This article appears to be written like an advertisement. Please help improve it by rewriting promotional content from a neutral point of view and removing any inappropriate external links. (December 2010)

CarryQuote (or CarryQuote AG) is a privately-held company that provides integrated mobile and web access to every major exchange in real-time via smartphone, pad, or computer. Founded in 2007, CarryQuote is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, and has other offices in the United States, the United Kingdom, China, and Hong Kong.

Products[link]

• CarryQuote Enterprise CNBC Edition^[2]
• CarryQuote Professional CNBC Edition
• CarryQuote IntelliCast

Partners and Collaboration[link]

Global Data Sources[link]

CarryQuote has established direct partnerships with over 100 data sources to date.

CNBC[link]

On December 14, 2010, CNBC and CarryQuote announced a development and marketing collaboration that resulted in the release of CNBC PRO, a mobile and desktop financial application for individual investors.^[3]

CNBC PRO provides its subscribers with real-time financial data from more than 100 stock exchanges worldwide, plus CNBC news and streaming video.^[4] For the introductory price of $24.99 per month, or $269 per year, a user can access this information from his or her computer or BlackBerry, with access from iPhone, iPad, and Android to follow in 2011.^[5]

In December 2010, CNBC migrated its 16,000 users of CNBCplus to CNBC PRO.^[6]

Awards and recognition[link]

CarryQuote was named a winner of the 2008 Global 100 list by Red Herring (magazine)^[7]

CarryQuote was named a winner of the 12th annual IMD Startup Competition in December 2009.^[8]

CarryQuote received a Bully Award in 2010 from White Bull.^[9]

References[link]

External links[link]

• CarryQuote official website
• CNBC PRO official website
• Lars Tvede

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2010)

Ace Ventura is a fictional character, created by screenwriters Jack Bernstein, Tom Shadyac and Steve Oedekerk. Ace was played by Jim Carrey in the films (Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, released in 1994, and Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, released in 1995.) He was voiced by Michael Daingerfield (credited as Michael Hall) in the animated television series.

Biography[link]

Ace is a Miami-based private detective specializing in the retrieval of missing animals, said to be the son of Ron Ventura and descendant of such as "Ernest Ventura Shackleton" and "Jacques Ventura Costeau". It is not known whether the animated television series was contiguous with the feature-films; but if it was it may take place before them because the only one of his pets to appear in the series is his capuchin monkey, Spike. During the second film, Ace attempts monasticism after a failed rescue attempt of a raccoon; only to be called out of retirement to investigate a missing sacred animal. By the events portrayed in Ace Ventura, Jr. it is established that Ace has disappeared somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle, and never appears in the film itself.^[1]

Development[link]

This section requires expansion.

Bernstein had wanted to do a comedic version of Sherlock Holmes, and when watching the Stupid Pet Tricks segment on Late Night With David Letterman, got the idea for a pet detective.^{[citation needed]}

Personality[link]

Ace Ventura is an eccentric self-styled 'pet detective' who forsook regular police work to concentrate on this latter pursuit. Like other fictional detectives, he is notable for extraordinary powers of observation and deduction; and on at least one occasion, he has managed to escape being shot by catching a bullet in his teeth.

Ventura's eccentricities include his persistent vulgarity and exceedingly flamboyant behaviour; but he is nevertheless a dedicated detective, driven by an insatiable adoration of animals and a desire to protect them from human mistreatment. In Ace Ventura Jr: Pet Detective, it is implied that his abilities, personality, and appearance are hereditary. Although Ace is an animal lover, the second film reveals a deep-seated chiroptophobia.

In most appearances, Ace usually wears an unbuttoned Aloha shirt over a plain white A-shirt, with red and black striped trousers and black combat boots. He lives in an apartment alongside many different animals, all of whom hide from his landlord, Mr. Schickadance, in his absence.

[edit] Appearance in The Mask: The Animated Series

In the episodes "The Aceman Cometh/Have Mask, Will Travel" of The Mask: The animated series, when Milo, the pet dog of Stanley Ipkiss, was stolen by Dr. Pretorius, Ipkiss calls Ace for help. Both Ipkiss/the Mask and Ace Ventura were the animated versions of characters portrayed by Jim Carrey himself. Ace later accidentally wears the mask on his rump, which assumes a face similar to his own and gains the ability to speak, suggesting a joke featured in the original film of speaking while presenting his rump to the listener and moving it in semblance of a speaking mouth.

Reception[link]

Ace was ranked the 60th Greatest Movie Character in a November, 2008 list by Empire Magazine.^[2] Cyborg Franky from Japanese anime and manga One Piece is based on the character.^{[citation needed]}

See also[link]

• Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
• Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls

External links[link]

• Ace Ventura: Pet Detective at the Internet Movie Database
• Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls at the Internet Movie Database
• Ace Ventura Jr: Pet Detective at the Internet Movie Database

References[link]

Jim Carrey
Carrey at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival
Born	James Eugene Carrey (1962-01-17) January 17, 1962 (age 50) Newmarket, Ontario, Canada
Occupation	Actor, comedian, producer
Years active	1979–present
Height	6' 2"
Spouse	Melissa Womer (1987–1995) Lauren Holly (1996–1997)
Partner	Jenny McCarthy (2005–2010) Anastasia Vitkina (2011–present)
Children	1
Website
JimCarrey.com

James Eugene "Jim" Carrey (born January 17, 1962) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian, and producer. Carrey has received four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning two. Known for his highly energetic, slapstick performances, he has been described as one of the biggest movie stars in Hollywood.^[1]

Carrey first gained recognition in 1990 after landing a recurring role in the sketch comedy In Living Color. His first leading roles in major productions came with Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), Dumb and Dumber (1994), The Mask (1994), and Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995). In 1997, he gave a critically acclaimed performance in Liar Liar, which earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor. He then starred in the critically acclaimed hits The Truman Show (1998) and Man on the Moon (1999), both garnering him two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actor.

In 2000, he gained further recognition for his portrayal of the The Grinch in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Three years later, Carrey starred in the major blockbuster film Bruce Almighty (2003). The following year he starred in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), for which he received another Golden Globe nomination in addition to a BAFTA Award nomination. He then starred in popular productions Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004), Fun with Dick and Jane (2005), Yes Man (2008), A Christmas Carol (2009), and Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011).

He is set to star in Burt Wonderstone in 2013 as Steve Gray, in addition to reprising his role as Lloyd Christmas in Dumb and Dumber 2 in 2014. He is also set to star as Mr. Applegate in a film adaption of the broadway musical Damn Yankees.

Early life[link]

Carrey was born in Newmarket, Ontario, the son of Kathleen (née Oram), a homemaker, and Percy Carrey, a musician and accountant.^[2][3] He has three older siblings, John, Patricia, and Rita. He was raised Roman Catholic.^[4][5] His mother was of French,  Irish,  and Scottish descent^[6] and his father was of French Canadian ancestry (the family's original surname was Carré).^[7][8] After his family moved to Scarborough, Ontario, when Carrey was 14 years old, he attended Blessed Trinity Catholic School, in North York, for two years, enrolled at Agincourt Collegiate Institute for another year, then briefly attended Northview Heights Secondary School for the remainder of his high school career (all together, he spent three years in Grade 10).

Carrey lived in Burlington, Ontario, for eight years and attended Aldershot High School, where he once opened for 1980s new wave band Spoons. In a Hamilton Spectator interview (February 2007), Carrey remarked, "If my career in show business hadn't panned out I would probably be working today in Hamilton, Ontario at the Dofasco steel mill." When looking across the Burlington Bay toward Hamilton, he could see the mills and thought, "Those were where the great jobs were."^[9] At this point, he already had experience working in a science testing facility in Richmond Hill, Ontario.

Career[link]

Early work[link]

While struggling to obtain work and making a name for himself, Carrey's father decided to help the young comedian put together a stage act, driving him to Toronto to debut at comedy club Yuk Yuk's.^[10] Unfortunately, Carrey's impersonations bombed and this gave him doubts about his capability as a professional entertainer. His family, at the time, were struggling financially meaning it was difficult for them to support Carrey's ambitions. Eventually, the family's financial problems were soon dealt with and they moved into a new home.^[10] With a now more domestic stability, Carrey worked up the nerve to return to the stage with a more polished act. In a short period of time, Carrey went from open mic nights to regular paid shows; a growing reputation building in the process. One reviewer in the Toronto Star raved that Carrey was "a genuine star coming to life."^[11] Carrey was soon noticed by comedian Rodney Dangerfield, who signed the young comedian to open Dangerfield's tour performances.^[12] He eventually brought Carrey to Las Vegas, after which he decided to move to Hollywood. Carrey began performing at The Comedy Store and in 1982, appeared on the televised stand-up show An Evening at the Improv.^[13] The following year, he debuted his act on The Tonight Show.^[14]

Despite his increasing popularity as a stand-up comedian, Carrey turned his attention to the film and television industries, auditioning to be a cast member for the 1980–1981 season of NBC's Saturday Night Live. Carrey was not selected for the position (although he did host the show in May 1996, and again in January 2011^[15] ). He was, after a period of time, cast in seveal low-budget films: Rubberface (1981) playing a struggling young comic, and Copper Mountain (1983) playing a sex-starved teen, the latter including his impersonation of Sammy Davis Jr. Since the film had a less than one hour runtime consisting largely of musical performances by Rita Coolidge and Ronnie Hawkins, it was not considered a full-length feature film.

In 1984, Carrey was soon cast, surprisingly, as the lead in the NBC sitcom The Duck Factory, in which he played a quirky young artist alongside Jay Tarses. However, the show was unceremoniously cancelled during its first season. Despite the sudden cancellation, Carrey landed supporting roles in several low-budget films: Once Bitten (1985), Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), and The Dead Pool (1988). When Carrey returned to stand-up, he retired his old act vowing that he didn't want to be famous for imitating other people; "Some nights it was a melee, literally, where I'd be standing trying to defend myself for what I was doing. People would be screaming at me to do my old act, and getting actually violent and angry at me,".^[14] While many thought he was "crazy" for retiring his old act, others were increasingly interested in what Carrey was attempting to do, Judd Apatow in particular. The pair struck up a friendship and soon began writing material together.

Carrey continued to land small roles in film and television productions, which led to a friendship with fellow comedian Damon Wayans, who co-starred with Carrey as an extraterrestrial in 1989's Earth Girls Are Easy. Damon soon introduced Carrey to his brother Keenen, who at the time, was creating a sketch comedy show known as In Living Color, for the new Fox network. Carrey eventually landed a recurring role in the show which first aired on April 15, 1990. By the third season, Carrey was one of the few remaining original cast members and was ready to move onto bigger things, after agreeing to take on his first lead role in a Hollywood blockbuster film.

Rise to fame[link]

Carrey did not experience true stardom until landing the lead role in the slapstick comedy Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), which premiered only months before In Living Color ended. Despite agreeing to play the title character, Carrey would only take the role if he was allowed to rewrite the script, mostly to suit his over-the-top visions. The film, while dismissed by most critics, was an international hit, and transformed Carrey into a bankable box-office star overnight. In that same year, he landed two lead roles in The Mask and Dumb and Dumber, respectively. The Mask garnered him his first Golden Globe Award for Best Actor nomination, with Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times praising him for his "joyful performance".^[16] Well-received by critics, Dumb and Dumber was a commercial success, grossing over $270 million worldwide,^[17] and again boosting Carrey's fanbase.

Carrey in Madrid, Spain on December 13, 2008.

In 1995, Carrey starred in the Joel Schumacher-directed superhero film Batman Forever, in which Batman tries to stop Two-Face and the Riddler (played by Carrey) in their villainous scheme to drain information from all the brains in Gotham City. The feature received reasonable reviews upon release with most criticism aimed towards the movie's "blatant commercialism", as stated by Peter Travers.^[18] In that same year, Carrey reprised his role as Ace Ventura in Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls. Like the original film, it was well-received by the public but heavily criticised by critics. However, it was a huge box-office success, earning $212 million worldwide in addition to breaking records, with a $40 million opening weekend.^[19] Carrey earned $20 million for his next film, The Cable Guy (1996). Directed by Ben Stiller, Carrey played a lonely, slightly menacing cable TV installer who infiltrates the life of one of his customers (played by Matthew Broderick). The film tested Carrey's boundaries of his tried and true "hapless, hyper, overconfident" characters that he is known for regularly playing. However, it did not fare well with critics, many reacting towards Carrey's change of tone to previous films.^[20] Despite the reviews, The Cable Guy grossed $102 million worldwide.^[21]

He soon bounced back in 1997 with the critically acclaimed comedy Liar Liar, playing Fletcher Reede, an incredibly successful lawyer who has built his career on lying, regularly breaking promises that he makes to his son Max. Max soon makes a birthday wish that for just one day, his dad can't tell a lie. Carrey was praised for his performance, earning a second Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor. Janet Maslin of The New York Times said, "Well into his tumultuous career, Mr. Carrey finally turns up in a straightforward comic vehicle, and the results are much wilder and funnier than this mundane material should have allowed."^[22]

Critical acclaim[link]

The following year he decided to take a pay cut to play the serious role of Truman Burbank in the satirical comedy-drama film The Truman Show (1998).^[23] The film was highly praised and brought Carrey further international acclaim, leading many to believe he would be nominated for an Oscar.^[24] However, he did pick up his first Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama. The Truman Show was a commercial success also, earning $264 million worldwide against a budget of $60 million.^[25][26] According to a Film4 critic, the film, "...allows Carrey to edge away from broad comedy." but nonetheless called it "A hilarious and breathtakingly conceived satire..."^[27] That same year, Carrey appeared as a fictionalized version of himself on the final episode of Garry Shandling's The Larry Sanders Show, in which he deliberately ripped into Shandling's character. In 1999, Carrey had the lead role in Man on the Moon. He portrayed comedian Andy Kaufman to critical acclaim,^[28] with many believing that Carrey would finally be nominated for Best Actor. He again received his second Golden Globe Award for the second consecutive year. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times commented on Carrey's performance stating, "A brilliant, almost terrifying impersonation."

In 2000, Carrey reteamed with the Farrelly Brothers, who had directed him in Dumb and Dumber, in the comedy classic, Me, Myself & Irene, a film that received mixed reviews^[29] but enjoyed box office success. Carrey played the role of state trooper Charlie Baileygates, who has multiple personalities and romances a woman portrayed by Renée Zellweger. That same year, Carrey starred in the second highest grossing Christmas film of all time, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, playing the title character, for which he received praise and criticism.^[30] The film garnered him his third Golden Globe Award nomination in addition to countless other nominations and several wins.

For his next feature film, Carrey starred opposite Jennifer Aniston and Morgan Freeman in Tom Shadyac's international hit comedy Bruce Almighty (2003). Carrey played a TV newsman who unexpectedly receives God's omnipotent abilities when the deity decides to take a break. The film received mixed reviews upon release^[31] but despite this was a financial success, earning over $484 million worldwide, and going on to become the seventeenth highest-grossing live action comedy of all time. The film has since gained a cult following.^[19][32] In 2004, Carrey starred in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The film received overwhelming acclaim upon release; Carrey was highly praised for his portrayal of Joel Barish, in addition to his co-star Kate Winslet, who received an Oscar nomination. According to CNN's reviewer Paul Clinton, Carrey's performance was "the best, most mature and sharply focused performance ever."^[33] He received his fourth Golden Globe Award nomination, and was also nominated for his first BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

Carrey at the Yes Man premiere in 2008

Carrey's next appearance was in the 2004 black comedy drama film Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, which was based on the popular children's novels of the same name. The film received a positive reception, with Desson Thomson from The Washington Post commenting on Carrey's approach to the character of Count Olaf, stating "Olaf is a humorless villain in the book. He's not amusing like Carrey at all. To which I would counter: If you can't let Carrey be Carrey, put someone boring and less expensive in the role. In his various disguises he's rubbery, inventive and improvisationally inspired. I particularly liked his passing imitation of a dinosaur."^[34][35] That same year, Carrey was inducted into the Canadian Walk of Fame.^[36] In 2005, Carrey starred in a remake of Fun with Dick and Jane, playing Dick, a husband who becomes a bank robber after he loses his job. The film was dismissed by most critics but did manage to become a box office hit.

Continued success[link]

In 2007, Carrey reunited with Joel Schumacher, director of Batman Forever, for The Number 23, a psychological thriller co-starring Virginia Madsen and Danny Huston. In the film, Carrey plays a man who becomes obsessed with the number 23, after finding a book about a man with the same obsession. The film was lauded by critics and did not fare well at the box office. The following year Carrey provided his voice for Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! (2008). Carrey voiced the beloved elephant for the CGI-animated feature, which received overwhelmingly positive reviews and delivered family crowds en masse. The film was also a box office success raking in over $290 million worldwide.^[37] Later in the year, Carrey returned to live action comedy, starring opposite Zooey Deschanel and Bradley Cooper in Yes Man (2008). Carrey played down-and-out man, Carl Allen, who had gone nowhere in life, thanks to always saying no to everything, until he signs up for a self-help program that teaches him the power of saying yes. Despite reviews being mixed, Rene Rodriquez of The Miami Herald stated, "Yes Man is fine as far as Jim Carrey comedies go, but it's even better as a love story that just happens to make you laugh."^[38] The film had a decent performance at the box office, earning $225 million worldwide.

Since 2009, Carrey's work has included a leading role in Glenn Ficarra and John Requa's I Love You Phillip Morris, premiering in January 2009 at the Sundance Film Festival before receiving a wide release in February 2010. Carrey portrayed Steven Jay Russell, a con artist, imposter and multiple prison escapee who falls in love with his fellow inmate, Phillip Morris (played by Ewan McGregor). The film received largely positive reviews with Damon Wise of The Times giving the film four stars out of five, stating, "I Love You Phillip Morris" is an extraordinary film that serves as a reminder of just how good Carrey can be when he's not tied into a generic Hollywood crowd-pleaser. His comic timing remains as exquisite as ever."^[39]

For the first time in his career, Carrey portrayed multiple characters in Disney's 3D animated take on the classic Charles Dickens tale, A Christmas Carol (2009), voicing Ebenezer Scrooge and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, the film also starred Robin Wright Penn, Bob Hoskins, Colin Firth, Gary Oldman and Cary Elwes. The film received reasonable reviews and was a financial success. In 2011, Carrey landed the lead role in Mr. Popper's Penguins, playing Thomas "Tom" Popper Jr. a realtor who becomes the caretaker of a family of penguins. The film received a mixed reception upon release.^[40] He is set to star alongside former co-star Steve Carell in the Don Scardino-directed comedy film Burt Wonderstone (2013). Carrey will play Steve Gray, a dangerous street magician who overshadows Burt Wonderstone (played by Carell), a formerly successful magician whos partnership with another magician ends; Gray must convince Burts old partner to return to the act. Carrey entered negotiations for the role in October 2011. Principal photography began on January 10, 2012 and concluded on March 13. The film is currently in post-production.

On April 1, 2012 it was confirmed that Carrey, along with Jeff Daniels, would return for Dumb and Dumber 2. Bobby and Peter Farrelly are scheduled to direct and write the script, with the movie going into production in September 2012.^[41]

As of April 2012, Carrey's films have grossed over $4.6 billion worldwide, unadjusted for inflation.^[42]

Personal life[link]

Relationships[link]

Carrey with his family at the Horton Hears a Who! premiere in 2008.

Carrey has been married twice. His first marriage was to former actress and Comedy Store waitress Melissa Womer, whom he married on March 28, 1987. The two divorced in 1995. A year later Carrey married his Dumb and Dumber co-star Lauren Holly, on September 23, 1996; the marriage lasted less than a year.^[43] In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Carrey was involved in a series of relationships, including Laurie Holden, January Jones, and Anine Bing. In addition, Carrey had a much-publicized yet short-lived romance with his Me, Myself and Irene co-star Renée Zellweger, whom he dated, and at one point engaged, from 1999 to 2000.^[44]

Carrey met model and actress Jenny McCarthy in 2005 and made their relationship public in June 2006. In April 2010, the two ended their near five-year relationship.^[45] Despite the split and media circulations, McCarthy stated in October 2010 that, "Jim and I are still good friends".^[46]

Family[link]

Carrey has one child, a daughter named Jane Erin Carrey (born September 6, 1987 in Los Angeles County) from his first marriage.^[47] Carrey announced via his Twitter account on February 27, 2010, in Los Angeles^[48] that his daughter had given birth to her first child with musician husband Alex Santana. He announced that his grandson's name was Jackson Riley Santana.

Citizenship[link]

Carrey received U.S. citizenship in October 2004 and remains a dual citizen of both the United States and his native Canada.^[49]

Beliefs[link]

Carrey has been a critic of the scientific consensus that no evidence links the childhood MMR vaccination to the development of autism, and wrote an article questioning the merits of vaccination and vaccine research for the Huffington Post.^[50] With former partner Jenny McCarthy, Carrey led a "Green Our Vaccines" march in Washington, D.C., to advocate for the removal of toxins from children's vaccines, out of a belief that children had received "too many vaccines, too soon, many of which are toxic".^[51]

Filmography[link]

Actor[link]

Producer[link]

Other appearances[link]

Other accolades[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Jim Carrey

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jim Carrey

• Official website
• Jim Carrey at the Internet Movie Database
• Jim Carrey's channel on YouTube
• Jim Carrey on Twitter

Barack Obama
44th President of the United States
Incumbent
Assumed office January 20, 2009
Vice President	Joe Biden
Preceded by	George W. Bush
United States Senator from Illinois
In office January 3, 2005 – November 16, 2008
Preceded by	Peter Fitzgerald
Succeeded by	Roland Burris
Member of the Illinois Senate from the 13th District
In office January 8, 1997 – November 4, 2004
Preceded by	Alice Palmer
Succeeded by	Kwame Raoul
Personal details
Born	Barack Hussein Obama II (1961-08-04) August 4, 1961 (age 50)[1] Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.[2]
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Michelle Robinson (1992–present)
Children	Malia (born 1998) Sasha (born 2001)
Residence	White House (Official) Chicago, Illinois (Private)
Alma mater	Occidental College Columbia University (B.A.) Harvard Law School (J.D.)
Profession	Community organizer Lawyer Constitutional law professor Author
Religion	Christianity[3]
Awards	Nobel Peace Prize
Signature
Website	barackobama.com

	This article is part of a series on Barack Obama
Background Illinois Senate US Senate Political positions Public image Family 2008 primaries Obama–Biden campaign Transition Inauguration Electoral history Presidency Timeline '09 '10 '11 '12 First 100 days Nobel Peace Prize Re-election campaign

Barack Hussein Obama II (ⁱ/bəˈrɑːk huːˈseɪn oʊˈbɑːmə/; born August 4, 1961) is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. In January 2005, Obama was sworn in as a U.S. Senator in the state of Illinois. He would hold this office until November 2008, when he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.

Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was the president of the Harvard Law Review. He was a community organizer in Chicago before earning his law degree. He worked as a civil rights attorney in Chicago and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. He served three terms representing the 13th District in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004.

Following an unsuccessful bid against the Democratic incumbent for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 2000, Obama ran for the United States Senate in 2004. Several events brought him to national attention during the campaign, including his victory in the March 2004 Illinois Democratic primary for the Senate election and his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in July 2004. He won election to the U.S. Senate in Illinois in November 2004. His presidential campaign began in February 2007, and after a close campaign in the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries against Hillary Rodham Clinton, he won his party's nomination. In the 2008 presidential election, he defeated Republican nominee John McCain, and was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2009. Nine months later, Obama was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. In April 2011, he announced that he would be running for re-election in 2012.

As president, Obama signed economic stimulus legislation in the form of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010. Other domestic policy initiatives include the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010, and the Budget Control Act of 2011. In May 2012, he became the first sitting U.S. president to openly support legalizing same-sex marriage. In foreign policy, he ended the war in Iraq, increased troop levels in Afghanistan, signed the New START arms control treaty with Russia, ordered U.S. involvement in the 2011 Libya military intervention, and ordered the military operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden.

Early life and career[link]

Obama was born on August 4, 1961, at Kapiʻolani Maternity & Gynecological Hospital (now Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women and Children) in Honolulu, Hawaii,^[2][4][5] and is the first President to have been born in Hawaii.^[6] His mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, was born in Wichita, Kansas, and was of mostly English ancestry,^[7] along with Scottish, Irish, German, and Swiss.^{[8][9][10][11][12]} His father, Barack Obama, Sr., was a Luo from Nyang’oma Kogelo, Nyanza Province, Kenya. Obama's parents met in 1960 in a Russian class at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where his father was a foreign student on scholarship.^[13][14] The couple married on February 2, 1961,^[15] separated when Obama Sr. went to Harvard University on scholarship, and divorced in 1964.^[13] Obama Sr. remarried and returned to Kenya, visiting Barack in Hawaii only once, in 1971. He died in an automobile accident in 1982.^[16]

After her divorce, Dunham married Indonesian Lolo Soetoro, who was attending college in Hawaii. When Suharto, a military leader in Soetoro's home country, came to power in 1967, all Indonesian students studying abroad were recalled, and the family moved to the Menteng neighborhood of Jakarta.^[4][17] From ages six to ten, Obama attended local schools in Jakarta, including Besuki Public School and St. Francis of Assisi School.^[18]

In 1971, Obama returned to Honolulu to live with his maternal grandparents, Madelyn and Stanley Armour Dunham, and with the aid of a scholarship attended Punahou School, a private college preparatory school, from fifth grade until his graduation from high school in 1979.^[19] Obama's mother returned to Hawaii in 1972, remaining there until 1977 when she went back to Indonesia to work as an anthropological field worker. She finally returned to Hawaii in 1994 and lived there for one year before dying of ovarian cancer.^[15][20]

Of his early childhood, Obama recalled, "That my father looked nothing like the people around me—that he was black as pitch, my mother white as milk—barely registered in my mind."^[14] He described his struggles as a young adult to reconcile social perceptions of his multiracial heritage.^[21] Reflecting later on his years in Honolulu, Obama wrote: "The opportunity that Hawaii offered—to experience a variety of cultures in a climate of mutual respect—became an integral part of my world view, and a basis for the values that I hold most dear."^[22] Obama has also written and talked about using alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine during his teenage years to "push questions of who I was out of my mind."^[23] At the 2008 Civil Forum on the Presidency, Obama described his high-school drug use as a great moral failure.^[24]

Following high school, Obama moved to Los Angeles in 1979 to attend Occidental College. In February 1981, he made his first public speech, calling for Occidental to divest from South Africa in response to its policy of apartheid.^[25] In mid-1981, Obama traveled to Indonesia to visit his mother and sister Maya, and visited the families of college friends in Pakistan and India for three weeks.^[25] Later in 1981, he transferred to Columbia University in New York City, where he majored in political science with a specialty in international relations^[26] and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1983. He worked for a year at the Business International Corporation,^[27] then at the New York Public Interest Research Group.^[28][29]

Chicago community organizer and Harvard Law School[link]

Two years after graduating, Obama was hired in Chicago as director of the Developing Communities Project (DCP), a church-based community organization originally comprising eight Catholic parishes in Roseland, West Pullman, and Riverdale on Chicago's South Side. He worked there as a community organizer from June 1985 to May 1988.^[29][30] He helped set up a job training program, a college preparatory tutoring program, and a tenants' rights organization in Altgeld Gardens.^[31] Obama also worked as a consultant and instructor for the Gamaliel Foundation, a community organizing institute.^[32] In mid-1988, he traveled for the first time in Europe for three weeks and then for five weeks in Kenya, where he met many of his paternal relatives for the first time.^[33] He returned to Kenya in August 2006 for a visit to his father's birthplace, a village near Kisumu in rural western Kenya.^[34]