Barack Obama

1961 – present · age 65^[1][2]

Politics & Leadership

Fun Facts About Barack Obama

• Barack Obama has won two Grammy Awards for Best Spoken Word Album and three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Narrator, one of them for Our Great National Parks.^[1]
• As a boy in Jakarta, Obama was registered in school as "Barry" and spoke Indonesian fluently. He kept the nickname Barry until a visit to Kenya in 1980.^[1]
• Obama met Michelle Robinson at the law firm Sidley Austin, where she was assigned as his adviser. She declined his first requests for a date.^[1]
• The Obama family dog Bo, a Portuguese Water Dog, was a gift from Senator Ted Kennedy.^[1]
• In 2011 Obama invited the 1985 Chicago Bears to the White House. The team had missed its visit after its Super Bowl win because of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.^[1]
• Barack Obama was alive at the same time as Igor Stravinsky — their lives overlapped for 10 years (1961–1971).^[1][2][3][4]
• Barack Obama shares a birthday with Louis Armstrong: both were born on August 4.^[1][2][5][6]
• Barack Obama's lifetime included this world event: Rwandan genocide (1994).^[1][2][7]

Barack Hussein Obama II is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president. Obama previously served as a U.S. senator representing Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and as an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004.^[1]

Contemporaries

Noam Chomsky

65 yr overlap

Wole Soyinka

65 yr overlap

Dalai Lama

65 yr overlap

Woody Allen

65 yr overlap

Francis Ford Coppola

65 yr overlap

Bob Dylan

65 yr overlap

Billie Jean King

65 yr overlap

Aung San Suu Kyi

65 yr overlap

Steven Spielberg

65 yr overlap

Oprah Winfrey

65 yr overlap

Rigoberta Menchú

65 yr overlap

Ai Weiwei

65 yr overlap

Their World

Questions About Barack Obama

When was Barack Obama born?

Barack Obama was born on August 4, 1961, and is alive today.

How old is Barack Obama?

Barack Obama was born on August 4, 1961, and turned 65 on August 4, 2026.

What is Barack Obama known for?

Barack Obama is known for: 44th US President, first African American president. Barack Hussein Obama II is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president. Obama previously served as a U.S. senator representing Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and as an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004.

Who was alive at the same time as Barack Obama?

Barack Obama's closest contemporary was Noam Chomsky. Their lives overlapped for 65 years.