Romantic story

Obama met his wife, Michelle Robinson, in June 1989 when he was employed as a summer associate at the Chicago law firm of Sidley Austin. Assigned for three months as Obama's adviser¹ at the firm, Robinson joined him at group social functions, but declined his initial offers to date. They began dating later that summer, became engaged in 1991, and were married on October 3, 1992. The couple's first daughter, Malia Ann, was born in 1998, followed by a second daughter, Natasha ("Sasha"), in 2001.

Barack Obama and his wife Michelle

A diversified² family

In a 2006 interview, Obama highlighted the diversity of his extended family.

"Michelle will tell you that when we get together for Christmas or Thanksgiving, it's like a little mini-United Nations," he said. "I've got relatives who look like Bernie Mac, and I've got relatives who look like Margaret Thatcher³." Obama has seven half-siblings from his Kenyan father's family, six of them living, and a half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, the daughter of his mother and her Indonesian second husband. Obama's mother was survived by her Kansas-born mother, Madelyn Dunham until her death on November 2, 2008, just before the presidential election.

Obama plays basketball, a sport he participated in as a member of his high school's varsity team. Before announcing his presidential candidacy, he began a well-publicized effort to quit smoking.

“罗曼史”

1989年6月，奥巴马在芝加哥盛德国际律师事务所做暑期助理期间，结识了米歇尔•鲁宾逊。当时米歇尔被指派为奥巴马3个月工作期间的顾问，她在社交集会时加入了奥巴马的团体，但却拒绝了他最初的约会邀请。那年夏季快结束时，他们才开始约会，随后两人于1991年订婚，并于1992年10月3日正式结婚。他们有两个女儿，大女儿玛丽亚-安出生于1999年，小女儿娜塔莎（萨沙）出生于2001年。

“小联合国”

在2006年的一次采访中，奥巴马让人们了解了他的多样性的大家庭。

他说：“米歇尔最有发言权了，每当过圣诞节或者感恩节，我们家就像一个小联合国一样。我的亲人有的长得像伯尼·麦克（黑人喜剧演员），有的则酷似撒切尔夫人”。奥巴马的父亲是肯尼亚人，在那里他有7个同父异母兄妹，其中6个还健在。他还有一个同母异父的妹妹---玛雅，是他的母亲和他的印尼继父所生。他的母亲先于外祖母去世。奥巴马的外祖母玛德琳•杜汉姆出生于堪萨斯，遗憾的是她在本月2日大选之前去世。

奥巴马喜欢打篮球，高中时曾是校队成员。宣布竞选总统之前，他向民众表示自己会戒烟。