User:JMesserly/test1

Barack Obama
JMesserly/test1
Junior Senator from Illinois
Incumbent
Assumed office  January 4 2005 Serving with Richard Durbin
Preceded by	Peter Fitzgerald
Member of the Illinois State Senate from the 13th district
In office January 8, 1997 – November 4, 2004
Preceded by	Alice J. Palmer
Succeeded by	Kwame Raoul
Born	August 4 1961 (1961-Template:Pad2digit-Template:Pad2digit) Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Michelle Obama
Alma mater	Columbia University, Harvard Law School
Religion	Protestant Christian: (Trinity United Church of Christ)
Signature	JMesserly/test1's signature

Born to a Kenyan father and an American mother, he spent most of his early life in Honolulu, Hawaii. From ages six to ten, he lived in Jakarta, Indonesia with his mother and Indonesian stepfather. A graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, Obama worked as a community organizer, university lecturer, and civil rights lawyer before running for public office and serving in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004. After an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000, he announced his campaign for U.S. Senate in 2003.