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 Settling Dust By Posted Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008, at 5:44 AM ET The New York Times leads with the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, which officials say could be the worst since Hurricane Alicia 25 years ago. The Los Angeles Times leads with the aftermath of a giant train wreck, which has so far killed 25 people due to an engineer who ignored a traffic signal and the lack of recommended safety equipment that would have provided some insurance against human error. The Washington Post leads with the slightly more remote aftermath of the Cheney vice presidency with another installment in its award-winning series, this time laying out the high-level play-by-play around the presidential wiretapping program. A picture emerges of lawyers in the office of the general council attempting to bring the program in line with the law and loop in the attorney general's office, each time to be thwarted by the vice president's top lawyers. The story ends with a cliffhanger, to be resolved in tomorrow's paper. While not as bad as federal officials feared, Ike has done a serious number on the Gulf Coast--so serious, in fact, that Barack Obama canceled an appearance of Saturday Night Live out of fears that it might seem inappropriate, and a game between the Texans and Baltimore Ravens might have to be postponed, since the storm has torn large chunks of steel off Reliant stadium. The NYT has the stories of those who hunkered down and rode out the storm rather than fleeing for Texas' tranquil interior--fully 140,000 ignored evacuation orders, frustrating state officials--while the Post surveys the resulting bump in gas prices around the country. The LAT's later deadline picks up three deaths as being storm-related, and documents rescue efforts slowed by highways that have been blocked by the wreckage of boats tossed ashore by a "wall of water." 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 News & Politics Daniel Gross: Why Lehman Brothers Is Having Trouble Getting a Bailout Arts & Life What To Do When Your Kid's Best Friend Moves Away News & Politics How the World's Nicest Country Turned Mean	Advertisement
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