Before the summer of 2004, few people knew Barack Obama outside of Chicago. But after his speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention, he grabbed America s attention. A former lawyer and community organizer, Obama wanted to make positive changes for Americans and was elected a United States Senator shortly after his famous speech. In this biography, written especially for teens, author Michael Schuman as he takes the reader through Obama s life from his globe-trotting childhood to his run as a presidential candidate.