Thousands turned out to hear the dynamic senator from Illinois speak as he campaigned to become the President of the United States, to many, he embodied the American dream. He is bold and audacious, his rhetoric fiery and compelling. He encourages cross-over appeal, discourse, affiliation and has drawn many Americans, including today's youth, into politics. This is the story of Barack Obama, a man of mixed race heritage who inspires, listens, compromises and is often bipartisan. From his childhood in Hawaii and Indonesia to becoming the fifth African-American senator in U.S. history and later, a presidential candidate, this well-researched biography traces his hardships and successes, the people who most influenced his career, his personal life and his meteoric rise to pop icon status. Rounded out with photos, a timeline, a bibliography and an index, here is a must read for high school and undergraduate students of current events and political science.