Before he was Mr. President, Barack Obama was a community organizer, civil rights attorney, and professor. The early legal and academic career of the future president demonstrated the high degree of effort that Obama has always put into his work.
Early Chicago and Law School
Professor and Attorney
Legislative Career
Obama stayed in New York for a few years, then worked in Chicago as a community organizer. From 1985 to 1988 he was the director of the Developing Communities Project (DCP), an organization consisting of eight Catholic parishes on the South Side of Chicago. He helped to set up a job training program and a college preparatory tutoring program while he was there. Over those three years, the organization's staff and budget grew significantly as well.
In the fall of 1988, Obama entered Harvard Law School. Obama has stated that he saw a law degree as a way to improve the impact of his activism and community organzation work. See the Personal Page for more information on his time there.
After graduating from Harvard, Obama returned to Chicago. 
In 1992 he and Michelle married, and they settled down in the Hyde Park neighborhood. He began teaching at the University of Chicago, a role he would hold for 12 years. From 1992 to 1996 he was a Lecturer on constitutional law. From 1996 to 2004 he was a Senior Lecturer. The courses he taught included subjects like due process and equal protection, voting rights, and racism and law.
During this time Obama also served in the Illinois Senate and worked as an attorney. He joined the law firm of Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland in 1993. This firm specialized in civil rights litigation and neighborhood economic development. He worked as an associate for three years, and then as counsel for another eight years. Obama met many influential political figures during this time, and became well known to liberal groups and other activists. He served on several boards, which introduced him to more and more people. This network of politically connected people would later be crucial to supporting his early political career.
Obama was elected to the Illinois Senate for the first time in 1996. He was reelected in 1998 and 2002. In January 2003 he formally announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate. In November 2004, Obama won the seat with 70% of the vote, defeating Republican Alan Keyes. 
On January 3, 2005, Obama was sworn in as Senator. He held assignments on several Senate Committes, such as the Committees for Foreign Relations, Environment and Public Works, and Veterans' Affairs. He also took assignments with Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. He eventually was Chairman of the Senate's subcomittee on European Affairs. As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Obama travelled to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa. On February 10, 2007, Obama officially announced his candidacy for President.