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.



Now playing: *Slate V, a video-only site from the world's leading online magazine. Visit Slate V* at www.slatev.com.
today's papers What's Good for GM is Good for Obama By Daniel Politi Posted Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008, at 6:22 AM ET The Washington Post leads with a look at how things haven't gone quite as planned for Fannie Mae and American International Group after the government took them over. Both say the government set up such strict terms when it effectively nationalized the companies that it's impossible for them to succeed. As was already reported yesterday, the government unveiled a new investment in AIG. In its lead story, the Los Angeles Times poignantly wonders: "Will $700 billion be enough?" When an individual company gets so much money it's bound to get other industries to wonder why they can't get a piece of the pie as well. The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal's world-wide newsbox lead with President-elect Barack Obama urging President Bush to extend financial support to the U.S. auto industry and to back a new financial stimulus package. Bush said he might be willing to support those measures if Democrats agree to drop their opposition to the Colombia free-trade deal. USA Today leads with a look at how many state and local governments continue to spend heavily despite the ongoing economic slump. In the third quarter, state and local spending increased 7.4 percent while the governments continued to increase hiring at a pace not seen in the vast majority of the private sector. Some insist the increased spending is helping to soften the economic downturn, but it also means states will be facing some steep budget shortfalls next year. 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 Shafer: Rumors of the Drudge Report's Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated Will President Obama Bring His Facebooky Web Site to the White House? Obama Is Catching Five Lucky Breaks on Foreign Policy	Advertisement
Ideas on how to make something better? Send an e-mail to newsletters@slate.com. Manage your newsletters on Slate Unsubscribe \| Newsletter Center \| Advertising Information Please do not reply to this message since this is an unmonitored e-mail address. If you have questions about newsletters, please go here. Copyright 2008 Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive Co. LLC \| Privacy Policy Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive \| c/o E-mail Customer Care \|1515 N. Courthouse Rd. \| Arlington, VA 22201

Beginning in 2005, he co-sponsored the "Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act" introduced by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). "The announcement followed months of speculation on whether Obama would run in 2008. The speech touched off a public debate among rival leaders, some formally challenging Obama's remarks as unfair and improper, others defending his positions. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.

Obama's parents separated when he was two years old and later divorced. The first, Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, was published after his graduation from law school and before entering politics.

The donations came from 104,000 individual donors, with US$6.9 million raised through the Internet from 50,000 of the donors. Lugar and Obama inspected a Nunn-Lugar program-supported nuclear warhead destruction facility at Saratov, in southern European Russia. 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. The protection was not in response to any specific threat, but the campaign had received "hate mail, calls and other 'threatening materials'" in the past, and officials felt that the large crowds and increased campaign activity warranted the order. 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. He used alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine during his teenage years, Obama writes, to "push questions of who I was out of my mind. Supporters and critics have likened Obama's popular image to a cultural Rorschach test, a neutral persona on which people can project their personal histories and aspirations. I can say what I want without censorship or without having to pay a special charge.