Born: August 4, 1961 in Honolulu, HI to Barack Obama, Sr. a black Kenyan, and Anne Dunham from Kansas. Education: Attended Occidental College for two years before transferring to Columbia University, where he majored in political science. After spending two years after graduation in New York City, he served as a community organizer in Chicago for three years before entering Harvard Law School. Experience: 2004-present: Senator from Illinois. 1997-2004: State Senator from Illinois, District 13. 1992-2004: Lecturer at University of Chicago Law School. Most Important Pieces of Legislation Authored: Coburn-Obama Transparency Act (2006): Authorized a new government website with search engine for federal spending. Iraq War De-Escalation Act (2007): Legislation, never passed, that would have provided benchmarks for troop withdrawals from Iraq and counteracted the troop surge. Family: Wife – Michelle Robinson (m. 1992), two daughters. Did You Know?: In June, Obama, an avid basketball player, spent over three hours at the gym in one day. Scandal: Obama’s pastor of twenty years, Chicago-based Reverend Jeremiah Wright, delivered racially-charged sermons in 2001 and 2003, uncovered earlier this year by ABC News. After pressure, Obama ended Wright’s relationship with the campaign and repudiated his comments.
