Early life and career of Barack Obama in the Illinois state Senate and attended Louis Farrakhan's Million Man March in Washington, DC. Early life and career of Barack Obama Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States, was born on August 4, 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii to Barack Obama, Sr. (1936–1982) (born in Rachuonyo District, British Kenya) and Stanley Ann Dunham, known as Ann (1942–1995) (born in Wichita, Kansas, United States). Barack Obama spent most of his childhood years in Honolulu, where his mother attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Obama started a close relationship with his maternal grandparents. In 1965, his mother remarried to
First inauguration of Barack Obama inauguration, as Barack Obama placed his hand on the Bible and recited the presidential oath. Nearly four years earlier, then-Senator Obama had been one of 22 Senators to vote against Roberts during Roberts' Supreme Court nomination; the inauguration marked the first time a Chief Justice administered the oath to a President-elect who had previously voted against the Chief Justice's confirmation. Roberts and Obama made several mistakes as they recited the oath. The proper wording for the oath of office is prescribed in the Constitution: Roberts had practiced for the ceremony carefully. However, a memo noting his planned pauses in the