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.



Now playing: *Slate V, a video-only site from the world's leading online magazine. Visit Slate V* at www.slateV.com.
today's papers Fired Up By Daniel Politi Posted Friday, Jan. 4, 2008, at 6:13 AM ET Everybody leads with the Iowa caucuses, where Sen. Barack Obama and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee won decisive victories. It's a story of big winners and big losers as everyone agrees that the results represent a serious setback for both Sen. Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney. Sen. John Edwards had long made a big point of winning Iowa, and managed to get second place by receiving 0.3 percent more than the former first lady. Here are the (pretty much final) numbers: Obama 38 percent, Edwards 30 percent, Clinton 29 percent, Huckabee 34 percent, Romney 25 percent, and Fred Thompson virtually tied with Sen. John McCain at 13 percent, though Thompson did get a few more votes. The Democratic field got a bit smaller last night as Sen. Joseph Biden and Sen. Christopher Dodd dropped out of the race after barely registering in the night's results. There was record turnout on both sides, but the numbers for the Democrats are particularly startling as they had 239,000 people participating in the caucuses, compared to 124,000 four years ago. The big theme of the night is how the results illustrate that voters want change and are not afraid to turn away from the establishment candidates. As USA Today handily summarizes, Obama and Huckabee "triumphed over contenders with stronger establishment backing and more extensive institutional support." But there's no rest for the weary, and the candidates had little time to analyze the results before boarding planes to New Hampshire to campaign before Tuesday's primary, which have taken on a new level of importance, particularly for both Clinton and Romney. 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 *Slate's Movie Club: The Year's Best Abortion Movies News & Politics* The Left Needs To Shut Up About Bill Kristol's New Column Health & Science How Cuckoo's Nest Ruined Shock Therapy for the Rest of Us	Advertisement
Ideas on how to make something better? Send an e-mail to newsletters@slate.com. Manage your newsletters on Slate Unsubscribe \| Newsletter Center \| Advertising Information Please do not reply to this message since this is an unmonitored e-mail address. If you have questions about newsletters, please go here. Copyright 2008 Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive Co. LLC \| Privacy Policy Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive \| c/o E-mail Customer Care \|1515 N. Courthouse Rd. \| Arlington, VA 22201