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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Politics News & Analysis Monday, Dec. 29, 2008

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Political Headlines

McAuliffe's Prowess As Fundraiser Grabs Spotlight in Va. Race (By Tim Craig)

Webb Sets His Sights On Prison Reform (By Sandhya Somashekhar)

Obama Tax Cuts Likely Soon (By Philip Rucker)

Californians Shape Up as Force on Environmental Policy (By Lyndsey Layton)

The Obama Presidency:
A Transition to Power

• RNC Chairman Candidates Split on Charged Stocking Stuffer
• Obama's Vacation: Power Returns to Oahu
• Obama Takes In a Show and a Shave Ice

The Fix by Chris Cillizza

• Sunday Reading: Broder on the Republican South
• A Christmas Break for The Fix
• Obama Reports on Contacts With Blagojevich

Capitol Briefing by Ben Pershing

• And the Winner (Loser?) Is ... Illinois
• Rep. Hoekstra to Retire, Eyeing Bid for Governor
• Young Out in GOP Housecleaning

The Sleuth by Mary Ann Akers

• I Barack Hussein Obama Do Solemnly Swear...
• Rihanna to Perform on Obama's Inauguration Night?
• Ghost of Hanukkah Past Crashes President Bush's Last Bash

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Under Bush, OSHA Mired in Inaction (By R. Jeffrey Smith)

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Opinions

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He served in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004, launching his campaign for U.S. Senate in 2003. In Ukraine, they toured a disease control and prevention facility and witnessed the signing of a bilateral pact to secure biological pathogens and combat risks of infectious disease outbreaks from natural causes or bioterrorism. On returning to Chicago, Obama directed a voter registration drive.

If elected, Obama would become the first non-white U.S. president. Obama traveled to Russia, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan in August 2005 with Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN), then Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was also criticized by a rival pro-choice candidate in the Democratic primary and by his Republican pro-life opponent in the general election for having voted either "present" or "no" on anti-abortion legislation. But in a December 2006 Wall Street Journal editorial headlined "The Man from Nowhere," former Ronald Reagan speech writer Peggy Noonan advised Will and other "establishment" commentators to get "down from your tippy toes" and avoid becoming too quickly excited about Obama's still early political career. " 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. Obama's own self-narrative reinforces what a May 2004 New Yorker magazine article described as his "everyman" image. In September 2006, he was the featured speaker at Iowa Senator Tom Harkin's annual steak fry, an event traditionally attended by presidential hopefuls in the lead-up to the Iowa caucus. 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. In Chapter 6 of the book, titled "Faith," Obama writes that he "was not raised in a religious household. " In January 2007, Obama spoke at an event organized by Families USA, a health care advocacy group. S. 2611 passed the Senate in May 2006, but failed to gain majority support in the U.S. House of Representatives.