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 Let My People In By Daniel Politi Posted Friday, May 9, 2008, at 6:20 AM ET The New York Times leads with the United Nations increasing pressure on Burmese officials to drop all restrictions and allow relief workers and aid to enter the country. It's now been almost a week since Cyclone Nargis devastated Burma on Saturday but emergency supplies continue to trickle in at an unacceptable pace as the military junta is adamant that it won't cede control over the relief efforts. "They have simply not facilitated access in the way we have a right to expect," the U.N. official in charge of the relief effort said. The Wall Street Journal also leads its world-wide newsbox with Burma and points out that the military junta allowed the first U.N. aid shipments to enter the country. The Washington Post leads with a look at how Sen. Barack Obama began an effort to unify the Democratic Party behind his candidacy, even as Sen. Hillary Clinton continued to campaign and insist she has a better chance of winning the November election. USA Today leads with new data that shows an increasing number of prime borrowers are falling behind on their mortgage payments and foreclosures are on the rise. Although the numbers are still small, and the problem is nowhere near as severe as in the subprime market, if they increase further it "could prolong the housing crisis." The Los Angeles Times leads with news that the national coordinator of Mexico's efforts to wage war against organized crime was killed in his home by an assassin. Sources tell the paper that the so-called Sinaloa cartel was responsible for the attack against Edgar Milan Gomez, who was the country's third-ranking police official. 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 Obama on Your Cell Phone: Introducing Slate's Political Ring Tones Arts & Life Tim Robbins' Charming War on Car Alarms News & Politics Since When Does Tim Russert Get To Decide the Election's Over?	Advertisement
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