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 Just Plane Incompetent By Daniel Politi Posted Friday, April 4, 2008, at 6:17 AM ET USA Today and the Washington Post lead with yesterday's Congressional hearing where federal safety inspectors told lawmakers that they were repeatedly prevented from reporting safety problems with Southwest Airlines planes. The inspectors said that when they tried to take further action, they were often harassed and threatened by senior Federal Aviation Administration officials. A number of officials testified that problems with Southwest planes were more extensive than had previously been revealed and the agency had allowed the airline to continue flying planes with safety problems. The FAA whistleblowers and lawmakers criticized the FAA for treating airlines as "customers" rather than companies that need to be regulated. The Wall Street Journal leads its world-wide newsbox with President Bush winning the backing of NATO allies for a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe. The New York Times leads with a new poll that shows 81 percent of Americans believe the country has gone "off on the wrong track," which marks an increase of 12 percentage points since last year. It is the highest level of dissatisfaction with the country's direction since the NYT/CBS poll first asked the question in the early 1990s. Most believe the economy is in a recession and Americans blame the government more than banks or borrowers for the current crisis. The Los Angeles Times leads with a look at how Sen. Barack Obama is quickly cutting into Sen. Hillary Clinton's lead in superdelegates. In December, Clinton had 106 more superdelegates than Obama, but now that lead has been reduced to 30. 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 News & Politics The Little Fibs Campaigns Tell All Day Long Arts & Life Jhumpa Lahiri and the Trauma of Assimilation News & Politics The World's Most Annoying Links	Advertisement
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