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Barack Obama and family - Source: Reuters -
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Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States at noon on Wednesday.
Here are some biographical facts about the first African-American to hold the nation's highest office.
Age: 47
Birthdate: August 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
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.
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.
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 US Senate seat in 2004, carrying 53%
of the Democratic primary vote in an eight-candidate race. He
easily won the general election as well. In the US 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 US Supreme Court.
The nonpartisan National Journal ranked him as the most liberal
member of the US 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 February 10, 2007. Though New York Sen.
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.
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.
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.
Obama won 53% of the popular vote on Election Day, November 4.
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