12, 2006.
Elective office: Obama won a seat in the Illinois state Senate in 1996. During his time in the Legislature, he worked on welfare and ethics legislation, as well as a measure requiring electronic recording of police interrogations and confessions in homicide investigations.
Obama won a heavily contested U.S. Senate seat in 2004, carrying 53 percent of the Democratic primary vote in an eight-candidate race. He easily won the general election as well. In the U.S. Senate he compiled a liberal voting record, but was one of the few Democrats to back a measure on class-action lawsuits. He opposed the appointment of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The nonpartisan National Journal ranked him as the most liberal member of the U.S. Senate early this year based on his voting record in 2007. He was ranked 10th most liberal in 2006 and 16th most liberal in 2005.
Presidential campaign: Obama announced his presidential candidacy on Feb. 10, 2007. Though New York Sen. In photo: Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. pauses prior to a meeting in Tel Aviv, Israel, in this file photo from Jan. 10, 2006. Obama chastised fellow Democrats on Wednesday June 28, 2006.
Hillary Clinton was initially seen as the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, Obama quickly showed an ability to raise large amounts of money and draw record-breaking crowds who were attracted to his rhetorical skill, his opposition to the Iraq war, and his promise to move beyond the divisive politics of the past 40 years.
In photo: President-elect Barack Obama, left, stands with his choice to be secretary of state, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., right, at a news conference in Chicago, Monday, Dec. 1, 2008.
Obama won the first contest of the Democratic primary in Iowa in January 2008, but did not clinch the nomination until the last states had cast their ballots in June. During the protracted battle with Clinton, Obama had to explain away a disparaging comment about rural voters and distance himself from a former preacher's incendiary remarks. His campaign developed new ways to mobilize voters through the Internet.
In photo: Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. acknowledges the crowd at the state Democratic election celebration party in Manchester, N.H. in this Dec. 10, 2006 file photo. CNN apologized Tuesday Jan. 2, 2006 for mistakenly promoting a story on the search for Osama bin Laden with the headline "Where's Obama?" A spokesman for Obama said the apology was accepted.
After accepting the Democratic nomination in Denver in August, Obama faced Republican John McCain in the general election. McCain initially led in opinion polls after he picked Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate, but his support eroded amid a souring economy and concern about Palin's qualifications.
In photo: Senator Barak Obama, D-Ill., listens to academy awarding-winning actor George Clooney speaking to the media at the National Press Club in Washignton Thursday, April 27, 2006, to call attention to the critical situation in the Darfur region of Sudan. In his latest album, "Living With War," Neil Young mentions Obama in the song "Lookin' for a Leader." In it, Young sings of the nation's need for a new leader, singing, "Yeah maybe it's Obama, but he thinks that he's too young."
Obama won 53 percent of the popular vote on Election Day, Nov. 4.
In photo: In this Aug. 28, 2008 file photo, then Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., hugs his wife, Michelle Obama, after giving his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention at Invesco Field at Mile High in Denver.
