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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Opinions Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2008

Ruth Marcus
Michelle Obama's 'Mommy' Stamp
What does it say that Michelle Obama wants to be more Jackie Kennedy than Hillary Clinton?

Kathleen Parker
Voters Fail the Test
A new report finds that most Americans are too ignorant to vote.

Aaron David Miller
Start With Syria
It is the best way to approach Arab-Israeli peacemaking.

Karl E. Meyer and Shareen Blair Brysac
Send Bill Clinton to the Senate
Why shouldn't former presidents continue their political lives in Congress?

Jack Goldsmith
No New Torture Probes
Simply let the many current investigations run their course.

Peter Ackerman and John Vogelstein
Restore TARP to Its First Purpose
Buying distressed mortgage assets is the best way for the market to understand the losses that banks face.

Tom TOLES& Ann TELNAES

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Editorials

Buying Time: Meet your new mortgage banker: Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke.

Name Those Cuts: Barack Obama needs to show what fiscal sacrifice looks like.

Closing Death Row: A Maryland panel offers wise advice on capital punishment.

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Obama, who defines himself in The Audacity of Hope as "a Democrat, after all," has been criticized for his political actions by self-described progressive commentator David Sirota, and complimented for his "Can't we all just get along?" manner by conservative columnist George Will. " The audio book edition earned Obama the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album. "In 1988, while employed as a summer associate at the Chicago law firm of Sidley & Austin, Obama met Michelle Robinson, who also worked there. 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.

Obama said, "The time has come for universal health care in America Z...Z I am absolutely determined that by the end of the first term of the next president, we should have universal health care in this country. Obama's candidacy was boosted by an advertising campaign featuring images of the late Chicago Mayor Harold Washington and the late U.S. " In an October 2006 interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Obama highlighted the diversity of his extended family: "Michelle will tell you that when we get together for Christmas or Thanksgiving, it's like a little mini-United Nations," he said.