Barack Hussein Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on August 4, 1961 to a Kenyan father and a mother from Kansas. As a boy he was raised in Hawaii and Jakarta. He attended Occidental College and Columbia University, where he earned a BA in political science. He received a law degree from Harvard in 1991 and moved to Chicago to become an attorney. In 1992 Obama married Michelle Robinson. The couple has two daughters. He is a member of the United Church of Christ.

Maurice Robert “Mike” Gravel was born in Springfield, Massachusetts on May 13, 1930. Gravel studied for one year at American International College in Springfield before joining the army in 1951. He served in West Germany as an intelligence and counter-intelligence specialist until he left the service in 1954. He received a degree in economics from Columbia University in 1956. That same year he moved to Alaska and worked in real estate and railroads. In 1959 he married Rita Jeanette Martin and together they have two children. Gravel is a Unitarian.

Johnny Reid ‘John’ Edwards was born in Seneca, South Carolina on June 10, 1953. First in his family to attend college, Edwards studied textile technology at North Carolina University and went on to gain a degree in law from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 1977 he married Elizabeth Anania and together they had four children. Sadly, they lost their son Wade in an automobile accident in 1996. Elizabeth is currently being treated for breast cancer. Edwards is a Methodist.

Hillary Rodham Clinton was born on October 26, 1947 in Chicago, Illinois. She attended Wellesley College where she studied political science. In 1973 she graduated from Yale Law School and began a highly successful legal career. Two years later she moved to Arkansas and married William Jefferson Blythe Clinton. They have one daughter. Clinton is a Methodist.

William Blaine "Bill" Richardson III was born on November 15, 1947 in Pasadena California to parents of Mexican descent. He attended Tufts University where he was a star baseball pitcher with hopes of going professional before an arm injury curtailed that dream. While at Tufts he studied French and political science. He later earned a master's degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tuft's. He married Barbara Flavin in 1972, the couple having known each other since High School.

Joseph R. Biden, Jr. was born on November 20th, 1942 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He attended the University of Delaware and Syracuse University College of Law, graduating in 1968. He married Neilia Hunter in 1966. After being elected to the US Senate from Delaware in 1972, his family was in a devastating car accident in which his wife and baby girl were killed. He was sworn in as Senator at his injured sons’ bedside. In 1977 he married Jill Tracy Jacobs. The two have one daughter together. He is a Roman Catholic.

Christopher John Dodd was born on May 27, 1944 in Willimantic, Connecticut to parents of Irish descent. He graduated from Providence College in 1966 with a degree in English Literature. He went to the Dominican Republic as a volunteer with the Peace Corps. He also served with the US Army Reserve until 1975. Dodd went on to further his education by earning a law degree at the University of Louisville. He married Susan Mooney in 1970, but divorced in 1982. In 1999 he married Jackie Marie Humpa despite their religious differences- he’s a Roman Catholic and she’s a Mormon.

Dennis John Kucinich was born on October 8, 1946 in Cleveland, Ohio. He attended Cleveland State University and Case Western Reserve University, graduating in 1973 with a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in communications. He married his third wife, Elizabeth Harper, in 2005. He has one daughter from a previous marriage. He was raised a Roman Catholic.