Barack Obama on the South Side of Chicago. Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (; born August 4, 1961) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 44th President of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American to be elected to the presidency. He previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois (2005–2008). Obama was born in 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii, two years after the territory was admitted to the Union as the 50th state. After graduating from Columbia University in 1983, he worked as a community
Oprah Winfrey's endorsement of Barack Obama got his start appearing on Winfrey's show, into a household name, hit talk show host, and the author of multiple best-sellers. On September 25, 2006, Winfrey appeared on Larry King Live and was asked about a fan who started a campaign to get Winfrey to run for president. Larry King noted that Winfrey's lawyers had apparently warned the man to stop the campaign. Winfrey chided the lawyers and advised the fan to "take all your energy, and put it in Barack Obama". Winfrey explained that Obama was her favorite senator and she hoped he would run for president. Then, on