This official portrait of President Barack Obama was painted by Robert McCurdy in 2018. Prior to his election to the presidency, Obama served as a United States senator from Illinois. On January 20, 2009, he became the first African American president and served two terms from 2009 to 2017. Both portraits of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama were unveiled in a ceremony in the East Room of the White House on September 7, 2022.