Born Barack Hussein Obama, Jr, to white-American Ann Dunham and Kenya-born Harvard-educated economist on August 4, 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Obama is seen as a child with his mother Ann Dunham, in an undated family snapshot from the 1960s.

His biological parents had divorced after his birth and his father died in 1982 in an auto incident. Obama (R), is seen in 1970 at age 9 with his step-father Lolo Soetoro (L), his sister Maya Soetoro and his mother Ann Dunham (C), in a family snapshot.

Obama went to Harvard Law School, where he was elected the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. Obama is seen playing in the ocean as a child in an undated family snapshot from the 1960s.

He was elected the 44th President of the US on November 4, 2008 after he defeated then Republican candidate John McCain and was sworn in on January 20, 2009. Obama is seen swinging a baseball bat as a child in an undated family snapshot.

Obama is the first ever US President to travel to India in his first term, has endorsed New Delhi for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council. Obama is seen with his wife Michelle in a family snapshot from their October 18, 1992 wedding day.

Obama was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. Obama is seen teaching constitutional law at the University of Chicago in an undated picture from the 1990s.

Obama managed to earn crucial points by dispatching a team of commandos to kill al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. Obama and his wife Michelle are seen spending Christmas in Hawaii in an undated family snapshot from the 1990s.

Besides his native English, Obama speaks some basic Indonesian, having learned the language during his four childhood years in Jakarta. Obama (C) is seen posing with his maternal grandparents Stanley and Madelyn Dunham in New York City in an undated family snapshot from the 1980s

In May 2012, he became the first sitting US president to publicly support legalising same-sex marriage. Obama is seen at his high school graduation in Hawaii in 1979, in a family snapshot.

Barack Obama is the third consecutive president of the US to retain office after his predecessors George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Obama is pictured on a tricycle in Hawaii in an undated family snapshot from the 1960s.