7 Barack Obama 7years later and graduated magna cum laude in 1991 from
Harvard University’s law school, where he was the first
African American to serve as president of the Harvard
Law Review. While a summer associate in 1989 at the
Chicago law firm of Sidley Austin, Obama met Chicago
native Michelle Robinson, a young lawyer at the firm. The
two married in 1992.
After receiving his law degree, Obama moved to
Chicago and became active in the Democratic Party.
During this period, Obama wrote his first book, the mem-
oir, Dreams from My Father (1995), and saw it published.
Obama lectured on constitutional law at the University of
Chicago and worked as an attorney on civil rights issues.
In 1996 he was elected to the Illinois Senate.
In 2004 he was elected to the U.S. Senate, defeating
Republican Alan Keyes in the first U.S. Senate race in
which the two leading candidates were African
Americans. While campaigning for the U.S. Senate,
Obama gained national recognition by delivering the
keynote address at the Democratic National Convention
in July 2004. Obama quickly became a major figure in his
party. His second book, The Audacity of Hope (2006), a
mainstream polemic on his vision for the United States,
was published weeks later, instantly becoming a major best
seller. In February 2007 he announced that he would seek
the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 2008.
On Jan. 3, 2008, Obama won a surprise victory in the
first major nomination, the Iowa caucus, over Sen.
Hillary Clinton, who was the overwhelming favourite to
win the nomination. Five days later, however, Obama
finished second to Clinton in the New Hampshire pri-
mary, and a bruising—and sometimes bitter—primary
race ensued. On June 3, following the final primaries in
Montana and South Dakota, the number of delegates
pledged to Obama surpassed the total necessary to