Barack Obama was born in 1961 in Honolulu and faced some family problems growing up. He graduated from Columbia University in 1983 and Harvard Law School in 1991. Obama worked as a civil rights lawyer in Chicago and was elected to the Illinois State Senate in 1996. He was elected as the junior United States Senator from Illinois in 2004 and worked to end the Iraq war. In 2008, Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States, becoming the first African American president and facing major challenges with the budget, economy, healthcare, and other issues.

1. BARACK OBAMA
LIFE – PRESIDENCY – GREATEST CHALLENGES

2. BIOGRAPHY – Early life and school
• Born on 4th August 1961 in Honolulu
• Family problems
• Graduated with academic honors in
1978
• Columbia University in New York,
where he graduated in 1983
• First worked in the business sector for
two years, then moved to Chicago

3. BARACK OBAMA AS A CHILD

4. BIOGRAPHY – Law Career
• After his job in Chicago: visited
relatives in Kenya
• After the trip: decided to join the
Harvard Law School (also met his wife
Michelle there)
• Graduated magna cum laude in 1991
(meens that he is a doctor)
• Returned to Chicago to work as a civil
rights lawyer

5. POLITICAL CAREER
• llinois State Senate (Democrat), won
election in 1996
• 2000: Obama made an unsuccessful
Democratic primary run for a U. S.
House of Representatives seat
• Began raising funds to run in the 2004
U.S. Senate Race
• Was against Iraq war

6. U.S. SENATE CAREER
• In the 2004 Democratic primary, he
won 52 percent of the vote
• November 2004 general election:
Obama received 70 percent of the vote
to Keyes' 27 percent, the largest
electoral victory in Illinois history
• Sworn into office: January 4th, 2005

7. BARACK OBAMA 2005

8. ELECTION 2008
• Announced in February 2007
• A tight battle between Obama and
Hillary Clinton started
• On November 4th defeated Republican
presidential nominee John McCain with
52.9 to 45.7 percent; became the 44th
president of the United States and the
first African-American

9. ELECTION NIGHT 2008

10. GREATEST CHALLENGES
• Budget
• Economy
• Iraq
• Israeli-Palestinian conflict
• Guantánamo
• Climate change
• Healthcare

11. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!