Barack Obama served as the 44th President of the United States. In doing so, he made history by becoming the first African American to hold the office.Born in 1961 to a Kenyan father and an American mother, he grew up in Hawaii and Indonesia.He studied political science and international relations at Columbia University before going on to study law at the prestigious Harvard University.In the early 1990s, Obama returned to Chicago and joined a small law firm which specialised in civil rights.It was at this law firm where he met Michelle Robinson who supervised his work at the firm. After four years of dating, he married Michelle and they had two daughters, Malia and Sasha, who were born in 1998 and 2001.Encouraged by his wife, Obama launched his political career as a member of the Democratic Party, eventually going on to announce his candidacy for US president in 2007.In 2009, Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize, becoming the fourth president to do so.Having now retired from politics, he and Michelle write memoirs and have secured a deal with streaming giant Netflix to produce a set of films and series under their production company.To find out more about the 44th President of the United States - watch Yahoo UK’s explainer video.