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.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS
Blacks in Congress Torn Over Candidates
African American members of Congress, many under enormous pressure from their constituents, are grappling with the question of whether they should abandon their support of Hillary Rodham Clinton and back Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination.
(By Shailagh Murray and Paul Kane, The Washington Post)

Evolution Of a U.S. General In Iraq
No. 2 Commander Transformed Tactics
(By Amit R. Paley and Joshua Partlow, The Washington Post)

Southern Baptists Diversifying to Survive
Minority Outreach Seen as Key to Crisis
(By Jacqueline L. Salmon, The Washington Post)

Border Fence Would Slice Through Private Land
Families on U.S.-Mexico Line Fighting Plan
(By N.C. Aizenman, The Washington Post)

Gibbs Cuts His Roster From 53 Down to Three
(By Liz Clarke, The Washington Post)

More Today's Highlights

POLITICS
Blacks in Congress Torn Over Candidates
African American members of Congress, many under enormous pressure from their constituents, are grappling with the question of whether they should abandon their support of Hillary Rodham Clinton and back Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination.
(By Shailagh Murray and Paul Kane, The Washington Post)

Border Fence Would Slice Through Private Land
Families on U.S.-Mexico Line Fighting Plan
(By N.C. Aizenman, The Washington Post)

Surveillance Law Set to Expire Today
Both Sides Weigh Political Effects
(By Jonathan Weisman and Dan Eggen, The Washington Post)

Bush Heads to Africa, Scene of Successes on Health Policy
(By Peter Baker, The Washington Post)

Medicare Proposal Targets Affluent Seniors
(By Christopher Lee, The Washington Post)

More Politics

Add topics to this e-mail

Make this e-mail your own by selecting the topics and columnists that interest you! Personalize this e-mail now.

NATION
Illinois College Applied Lessons From Massacre At Virginia Tech
DEKALB, Ill., Feb. 15 -- If there were lessons learned after the Virginia Tech massacre, they were: Lock down and notify. Virginia Tech officials did neither until hours after the first shots sounded across the Blacksburg campus in April. Northern Illinois University did not make the same mistake...
(By Kari Lydersen and Theresa Vargas, The Washington Post)

Evolution Of a U.S. General In Iraq
No. 2 Commander Transformed Tactics
(By Amit R. Paley and Joshua Partlow, The Washington Post)

Border Fence Would Slice Through Private Land
Families on U.S.-Mexico Line Fighting Plan
(By N.C. Aizenman, The Washington Post)

Even Vaccinated, People Are Getting Dose of Flu
Va., Md. Seeing Spike in Cases, Many Caused by Strains Not in This Season's Shot Against Virus
(By William Wan and David Brown, The Washington Post)

Moussaoui Deprived of Constitutional Rights, Attorneys Say
Appeal Seeks to Overturn Guilty Plea, Life Sentence Because of Evidence Kept Secret, Counsel Choice Denied
(By Jerry Markon, The Washington Post)

More Nation

WORLD
U.S. Scrambled To Find Observers For Pakistani Vote
With Pakistan's critical parliamentary election fast approaching, Bush administration officials began scrambling late last month to find a U.S. monitoring group willing to travel to Pakistan and observe the Feb. 18 vote.
(By Robin Wright, The Washington Post)

Kenyan Rivals Agree to Review of Election
(By Stephanie McCrummen, The Washington Post)

Evolution Of a U.S. General In Iraq
No. 2 Commander Transformed Tactics
(By Amit R. Paley and Joshua Partlow, The Washington Post)

Bush Heads to Africa, Scene of Successes on Health Policy
(By Peter Baker, The Washington Post)

Government Accountability Chief Resigns
(By Elizabeth Williamson, The Washington Post)

More World

METRO
Grasping for Roots
LaMona Linder wanted a place of her own but had nearly nothing to spend.
(By Mary Otto, The Washington Post)

Southern Baptists Diversifying to Survive
Minority Outreach Seen as Key to Crisis
(By Jacqueline L. Salmon, The Washington Post)

Kaine Is in for A Fight On Budget
GOP Is Opposed To New Spending
(By Tim Craig, The Washington Post)

Illinois College Applied Lessons From Massacre At Virginia Tech
(By Kari Lydersen and Theresa Vargas, The Washington Post)

Reasons Are Elusive as D.C. Lifts Homicide Closure Rate
(By Clarence Williams, The Washington Post)

More Metro

BUSINESS
You're Invited . . . To Pay Your Mortgage
Mortgage lenders hunting for delinquent homeowners who have dodged their phone calls and letters are employing aggressive new methods to track them down, potentially making every knock on the door or fancy envelope seem like part of the pursuit. Even wedding invitations are suspect.
(By Renae Merle, The Washington Post)

Airlines, Pilots Say Safety Plan in Jeopardy
(By Del Quentin Wilber, The Washington Post)

More Than Tissues in a Box of Kleenex
Greenpeace Denies Sanctioning Notes
(By Ylan Q. Mui, The Washington Post)

Maybe Not a 000-Sum Game
A Study Points to a Pricing Trick, but Not Everyone Is Buying
(By Sandra Fleishman, The Washington Post)

Insurer Seeks Spinoff to Save Muni-Bond Unit
(By Tomoeh Murakami Tse, The Washington Post)

More Business

TECHNOLOGY
U.S. Makes Case About Satellite To Foreign Envoys
The State Department sent cables to all embassies yesterday instructing diplomats to explain to foreign governments how the upcoming attempt to shoot down an out-of-control spy satellite is different from China's destruction of one of its orbiting satellites early last year.
(By Marc Kaufman, The Washington Post)

Over-Budget Contract Could Stall 2010 Census
(By Dana Hedgpeth, The Washington Post)

Surveillance Law Set to Expire Today
Both Sides Weigh Political Effects
(By Jonathan Weisman and Dan Eggen, The Washington Post)

More Technology

SPORTS
Redskins Get Smith In the End
After initially rejecting an offer to become the Redskins' offensive coordinator, Sherman Smith reconsiders and joins Jim Zorn's staff.
(By Jason Reid and Jason LaCanfora, The Washington Post)

Time for Closing Statements
Tournament Hopefuls Have a Month to Put Final Touches on Resumes
(By Eric Prisbell, The Washington Post)

Gibbs Cuts His Roster From 53 Down to Three
(By Liz Clarke, The Washington Post)

'Mental Errors' Trip Up Capitals
Panthers 4, Capitals 2
(By Tarik El-Bashir, The Washington Post)

Jamison, Butler Soak Up All-Star Experience
Wizards Duo Pitches In, Can't Hide Excitement
(By Michael Lee, The Washington Post)

More Sports

STYLE
In Detroit, Not Exactly LOL LOL!
DETROIT First, in The Scandal That Ate Detroit, you must remember that it's all about text .
(By Neely Tucker, The Washington Post)

NAMES AND FACES
(The Washington Post)

Anne Enright, 'Gathering' A Following
Man Booker Prize Winner Is On the Bright Side of Bleak
(By Bob Thompson, The Washington Post)

Horrormeister Sinks His Teeth Into Cruelty Of Film Culture
(By John Anderson, The Washington Post)

Midori's Choices, as Singular as Her Name
(By Anne Midgette, The Washington Post)

More Style

Mr. Obama's Waffle
AS RECENTLY as November, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) was unequivocal about whether he would agree to take public financing for the general election if his Republican opponent pledged to do the same. "If you are nominated for president in 2008 and your major opponents agree to forgo private funding...
(The Washington Post)

The Demise of FutureGen
The cancellation of a clean-coal project shows there's no silver bullet for climate change.
(The Washington Post)

The Standing Bowl
Motorists pay the price for VDOT's poor performance.
(The Washington Post)

E-Mail Newsletter Services
• To sign up for additional newsletters or get help, visit the E-mail Preferences Page.

Unsubscribe | Feedback | Advertising | Subscribe to the Paper