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 Looking Back in Anger By Daniel Politi Posted Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2008, at 6:19 AM ET The Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and USA Today lead with the continuing bailout politics as the Bush administration sent some of its top officials to Capitol Hill yesterday in an effort to convince lawmakers they need to pass the $700-billion plan as soon as possible. Instead of falling in line as many had expected, Congressional opposition to the bailout seems to be growing every day. The men of the hour, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, appeared before the Senate Banking Committee to push lawmakers toward action. In what USAT calls perhaps his "darkest economic assessment" since becoming chairman, Bernanke warned that the current crisis is unlike anything the country has ever seen and failing to approve the bailout would have "significant adverse consequences for the average person." Despite these dire predictions, Congressional opposition, particularly from Republicans in the House, was so strong that by last night "it was no longer certain that a version of the Paulson-Bernanke plan could win passage," the LAT declares. The Wall Street Journal banners, and the NYT off-leads, news that Warren Buffett will invest $5 billion in Goldman Sachs. The WSJ calls the cash infusion by the famous investor "one of the biggest expressions of confidence in the financial system since the credit crisis intensified early this month." Financial stocks, including Goldman's, surged in after-hours trading as Buffett's decision "immediately heartened investors," says the NYT. The Washington Post leads with a new presidential election poll that suggests the economic turmoil is helping Barack Obama, who now has the first clear lead in the general-election campaign. Among likely voters, Obama leads John McCain by 52 percent to 43 percent. A mere 9 percent rated the economy as good or excellent, and 50 percent cited it as the most important issue. That undoubtedly helps Obama, who has a sizable advantage as the candidate best suited to handle the current financial crisis. 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 Why Washington Loves It When Wall Street Suffers News & Politics How Much Is $700 Billion, Really? News & Politics Why Nothing You Can Do or Say Will Change This Voter's Mind	Advertisement
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Describing his working life in Illinois, and symbolically linking his presidential campaign to Abraham Lincoln's 1858 House Divided speech, Obama said: "That is why, in the shadow of the Old State Capitol, where Lincoln once called on a house divided to stand together, where common hopes and common dreams still live, I stand before you today to announce my candidacy for President of the United States of America. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) who placed first with 28% of the responses. Obama delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention while still an Illinois state legislator. Also during the first month of the 110th Congress, Obama introduced the "Iraq War De-Escalation Act," a bill that caps troop levels in Iraq at January 10, 2007 levels, begins phased redeployment on May 1, 2007, and removes all combat brigades from Iraq by March 31, 2008. His mother married Lolo Soetoro, an Indonesian foreign student, with whom she had one daughter, Maya. " He completed his J.D. degree magna cum laude in 1991. He is a member of the Senate committees on Foreign Relations; Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; and Veterans' Affairs; and the Congressional Black Caucus. His knowledge about his absent Luo father came mainly through family stories and photographs. " An Italian translation was published in April 2007 with a preface by Walter Veltroni, Mayor of Rome, and a Spanish paperback edition was published in June 2007. Speaking to an elderly Jewish audience during his 2004 campaign for U.S. Senate, Obama linked the linguistic roots of his East African first name Barack to the Hebrew word baruch, meaning "blessed. Former presidential candidate Gary Hart describes the book as Obama's "thesis submission" for the U.S. presidency: "It presents a man of relative youth yet maturity, a wise observer of the human condition, a figure who possesses perseverance and writing skills that have flashes of grandeur. Speculation intensified in October 2006 when Obama first said he had "thought about the possibility" of running for president, departing from earlier statements that he intended to serve out his six-year Senate term through 2010. On December 22, 2006, President Bush signed into law the "Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act," marking the first federal legislation to be enacted with Obama as its primary sponsor. Obama left for his third official trip in August 2006, traveling to South Africa and Kenya, and making stops in Djibouti, Ethiopia and Chad. We coach Little League in the Blue States and yes, we got some gay friends in the Red States. And they want that choice. It was an immediate bestseller and remains on the New York Times Best Seller List. " Reviewing Obama's career in the Illinois Senate, a February 2007 article in the Washington Post noted his work with both Democrats and Republicans in drafting bipartisan legislation on ethics and health care reform.

Obama was elected to the Illinois State Senate in 1996 from the state's 13th District in the south-side Chicago neighborhood of Hyde Park. He spent most of his childhood in the majority-minority U.S. state of Hawaii and lived for four years in Indonesia. " Speaking before the National Press Club in April 2005, Obama defended the New Deal social welfare policies of Franklin D. Roosevelt, associating Republican proposals to establish private accounts for Social Security with Social Darwinism. " The chapter details how Obama, in his twenties, while working with local churches as a community organizer, came to understand "the power of the African American religious tradition to spur social change. In August 2004, with less than three months to go before election day, Alan Keyes accepted the Illinois Republican Party's nomination to replace Ryan.