Trivia

At his wife's suggestion, he quit smoking before his campaign to win the Democratic nomination began.

Can speak Indonesian to a certain degree, having lived in Indonesia for a number of years during his childhood.

The movie he saw on his first date with Michelle Obama was Do the Right Thing (1989).

Is a big fan of the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man and collected the comics as a youth.

The first US President to be born after the Vietnam War started.

Favorite movies are Casablanca (1942), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), The Godfather (1972), and The Godfather Part II (1974).

Became the first sitting US President to enter the Arctic Circle when he visited Kotzebue, Alaska, to address the adverse effects of global warming in that particular region (September 3, 2015).

First United States Senator to be elected President since John F. Kennedy.

Shares the same birthday as long-time White House correspondent and journalism legend, Helen Thomas. On her 89th birthday (and his 48th), they celebrated by blowing birthday cupcakes together in front of the press corps.

Notable for being the first United States President to participate in social media. He is the first President to have a personal Facebook page and a Twitter account, and the first President to hold Q&A sessions via those forums and YouTube. He is also the first sitting President to own and use an iPod, Blackberry (custom made for security purposes), and iPad.

His first name comes from the word that means "blessed by God" in Arabic.

His father was Kenyan, from Alego, and of the Luo tribe. His mother, who was from Wichita, Kansas, was white, and was of English, with small amounts of Scottish, Irish, German, Welsh, Swiss-German, French, and possibly remote African, ancestry. Genealogists believe she may have been descended from John Punch, an African-American slave who lived in the 1600s.

First US President since Jimmy Carter in 1979 to speak directly on the phone with a leader of Iran - Hassan Rouhani. (September 2013)

During his 2009 inauguration, he had an approval rating of seventy nine percent, the highest for any modern day incoming president.

First two-term President to take the Oath of Office four times. The first time, during his televised first inauguration, Chief Justice John Roberts made a mistake while reading the Oath of Office, which Obama repeated to avoid embarrassment. A few days later, he called Roberts into his office to do it again, and this time read it correctly. By law, the President is sworn in at noon on January 20. In 2013, the month and date fell on a Sunday, but to comply with the Blue Law (no work on Sunday), he was sworn in privately in the Oval Office, and then again publicly the next day. The two before him that were sworn in on Monday, January 21st, were Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1957 and Ronald Reagan in 1985.

Is the first American president to be born in Hawaii.

First sitting US President to visit a federal prison when he toured El Reno Correctional Institution in Oklahoma (July 16, 2015).

Won a Grammy for Best Spoken Word for the CD version of his autobiography "Dreams From My Father" (2006).

Won his second Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for "The Audacity of Hope" (2008).

As a child growing up in Hawaii, his classmates knew him as Barry.

Is the first African-American man to be elected President of the United States (November 2008).

Nicknamed "Renegade" by the Secret Service. The 2021 book he co-authored with Bruce Springsteen was titled "Renegades: Born in the USA".

One of his ancestors was Mareen Duvall, also an ancestor of actor Robert Duvall.

He is related to Jimmy Carter in multiple ways. Through Adrian Gordy they are seventh cousins three times removed. Through William Terrell and Susannah Waters they are eighth cousins twice removed.

Tried modeling when he studying at Harvard by submitting his photographs to be considered one of "Harvard's hunks" in their university calendar but was rejected.

October 2009, won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Defended his decision not to issue a formal written statement on the death of controversial pop star Michael Jackson on 25 June 2009.

First President to use Twitter.

Shares his surname with a small city in western Japan, which means "small shore" in Japanese.

First sitting US President since Calvin Coolidge to visit Cuba in 88 years. In 1928 President Coolidge arrived in Cuba on a battleship after a 3-day cruise, whereas President Obama touched down in Havana aboard Air Force One after a 3-hour flight (20 March 2016).

By the end of his second term, he granted clemency to over 1,000 non-violent drug offenders, which was more than the past 11 presidents combined.

Gets his haircut from the same barber every week.

First ever US President to address a Muslim community at an inaugural speech.

First United States President to be elected twice with over 50% of the popular vote since Ronald Reagan and the first Democratic President elected as such since Franklin D. Roosevelt.

In the 2008 presidential election, he won the state of North Carolina with a 0.32% margin of victory. Normally considered a solid Republican state, the margin was small enough that it took days after the election to call the state, although this had little regard on calling the election, as nationally it was a landslide victory and winning or losing North Carolina would have made no difference. The last time prior to this that North Carolina elected a democrat was in 1976 when they elected Jimmy Carter.

Obama's appearance on The View (1997) (29 July 2010) made him the first ever sitting US President to appear as a guest on a daytime TV talk show.

Obama's birthplace of Hawaii makes him the first U.S. president not born in the 48 contiguous United States.

In the Kenyan town where his father was born, the long-brewed "Senator" brand of beer has been nicknamed "Obama."

Confessed teenage drug experiences in his memoirs "Dreams from My Father".

Introduced the 50th anniversary television broadcast of To Kill a Mockingbird (1962).

First U.S. President to be personally presented with an Apple iPad 2 by Steve Jobs before it was officially released domestically. Obama is frequently seen using Apple devices.

Has a half-sister, Maya, born to his mother and stepfather in 1970.

Received a gift of a Portuguese water dog from Senator Ted Kennedy and his wife Victoria. Because the particular breed is reportedly hypo-allergenic, the First Family and friends were highly unlikely to suffer any allergic reactions in the pet's presence. (2009)

Is a fan of The Wire (2002).

The TV presidential election campaign commercial for Obama featured, Carl Reiner, Garry Marshall, Larry Gelbart, Valerie Harper, Danny DeVito, Rhea Perlman, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara (slogan: "This Ain't Funny, it's a serious election. Don't vote out of fear, vote for hope - Vote for Obama").

Had a 70 percent approval rating at the 100 day mark into his first term as President.

Several celebrities including; Halle Berry, George Clooney, Sheryl Crow, Bob Dylan, Topher Grace, Macy Gray, Bruce Springsteen, Oprah Winfrey Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Hayden Panettiere, Zachary Quinto, Eddie Murphy and John Cleese support his 2008 presidential campaign. Robert De Niro gave his endorsement at the same rally where Barack was endorsed by Caroline and Ted Kennedy.

His paternal relatives still live in Kenya.

When elected President, he won the battleground states of North Carolina, Florida, Virginia and Colorado - all of which had voted Republican in 2004.

Fourth US President to win a Nobel Peace Prize (2009) after Theodore Roosevelt (1906), Woodrow Wilson (1919) and Jimmy Carter (2002).