Barack Hussein Obama II was born in Honolulu on August 4, 1961. In Swahili, his first name means "blessed." While Obama's father, Barack Hussein Obama Sr., was born in Kenya, his mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, was born in Kansas.

Obama was born and raised in Indonesia via his mother and stepfather from the age of six to ten. He returned to Hawaii in 1971 to live with his maternal grandparents.

Obama worked as a civil rights attorney, community activist, speaker, and professor before becoming an Illinois state senator.