Barack Obama
In an interview with VOA's Indonesian Service, Obama's third-grade teacher said he wrote in a class assignment that he wanted to be president. The assignment was called, "What do you want to be when you grow up?".
Ron Paul
Ron Paul was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Gettysburg College and the Duke University School of Medicine, before proudly serving as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force during the 1960s.
Hillary Clinton
Sen. Hillary Clinton was born Oct. 26, 1947, in Chicago. Her early years were spent in Park Ridge, Ill., a typical middle class suburb with her mother, father and two younger brothers. As a child, she was an avid member of the Girl Scouts.
John Edwards
ABC News' Peter Jennings: What were you like as a kid? Sen. John Edwards: Rambunctious, active, nosy, in the middle of everything. I loved sports, always loved sports & and played every kind of sport there was _ football, basketball, ran track _ I did everything. Jennings: Did you ever get in trouble when you were a kid? Edwards: Oh yeah, all the time, all the time. I was always in the middle of something. Of course, I was a kid [laughs] & We lived in a mill village [in North Carolina] and it was a rough neighborhood. It was a place where if you didn't look out for yourself. You'd get run over basically.
John Edwards, bottom from right
Rudy Giuliani
“As a kid, I thought about becoming a priest. During my last year in high school, I had pretty much decided to go into the seminary. It wasn't like there was one moment that following summer when a girl passed and I knew that the seminary would not be a good idea. Actually, there were a lot of moments like that.
John McCain
Born John Sidney McCain III into a military family in 1936, both his father and grandfather were admirals in the Navy. As a military child, McCain was moved from school to school until high school, where despite getting into trouble, he graduated in 1954. He went on to study at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., before being sent to Vietnam.
Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney's mother called him her "miracle baby," since he arrived after doctors had warned she could never have children again. He grew up idolizing his force-of-nature father, George, and his parents invested great ambition in their youngest son.
Mike Huckabee
Born Aug. 24, 1952 to a middle-class family, Mike Huckabee showed an early interest in politics. In high school he was elected "governor" of his student body and studied public affairs while preparing to be a preacher.
Fred Thompson
Growing up in the small town of Lawrenceburg, Tenn., Fred Thompson never dreamed of doing anything, never thought about what he wanted to be when he grew up. Then at age 17, he married his high school sweetheart, Sarah Lindsey, and decided he needed to grow up. It was at that time he decided he wanted to be a lawyer, and then worked his way through both college and law school.
Sam Brownback
As a student at Kansas State University, Sam Brownback served as the president of the Kansas Future Farmers of America. After majoring in agricultural economics, he continued his studies at the University of Kansas, where he earned his law degree. It was there that he met Mary, whom he married in 1982.
Joe Biden
Sen. Joe Biden, far right, with his brother Jimmy, center, and sister Valerie. As a young boy, Biden had a severe stutter and practiced speaking in front of a mirror for hours to help overcome the problem. Today Biden is considered one of the Senate's most passionate orators.
Chris Dodd
Sen. Chris Dodd was born May 27, 1944, in Willimantic, Conn. Dodd grew up in a politically inclined family. His father, Thomas Joseph Dodd, served as a House representative and senator for the state of Connecticut.
Bill Richardson
As a young boy growing up in Mexico, Gov. Bill Richardson's idolized Yankees legend Mickey Mantle. After his father sent him to a private preparatory school in Massachusetts, Richardson got the chance to further pursue his dream of becoming a professional baseball player. By his senior year, Minor League Baseball scouts were trying to recruit Richardson.