Born in Chicago, Illinois

October 26, 1947

Hillary Diane Rodham was born at Edgewater Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, and was raised in a United Methodist family.

Her father, Hugh Ellsworth Rodham, was a child of Welsh and English immigrants and operated a successful small business in the textile industry. Her mother, Dorothy Emma Howell, of English, Scottish, French Canadian, and Welsh descent, was a homemaker. She has two younger brothers, Hugh and Tony.

Born in Honolulu, Hawaii

August 4, 1961

Obama was born on August 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Barack Obama, Sr., of Nyangoma-Kogelo, Siaya District, Kenya, and Ann Dunham, of Wichita, Kansas. His parents met while both were attending the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where his father was enrolled as a foreign student.

Honolulu, Hawaii

August 4, 1961 - August 4, 1964

Honolulu, Hawaii

Maine East High School

September 1, 1961 - June 20, 1964

She attended Maine East High School, where she participated in student council, appeared on It's Academic, and was selected for National Honor Society.

Parents Divorced

August 4, 1963

They separated when he was two years old and later divorced.

Volunteered for Republican candidate Barry Goldwater

March 1, 1964

Raised in a politically conservative household, she volunteered for Republican candidate Barry Goldwater in the U.S. presidential election of 1964.

Mother remarried

May 4, 1964

Dunham married Lolo Soetoro

Jakarta, Indonesia

August 4, 1964 - September 1, 1971

After her divorce, Dunham married Lolo Soetoro, and the family moved to Soetoro's home country of Indonesia in 1967, where Obama attended local schools in Jakarta until he was ten years old.

Maine South High School

September 1, 1964 - June 20, 1965

For her senior year she was redistricted to Maine South High School, where she was a National Merit Finalist and graduated in 1965.

Wellesley College

September 20, 1965 - June 25, 1969

Rodham enrolled in Wellesley College in 1965, where she majored in political science. During her freshman year, she served as president of the Rockefeller Republican-oriented Wellesley Young Republicans organization. and with them supported the elections of John Lindsay and Edward Brooke. However, due to her evolving views regarding the American Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War, she stepped down. She proclaimed herself "a mind conservative and a heart liberal." Rather than take then-popular radical actions against the political system, she sought to work for change within the system. In her junior year, Rodham became a supporter of the anti-war presidential nomination campaign of Democrat Eugene McCarthy. Following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., Rodham organized a two-day student strike and worked with Wellesley's black students to recruit more black students and faculty. In early 1968, she was elected president of the Wellesley College Government Association and served through early 1969; she was instrumental in keeping Wellesley from being embroiled by the student disruptions common to other colleges. A number of her fellow students thought she might someday become the first woman President of the United States. So she could better understand her changing political views, Professor Alan Schechter assigned Rodham to intern at the House Republican Conference and she attended the "Wellesley in Washington" summer program. Rodham was invited by moderate New York Republican Representative Charles Goodell to help Governor Nelson Rockefeller’s late-entry campaign for the Republican nomination. Rodham attended the 1968 Republican National Convention in Miami. However, she was upset by how Richard Nixon's campaign portrayed Rockefeller and what she perceived as the "veiled" racist messages of the convention, causing her to leave the Republican Party for good.

Rodham returned to Wellesley, and wrote her senior thesis about the tactics of radical community organizer Saul Alinsky under Professor Schechter (which, years later while she was First Lady, was suppressed at White House request and became the subject of speculation). In 1969, Rodham graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, with departmental honors in political science. Stemming from the demands of some students, she became the first student in Wellesley College history to deliver their commencement address. Her speech received a standing ovation lasting seven minutes. She was featured in an article published in Life magazine, due to the response to a part of her speech that criticized Senator Edward Brooke, who had spoken before her at the commencement.

Yale Law School

September 1, 1970 - July 1, 1973

Rodham then entered Yale Law School, where she served on the Board of Editors of the Yale Review of Law and Social Action.

She received a Juris Doctor degree from Yale in 1973, having spent an extra year in order to be with Clinton.

Bill Clinton

June 1, 1971 - Now

In the late spring of 1971, she began dating Bill Clinton, also a law student at Yale. When Hilliary moved to Oakland, CA for a summer, Clinton canceled his original summer plans in order to live with her in California; the couple continued living together in New Haven when they returned to law school. She received a Juris Doctor degree from Yale in 1973, having spent an extra year in order to be with Clinton. Clinton first proposed marriage to her following graduation, but she declined.

Honolulu, Hawaii

September 1, 1971 - July 1, 1979

Obama moved back to Honolulu, Hawaii to stay with his mother's family. After high school, he moved to Los Angeles, California.

Punahou School

September 1, 1972 - June 1, 1979

Barack attend Punahou School from the 5th grade until his high school graduation. Punahou is a K - 12th school.

Occidental College

September 1, 1979 - June 1, 1981

Following high school, Obama moved to Los Angeles, where he studied at Occidental College for two years.

Chelsea born

Feburary 27, 1980

On February 27, 1980, Rodham gave birth to a daughter, Chelsea, her only child.

Columbia University

September 1, 1981 - June 1, 1983

Barack transferred to Columbia University in New York City, where he majored in political science with a specialization in international relations.

Obama graduated with a B.A. from Columbia in 1983.

Michelle Robinson

July 1, 1988 - Now

Obama met his future wife, Michelle Robinson, in 1988 when he was employed as a summer associate at the Chicago law firm of Sidley & Austin.[149] Assigned for three months as Obama's adviser at the firm, Robinson joined him at group social functions, but declined his initial offers to date. They began dating later that summer, became engaged in 1991, and were married in October 1992.

Harvard Law School

September 1, 1988 - June 1, 1991

He entered Harvard Law School in 1988. In 1990, The New York Times reported his election as the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. Obama graduated with a J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard in 1991.

First Lady of the US

January 20, 1993 - January 20, 2001

When Bill Clinton took office as president in January 1993, Hillary Rodham Clinton became the First Lady of the United States, and announced that she would be using that form of her name. She was the first First Lady to hold a post-graduate degree and to have her own professional career up to the time of entering the White House. She was also the first to take up an office in the West Wing of the White House: the First Lady usually stays in the East Wing. She is regarded as the most openly empowered presidential wife in American history, save for Eleanor Roosevelt.

Illinois Senate

July 1, 1995 - July 1, 1998

In July 1995, Obama announced plans to run for the Illinois Senate from Chicago's 13th District, representing areas of Chicago's South Side, including Hyde Park-Kenwood and South Shore. Obama's campaign raised legal challenges to the nominating petitions of incumbent Alice Palmer and the three other candidates, successfully removing their names from the ballot and allowing him to run unopposed in the primary, virtually handing him victory in the heavily-Democratic district. Once elected, Obama gained bipartisan support for legislation reforming ethics and health care laws. He sponsored a law increasing tax credits for low-income workers, negotiated welfare reform, and promoted increased subsidies for childcare. Obama also led the passage of legislation mandating videotaping of homicide interrogations, and a law to monitor racial profiling by requiring police to record the race of drivers they stopped.

Illinois Senate

July 1, 1998 - July 1, 2002

2nd term as Illinois Senator

1st term as U.S. Senator

January 3, 2001 - November 7, 2006

Clinton secured a broad base of support, including endorsements from conservation groups and organized labor, but not the New York City police and firefighters' unions. By the date of the election, the campaigns of Clinton and Lazio, along with Giuliani's initial effort, had spent a record combined $90 million. Clinton won the election on November 7, 2000, with 55 percent of the vote to Lazio's 43 percent. She was sworn in as United States Senator on January 3, 2001.


Clinton strongly supported the 2001 U.S. military action in Afghanistan, saying it was a chance to combat terrorism while improving the lives of Afghan women who suffered under the Taliban government.


Clinton voted in favor of the October 2002 Iraq War Resolution, which authorized United States President George W. Bush to use military force against Iraq, should such action be required to enforce a United Nations Security Council Resolution after pursuing with diplomatic efforts.

Illinois Senate

July 1, 2002 - November 1, 2004

3rd term as Illinois Senator

US Senator

January 4, 2005 - Now

The U.S. Senate Historical Office lists him as the fifth African American Senator in U.S. history, the third to have been popularly elected, and the only African American currently serving in the Senate.

2nd term as U.S. Senator

January 7, 2007 - Now

Clinton opposed the Iraq War troop surge of 2007 and supported a February 2007 non-binding Senate resolution against it, which failed to gain cloture.

2008 Presidential campaign

January 20, 2007 - Now

Clinton had been mentioned as a potential candidate for United States President since at least October 2002. On January 20, 2007, Clinton announced via her web site the formation of a presidential exploratory committee for the United States presidential election of 2008. She stated, "I'm in. And I'm in to win." No woman has ever been nominated by a major party for President of the United States.

Campain for US presidency

Feburary 1, 2007 - Now

Run for US Presidency

Presidential Inauguration

January 20, 2009

The inauguration of Barack Obama as the forty-fourth President, and Joe Biden as Vice President, took place on January 20, 2009. The theme of the inauguration was "A New Birth of Freedom," commemorating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln.