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 North Dakota is the Place to Be By Arthur Delaney Posted Saturday, Dec. 6, 2008, at 5:52 AM ET Yesterday's monthly report from the U.S. Labor Department is the big news in today's papers: The nation's employers cut 533,000 jobs in November, the largest monthly job-shedding since 1974. Congressional Democrats are near a deal with the White House to help out the flagging auto industry in hopes of preventing even nastier unemployment numbers. The New York Times notes high-up in its lead story that the bad numbers do not include people who are under-employed or who have simply stopped looking for work. Counting those folks would nearly double the November unemployment tally, putting it at 12.5 percent instead of 6.7 percent. President-elect Barack Obama called for public spending to solve the crisis, but the Times says Obama's vague plan to create 2.5 million jobs would "barely recover the jobs that have disappeared over the last year," given the accelerating losses. To continue reading, click here. Arthur Delaney is a freelance writer based in Washington, D.C. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE \| READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Cadillac Records: Maybe We Should Be a Lot Nicer to Biopics The Best Fictional Saddam Since Hot Shots! Part Deux. Can an Underwater Dam Save Venice?	Advertisement
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