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 To the Rescue By Daniel Politi Posted Monday, July 14, 2008, at 7:00 AM ET The New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times lead with the federal government announcing a proposal, which each of the papers describes as "sweeping," to bolster the troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Bush administration officials said they would ask Congress to temporarily increase the amount of money the Treasury Department can lend to the institutions as well as allow the government to invest directly in either company "if needed." Although the Treasury didn't specify the size of its package, the NYT gets word that lawmakers will be asked to consider increasing the line of credit to the institutions that is currently set at $2.25 billion each to $300 billion total. In addition, the Federal Reserve announced that it would allow Freddie and Fannie to borrow directly from the central bank for the first time. The move would effectively give the mortgage giants access to the Fed's discount window, a privilege that was extended to Wall Street's biggest investment banks earlier this year. The NYT hears that the Fed's decision is temporary and would "probably" only last until Congress passes the Treasury proposal. The Wall Street Journal leads its world-wide newsbox with the nine American soldiers who were killed in northeastern Afghanistan yesterday when insurgents launched a bold assault against a remote base near the Pakistani border. It was the deadliest attack against U.S. forces in Afghanistan since June 2005, when a helicopter was shot down, and is the latest example of how insurgents have been regaining strength in the country. USA Today leads with a poll that shows a majority of Americans across racial lines think race relations in the country will improve if Sen. Barack Obama becomes president. Black Americans are most optimistic as 65 percent think Obama's election would improve race relations, a feeling that is shared by 54 percent of whites. On the other hand, about a third of both blacks and whites said race relations would get worse if Obama loses. 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 Pointless Attempt to Fix the War Powers Act Business & Tech Why Public Schools Are So Bad at Hiring Teachers Business & Technology Stop Blaming Speculators for High Gas Prices	Advertisement
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