He was born in Ardakan, the son of Ruhollah Khatami.
He was elected president on May 23, 1997. He was re-elected in 2001 for a second term. He won largely thanks to the female and youth vote, who voted for him because he promised to improve the status of women and respond to the demands of the young generation in Iran.
Khatami is regarded as Iran's first reformist president, since the focus of his campaign was on the rule of law, democracy and the inclusion of all Iranians in the political decision-making process. It is hoped he will moderate the influence of the hardline Islamists in the Iranian government.
The United Nations titled the year 2001 as the United Nation's Year of Dialogue of Civilizations, as per Khatami's suggestion.
Besides his native language Persian, he speaks Arabic, English and German as foreign languages.