Barack Obama

Barack Obama, full name Barack Hussein Obama II, served as the 44th President of the United States from January 20, 2009, to January 20, 2017. He made history by being the first African-American to hold the office. Before his presidency, he was a United States Senator from Illinois (January 3, 2005 – November 16, 2008) and a member of the Illinois Senate from the 13th district from (January 8, 1997 – November 4, 2004). Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. He started his career as a community organizer in Chicago prior to earning his law degree. He worked as a civil rights attorney and an academic, teaching constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School. His presidency was characterized by significant policy change and diplomatic efforts, including healthcare reform (Obamacare), withdrawing most U.S troops from Iraq, signed a nuclear disarmament treaty with Russia, authorization of military intervention in Libya, executive order instating deferred actions for child arrivals (DACA), normalized relations with Cuba and finalized a nuclear deal with Iran amongst many other major-critical domestic and foreign policy decisions.