Barack Obama 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 organizer in Chicago. In 1988, he
Newspaper endorsements for Barack Obama in the 2008 United States presidential election Newspaper endorsements for Barack Obama in the 2008 United States presidential election During the 2008 United States presidential election, newspapers, magazines, and other publications made general election endorsements. As of November 4, 2008, Barack Obama had received more than twice as many publication endorsements as John McCain; in terms of circulation, the ratio was more than 3 to 1, according to the detailed tables below. In summary: According to Editor & Publisher magazine, as of November 3, 2008, there were 273 newspapers endorsing Barack Obama compared to 172 for John McCain. By comparison, the magazine reported that before election day