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.

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Politics News & Analysis Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2007

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Her Heart's in the Race: Michelle Obama on the Campaign Trail and Her Life's Path (By Peter Slevin)

Mideast Talks Yield Promises To Press On (By Glenn Kessler)

Military Progress Doesn't Make War More Popular (By Peter Baker)

Bush Economic Adviser Stepping Down (The Associated Press)

As Lott Leaves the Senate, Compromise Appears to Be a Lost Art (By Jonathan Weisman)

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ABC News 7 (Chicago) reported Obama telling the students that "the U.S. will never recognize winning Hamas candidates unless the group renounces its fundamental mission to eliminate Israel," and that he had conveyed the same message in his meeting with Palestinian authority President Mahmoud Abbas. In 1990, The New York Times reported his election as the Harvard Law Review's "first black president in its 104-year history. In September 2006, he was the featured speaker at Iowa Senator Tom Harkin's annual steak fry, an event traditionally attended by presidential hopefuls in the lead-up to the Iowa caucus.

Also during the first month of the 110th Congress, Obama introduced the "Iraq War De-Escalation Act," a bill that caps troop levels in Iraq at January 10, 2007 levels, begins phased redeployment on May 1, 2007, and removes all combat brigades from Iraq by March 31, 2008. In the November 2004 general election, Obama received 70% of the vote to Keyes's 27%.

"I've never been a heavy smoker," Obama told the Chicago Tribune. "I've got relatives who look like Bernie Mac, and I've got relatives who look like Margaret Thatcher. He received his B.A. degree in 1983, then worked for one year at Business International Corporation. Enthusiastic crowds greeted Obama's public appearances. Obama was sworn in as a Senator on January 4, 2005. In a May 2006 letter to President Bush, he joined four other Midwest farming state Senators in calling for the preservation of a US$0.54 per gallon tariff on imported ethanol. Obama spoke out in June 2006 against making recent, temporary estate tax cuts permanent, calling the cuts a "Paris Hilton" tax break for "billionaire heirs and heiresses. "In 1988, while employed as a summer associate at the Chicago law firm of Sidley & Austin, Obama met Michelle Robinson, who also worked there. " The book describes his struggles as a young adult to reconcile social perceptions of his multiracial heritage. Obama took an active role in the Senate's drive for improved border security and immigration reform.