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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today's papers Closing Time By Daniel Politi Posted Monday, Jan. 7, 2008, at 6:11 AM ET The New York Times leads with a look at how the number of prisoners at the Bagram detention center in Afghanistan keeps on increasing. The Bush administration has spent more than $30 million over the past three years to transfer detainees to a center operated by the Afghan military, but it has far less capacity than expected so the "makeshift American site" is unlikely to go out of business anytime soon. The site at Bagram had "barely 100" prisoners in early 2004 and now holds 630 detainees, which is more than double the number at Guantanamo. USA Today leads with its new poll of New Hampshire voters that shows how the candidates who were once front-runners in each party continue to shed support. Sen. Barack Obama polls at 41 percent and now holds a 13 percentage-point lead over Sen. Hillary Clinton. Meanwhile, Sen. John McCain was the choice of 34 percent of those polled, compared to Mitt Romney's 30 percent, a difference that is still within the margin of error. The Los Angeles Times leads with Clinton's furious campaigning efforts in New Hampshire, where voters go to the polls on Tuesday. "Clinton is undeniably on the defensive," says the LAT. The Washington Post's lead purports to takes a look at how both Clinton and Romney are getting more aggressive in attacking their fellow candidates, but it spends the bulk of the story talking about the New York senator's efforts. The Wall Street Journal leads its world-wide newsbox with how candidates from both parties "have embraced change" after the Iowa caucuses. To continue reading, click here. Daniel Politi writes "Today's Papers" for Slate. He can be reached at todayspapers@slate.com. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE \| READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Arts & Life Hot Document: The Wire Ending You'll Never See Sports Fake Your Way Through the NFL Playoffs News & Politics Bill O'Reilly Gets Pushy With Obama	Advertisement
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