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 A Dollar Short By Ryan Grim Posted Friday, March 14, 2008, at 6:06 AM ET The Washington Post and New York Times lead with, and the L.A. Times fronts, administration proposals to stave off a recession--the next one. The L.A. Times leads with a report that Southern California home prices have fallen back to 2004 levels and the Wall Street Journal tops its news box with an item on Democratic efforts to challenge the White House on spying authority. USA Today leads with fears among Democrats that attacks by Hillary Clinton on Barack Obama could cost the party the White House in November. The bulk of the proposals to prevent the next recession focus on regulating the "securitization" of mortgages, report the papers. Securitization is a financial trick that magically turns a bunch of unrelated, risky investments into one big, safe bet--C'mon, honey! It's a sure thing! To continue reading, click here. . Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE \| READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Arts & Life My Quest To Bake the World's Perfect Chocolate Babka Arts & Life Jeffrey Sachs' Provocative New Plan To Save the World Arts & Life We Double-Dog Dare You To See Michael Haneke's Funny Games	Advertisement
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