Barack Obama

Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to Barack Obama, Sr. (born in Nyanza Province, Kenya) and Ann Dunham (born in Wichita, Kansas). Barack Hussein Obama (born August 4, 1961) is the junior United States Senator from Illinois and a member of the Democratic Party.

Obama grew up in culturally diverse surroundings. He spent most of his childhood in the majority-minority U.S. state of Hawaii and lived for four years in Indonesia. Obama delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention while still an Illinois state legislator. Since announcing his candidacy in February 2007, Obama has emphasized ending the Iraq War and implementing universal health care as campaign themes.

As a member of the Democratic minority in the 109th Congress, Obama co-sponsored the enactment of conventional weapons control and transparency legislation, and made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Obama's parents separated when he was two years old and later divorced. His father went to Harvard University to pursue Ph.D. studies, then returned to Kenya, where he died in an auto accident when the younger Obama was twenty-one years old.

[1]Immunity Deal Hinders Inquiry Into Blackwater

FBI cannot use information gleaned from State Department bureau's interviews with guards who were involved in the Sept. 16 civilian shootings.

link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/30/AR2007103000423.html?nav=rss_email/components

[1] <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/30/AR2007103000423.html?nav=rss_email/components>

In a nationally televised speech at the University of Nairobi, he spoke forcefully on the influence of ethnic rivalries and corruption in Kenya. In the memoir, Obama describes his experiences growing up in his mother's American middle class family.

He has authored two bestselling books: a memoir of his youth entitled Dreams from My Father, and The Audacity of Hope, a personal commentary on U.S. politics. He is a member of the Senate committees on Foreign Relations; Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; and Veterans' Affairs; and the Congressional Black Caucus. Obama delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention while still an Illinois state legislator. He used alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine during his teenage years, Obama writes, to "push questions of who I was out of my mind. In 2003, Obama began his run for the U.S. Senate open seat vacated by Peter Fitzgerald. Supporters and critics have likened Obama's popular image to a cultural Rorschach test, a neutral persona on which people can project their personal histories and aspirations. The bill did not progress beyond committee and was never voted on by the Senate. The speech touched off a public debate among rival leaders, some formally challenging Obama's remarks as unfair and improper, others defending his positions. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported the war in Iraq.

Born to a Kenyan father and an American mother, Obama grew up in culturally diverse surroundings. If elected, Obama would become the first non-white U.S. president. But in a December 2006 Wall Street Journal editorial headlined "The Man from Nowhere," former Ronald Reagan speech writer Peggy Noonan advised Will and other "establishment" commentators to get "down from your tippy toes" and avoid becoming too quickly excited about Obama's still early political career. " In January 2007, Obama spoke at an event organized by Families USA, a health care advocacy group. But I've got news for them too. "During his first year as a U.S. senator, in a move more typically taken after several years of holding high political office, Obama established a leadership political action committee, Hopefund, for channeling financial support to Democratic candidates. His second book, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, was published in October 2006, three weeks before the 2006 midterm election. Through the fall of 2006, Obama had spoken at political events across the country in support of Democratic candidates for the midterm elections. His opponent in the general election was expected to be Republican primary winner Jack Ryan. " The chapter details how Obama, in his twenties, while working with local churches as a community organizer, came to understand "the power of the African American religious tradition to spur social change.