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 Friday, Dec. 26, 2008

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Transition News

Far West of Washington, Calm Before the Term (By Philip Rucker)

Life's Not Necessarily A Beach for Press Corps (By Philip Rucker)

Analysis: Reaching Out to the Federal Workforce (By Max Stier)

FCC's New Role Under Obama Administration (By Cecilia Kang)

The Obama Presidency:
A Transition to Power

• Holiday Reading
• President-Elect's Holiday Address Offers Prayers and Praise for America's Troops
• Obama Gets Benefit of the Doubt (for Now)

The Fix by Chris Cillizza

• A Christmas Break for The Fix
• Obama Reports on Contacts With Blagojevich
• The Case Against Caroline Kennedy

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

More Political Headlines

States Cut Medicaid Coverage Further (By Amy Goldstein)

Study Criticizes Bush Approach to War Funding, Calls for Changes (By Ann Scott Tyson)

Blagojevich Attorney Asks Illinois Panel for Subpoena (The Associated Press)

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Auto Rescue Takes Shape (John Stoll, Wall Street Journal)

The Return of Intellectualism in Politics (Peter Beinart, The Daily Beast)

The Media's Failure to State the Obvious (Christopher Hitchens, Slate)

Bush Looks Back (Byron York & Rich Lowry, National Review)

Paul Krugman's Depression Economics (Andrew Leonard, Salon)

Opinions

First Lady: A Job Worth A Paycheck (By Lauren Stiller Rikleen)

Peace for the Mideast: How Our Plan Could Aid Barack Obama's Efforts (By Turki al-Faisal)

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Obama plays basketball, a sport he participated in as a member of his high school's varsity team.

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. But the big telephone and cable companies want to change the Internet as we know it. On returning to Chicago, Obama directed a voter registration drive.

In July 2005, Samantha Power, Pulitzer-winning author on human rights and genocide, joined Obama's team. In early May 2007, the U.S. Secret Service announced that Obama had been placed under their protection. Barack Hussein Obama (born August 4, 1961) is the junior United States Senator from Illinois and a member of the Democratic Party. They know we can do better. But the big telephone and cable companies want to change the Internet as we know it. In a public gesture aimed to encourage more Kenyans to undergo voluntary HIV testing, Obama and his wife took HIV tests at a Kenyan clinic.

Speaking to an elderly Jewish audience during his 2004 campaign for U.S. Senate, Obama linked the linguistic roots of his East African first name Barack to the Hebrew word baruch, meaning "blessed. He was a lecturer of constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1993 until his election to the U.S. Senate in 2004. His parents met while both were attending the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where his father was enrolled as a foreign student. Obama plays basketball, a sport he participated in as a member of his high school's varsity team. Senator Paul Simon; the support of Simon's daughter; and political endorsements by the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times. Partnering first with Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN), and then with Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), Obama successfully introduced two initiatives bearing his name. Following Obama's statement, opinion polling organizations added his name to surveyed lists of Democratic candidates. "During his first year as a U.S. senator, in a move more typically taken after several years of holding high political office, Obama established a leadership political action committee, Hopefund, for channeling financial support to Democratic candidates. Obama's energy initiatives scored pluses and minuses with environmentalists, who welcomed his sponsorship with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) of a climate change bill to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by two-thirds by 2050, but were skeptical of Obama's support for a bill promoting liquefied coal production.

Senator Paul Simon; the support of Simon's daughter; and political endorsements by the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times.