Barack Obama
Barack Obama
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 Israel Considers Cease-Fire Plan Posted Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009, at 7:04 AM ET The Wall Street Journal leads its world-wide newsbox with the Israeli mortar shells that were fired at a U.N.-run school in the Gaza Strip that killed around 30 or 40 Palestinians. Gaza residents have been seeking refuge at these U.N. facilities, and many of those killed were women and children. As the Palestinian death toll reached 640, Israeli, European, and American officials expressed support for an Egyptian-led initiative to broker a cease-fire. The Washington Post leads with, and the Los Angeles Times devotes its top nonlocal story to, the fallout from President-elect Barack Obama's choice of Leon Panetta as CIA director. Current and former intelligence officials are angry about the selection of someone with scant intelligence experience, and several Democratic senators on the intelligence committee remain resentful that they weren't consulted about the choice before it was leaked to the press. USA Today leads with a look at a number of last-minute security policies that the Department of Homeland Security will implement before President Bush leaves Washington. Businesses aren't happy about these new policies, which will involve collecting millions of new electronic records about private planes, cargo, foreign visitors, and contractors, and say their concerns have been ignored. Implementing the new policies won't only be costly but could lead to the release of sensitive information if there's a problem with the electronic records. The New York Times leads with Obama warning that the American economy could face "trillion-dollar deficits for years to come" as the government takes in less tax money and spends more. Obama made it clear that he understands it's dangerous to have such huge deficits for several years and emphasized that he's committed to cutting back on unnecessary expenditures, although he didn't go into any details. "We're going to have to stop talking about budget reform," the president-elect said. "We're going to have to totally embrace it." 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 I Have Seen the Future of Apple, and It Is Boring Blogs Are Full of Hot Air. But Are They Causing Global Warming? Why Obama Really Picked Panetta To Run the CIA | Advertisement  |
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