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 Someone's Lying By Daniel Politi Posted Friday, Nov. 7, 2008, at 6:46 AM ET The New York Times leads with new revelations that further muddle the picture of how the war between Georgia and Russia this summer unfolded. The paper got its hands on accounts by independent military observers that suggest Georgia began indiscriminately attacking civilian areas in South Ossetia's capital, virtually assuring a Russian response. The NYT takes pains to emphasize that the reports are hardly conclusive, but at the very least they put in doubt Georgia's long-held assertions that it acted largely out of self defense. The Washington Post leads with, and the Wall Street Journal banners, a look at the expanding global efforts to fight the economic downturn. Democrats in Washington are moving ahead with plans to try to combat the declining economy through a spending package of as much as $100 billion that could be passed this month. In Europe, several central banks sharply cut interest rates. Meanwhile, President-elect Barack Obama announced he will be meeting with his economic advisers and hold his first news conference today. He plans to meet with President Bush on Monday in a bid to emphasize that they both want a smooth transition in a time of crisis. USA Today leads with a new poll that found two-thirds of Americans believe relations between blacks and whites "will eventually be worked out," which marks a historic high. Around 67 percent of Americans say they feel proud and optimistic after Barack Obama's victory, which is particularly significant considering that 53 percent voted for the Democratic candidate. The Los Angeles Times leads locally with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to battle California's rapidly growing budget deficit by increasing the sales tax and sharply reducing services. 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 Microsoft Thinks the Next President's Name Is "Barracks Boatman" Why College Football Is More Cutthroat Than the NFL Finally, Legit Medical Evidence That Marijuana Is a Wonder Drug	Advertisement
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"The announcement followed months of speculation on whether Obama would run in 2008.

" 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. Obama was sworn in as a Senator on January 4, 2005. We've got it all. In Chapter 6 of the book, titled "Faith," Obama writes that he "was not raised in a religious household. The first, Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, was published after his graduation from law school and before entering politics. In 2003, Obama began his run for the U.S. Senate open seat vacated by Peter Fitzgerald. The New York Times described Obama as "the prize catch of the midterm campaign" because of his campaigning for fellow Democratic Party members running for election in the 2006 midterm elections. " 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. " 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. President Bush signs the "Coburn-Obama" Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006. In the fall of 2002, during an anti-war rally at Chicago's Federal Plaza, Obama said: I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda. Born to a Kenyan father and an American mother, Obama grew up in culturally diverse surroundings. " Reviewer Michael Tomasky writes that it does not contain "boldly innovative policy prescriptions that will lead the Democrats out of their wilderness," but does show Obama's potential to "construct a new politics that is progressive but grounded in civic traditions that speak to a wider range of Americans. " He describes his mother, raised by non-religious parents, as detached from religion, yet "in many ways the most spiritually awakened person that I have ever known. "The announcement followed months of speculation on whether Obama would run in 2008. He flew his wife and two daughters from Chicago to join him in a visit to his father's birthplace, a village near Kisumu in rural western Kenya. 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. His parents met while both were attending the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where his father was enrolled as a foreign student. "I've got relatives who look like Bernie Mac, and I've got relatives who look like Margaret Thatcher. His opponent in the general election was expected to be Republican primary winner Jack Ryan. The speech was Obama's introduction to most of America.

S. 2611 passed the Senate in May 2006, but failed to gain majority support in the U.S. House of Representatives.