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 Mad Money By Daniel Politi Posted Friday, Feb. 29, 2008, at 6:23 AM ET The Washington Post leads with a new report that reveals more than one in 100 adults in the United States are behind bars. Holding the rank as the country that imprisons more people, both in terms of raw numbers and as a percentage of population, is hardly a cheap proposition, as states spend almost $50 billion a year on corrections. The New York Times leads with news that the Food and Drug Administration has found problems at a Chinese plant that made most of the active ingredient for Baxter International's blood thinner heparin. Baxter announced a recall of most of its products containing the lifesaving drug, which is made from pig intestines. USA Today leads with a look at how the huge turnout in the presidential primaries is making election officials nervous about potential problems in November. Officials in several states across the country are requesting more voting machines, paper ballots, and poll workers to make sure they won't have problems on Election Day. The Wall Street Journal leads its world-wide newsbox with, and the WP fronts, Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign announcing that it raised $35 million in February. Sen. Barack Obama's camp hasn't released official figures, but aides said their total was "considerably more." There are estimates that he raised about $50 million, which, combined with Clinton's total, would surpass the record that was set by President Bush and Sen. John Kerry in March 2004. It seems that lending her campaign $5 million was a good strategy for Clinton because online donations, which accounted for $30 million of the total, soared after the news got out. The Los Angeles Times leads locally with news that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appears to have cured himself of his long-held allergies to more taxes. California's governor said the state's huge budget shortfall could be decreased by closing "tax loopholes." 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 Sports Your Team Didn't Sign Santana? Lucky You. Arts & Life The Other Boleyn Girl: Shamelessly Prurient, Surprisingly Smart Business & Technology I'm the Idiot Who Bought an HD-DVD Player	Advertisement
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Obama was elected to the Illinois State Senate in 1996 from the state's 13th District in the south-side Chicago neighborhood of Hyde Park. The bill did not progress beyond committee and was never voted on by the Senate. " An Italian translation was published in April 2007 with a preface by Walter Veltroni, Mayor of Rome, and a Spanish paperback edition was published in June 2007.

" Entered in fulfillment of a campaign promise, the bill proposed increasing the maximum amount of Pell Grant awards to help students from lower income families pay their college tuitions. Questioning the Bush administration's management of the Iraq War, Obama spoke of an enlisted Marine, Corporal Seamus Ahern from East Moline, Illinois, asking, "Are we serving Seamus as well as he is serving us?" He continued: When we send our young men and women into harm's way, we have a solemn obligation not to fudge the numbers or shade the truth about why they're going, to care for their families while they're gone, to tend to the soldiers upon their return, and to never, ever go to war without enough troops to win the war, secure the peace, and earn the respect of the world. Obama, who defines himself in The Audacity of Hope as "a Democrat, after all," has been criticized for his political actions by self-described progressive commentator David Sirota, and complimented for his "Can't we all just get along?" manner by conservative columnist George Will.

Obama's energy initiatives scored pluses and minuses with environmentalists, who welcomed his sponsorship with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) of a climate change bill to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by two-thirds by 2050, but were skeptical of Obama's support for a bill promoting liquefied coal production. "The announcement followed months of speculation on whether Obama would run in 2008. The speech was Obama's introduction to most of America. Through the fall of 2006, Obama had spoken at political events across the country in support of Democratic candidates for the midterm elections. "The announcement followed months of speculation on whether Obama would run in 2008. "Obama's rapid rise from Illinois state legislator to U.S. Former presidential candidate Gary Hart describes the book as Obama's "thesis submission" for the U.S. presidency: "It presents a man of relative youth yet maturity, a wise observer of the human condition, a figure who possesses perseverance and writing skills that have flashes of grandeur. Obama traveled to Russia, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan in August 2005 with Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN), then Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. " He describes his Kenyan father as "raised a Muslim," but a "confirmed atheist" by the time his parents met, and his Indonesian step-father as "a man who saw religion as not particularly useful. On the role of government in economic affairs, Obama has written: "we should be asking ourselves what mix of policies will lead to a dynamic free market and widespread economic security, entrepreneurial innovation and upward mobility Z...Z we should be guided by what works. 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. Obama, who defines himself in The Audacity of Hope as "a Democrat, after all," has been criticized for his political actions by self-described progressive commentator David Sirota, and complimented for his "Can't we all just get along?" manner by conservative columnist George Will.

Obama encouraged "others in public life to do the same" to show "there is no shame in going for an HIV test.