Barack Obama was born in 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was the first African American president of the United States, serving from 2009 to 2017. Obama had a difficult childhood, as his parents divorced when he was young. He later graduated from Columbia University and Harvard Law School. Obama worked as a community organizer and professor before serving in the Illinois State Senate from 1997 to 2004. He was then elected as the junior United States Senator from Illinois in 2004. In 2008, Obama was elected as the 44th president, becoming the first African American to hold the nation's highest office.