After two years at Occidental College in Los Angeles, Barack Obama transferred to Columbia University in New York, earning his degree in political science in 1983.
In 1988 he entered Harvard Law School, and in 1990 he was elected the first Black president of the Harvard Law Review, drawing national news coverage.
After Law School
He graduated magna cum laude in 1991 and returned to Chicago, where he practiced civil rights law and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School for about twelve years.
Did You Know
Obama met Michelle Robinson in 1989 when she was assigned as his mentor during a summer job at a Chicago law firm. They married in 1992.
Learn More
For primary sources, explore the Obama White House archives maintained by the National Archives, the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, and presidential history collections at your local library. Reading accounts from supporters and critics alike gives the fullest picture of any presidency.
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