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 Not Even One By Jesse Stanchak
Posted Sunday, March 29, 2009, at 6:24 AM ET The Washington Post leads with government officials saying not a single major terrorist plot was thwarted using information obtained by waterboarding suspected terrorist mastermind Abu Zubaida. The national edition of the New York Times leads with a look at the challenges waiting for President Barack Obama during his trip to the G-20 summit in London. The Los Angeles Times leads with public health officials saying the decline in vaccination rates among California school children may put the state at risk for an epidemic. CIA officials initially believed Zubaida was an al Qaeda ringleader and that information he divulged after being waterboarded would prove crucial to preventing terrorist attacks. Both assumptions were wrong. Zubaida wasn't even an official member of al Qaeda. While he did possess some very useful information about al Qaeda's membership, most of it was obtained before he was waterboarded. The leads he provided later were almost all dead ends that wasted agents' valuable time and resources. The paper says that Zubaida may now prove to be a thorny legal issue for the White House. If he's brought to trial in the U.S. after being waterboarded, he could very well be set free and establish a dangerous precedent for other Guantanamo detainees. The administration is examining the possibility of transferring his custody to another country instead. To continue reading, click here. Jesse Stanchak is a writer living in Washington, D.C.
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Do You Understand Obama's Afghanistan Policy? Me Neither.
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Relax, It's OK If Your Kid Doesn't Make His Bed
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His first bill was the "Higher Education Opportunity through Pell Grant Expansion Act.
He hired former Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle's ex-chief of staff for the same position, and Karen Kornbluh, an economist who was deputy chief of staff to former Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin, as his policy adviser.
His second book, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, was published in October 2006, three weeks before the 2006 midterm election.
Addressing the Chicago Council on Global Affairs in November 2006, Obama called for a phased withdrawal of troops and an opening of diplomatic dialogue with Iraq's neighbors, Syria and Iran.
Obama received over 52% of the vote in the March 2004 primary, emerging 29% ahead of his nearest Democratic rival.
The Chicago Tribune credits the large crowds that gathered at book signings with influencing Obama's decision to run for president.
In 2000, he made an unsuccessful Democratic primary run for the U.S. House of Representatives seat held by four-term incumbent candidate Bobby Rush.
You want a fight, President Bush? Let's finish the fight with Bin Laden and al-Qaeda, through effective, coordinated intelligence, and a shutting down of the financial networks that support terrorism, and a homeland security program that involves more than color-coded warnings.
His parents met while both were attending the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where his father was enrolled as a foreign student.
Obama's candidacy was boosted by an advertising campaign featuring images of the late Chicago Mayor Harold Washington and the late U.S.
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 Return Of The Benchmarks By Barron YoungSmith
Posted Saturday, March 28, 2009, at 7:22 AM ET The New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times lead with Barack Obama announcing his new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Hoping to clarify and narrow our goals, Obama said that the U.S. objective in the region is to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat Al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to prevent their return to either country in the future." Invoking the 9/11 attacks, Obama proposed a major push to expand Afghan security forces, improve the responsiveness of the Kabul government, reduce corruption, fight drug trafficking, and combat the Taliban. (He'll also boost Pakistan's counter-terror capacity and encourage detente with India.) Obama says he'll judge progress based on benchmarks related to those goals, revising the strategy as needed. The Wall Street Journal tops its world-wide newsbox with mass flooding in Fargo, North Dakota. To continue reading, click here. Barron YoungSmith is a reporter-researcher at The New Republic.
Also In Slate
Do You Understand Obama's Afghanistan Policy? Me Neither.
What Is Good Design Now? A Conversation With Adam Gopnik, Jonathan Adler, and Others.
Relax, It's OK If Your Kid Doesn't Make His Bed
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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.
The bill did not progress beyond committee and was never voted on by the Senate.
" In an October 2006 interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Obama highlighted the diversity of his extended family: "Michelle will tell you that when we get together for Christmas or Thanksgiving, it's like a little mini-United Nations," he said.
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.
Obama's own self-narrative reinforces what a May 2004 New Yorker magazine article described as his "everyman" image.
Asked to name a "hidden talent," Obama answered: "I'm a pretty good poker player.
" He joined with Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) in strengthening restrictions on travel in corporate jets to S.1, the Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2007, which passed the Senate with a 96-2 majority. Obama joined Charles Schumer (D-NY) in sponsoring S. 453, a bill to criminalize deceptive practices in federal elections, including fraudulent flyers and automated phone calls, as witnessed in the 2006 midterm elections.
"Lugar-Obama" expands the Nunn-Lugar cooperative threat reduction concept to conventional weapons, including shoulder-fired missiles and anti-personnel mines.
"The announcement followed months of speculation on whether Obama would run in 2008.
The bill did not progress beyond committee and was never voted on by the Senate.
"Writing about Obama's political image in a March 2007 Washington Post opinion column, Eugene Robinson characterized him as "the personification of both-and," a messenger who rejects "either-or" political choices, and could "move the nation beyond the culture wars" of the 1960s.
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 Sebelius Tapped as HHS Secretary By Justin Peters
Posted Sunday, March 1, 2009, at 4:35 AM ET The Washington Post leads with news that Kathleen Sebelius, the Democratic governor of Kansas, has been nominated as Secretary of Health and Human Services. The New York Times leads a story about how Barack Obama's election has rekindled hopes that the U.S. will soon take a major leadership role in global efforts to combat climate change. The Los Angeles Times leads a report on financial improprieties in the California governor's office; its top national story is a news feature on a veteran undercover CIA operative currently being tried for war crimes committed during the Balkan wars. Noting that her nomination comes days before a crucial White House summit on health reform, the Post blandly outlines Sebelius' resume and her gubernatorial experience with health care issues. The NYT analyzes the political implications of the pick, noting the governor's bipartisan credentials and devoting much space to her pro-choice background, which, for some reason, the paper seems to think may end up derailing her confirmation. The article cites the spectre of looming Catholic opposition to Sebelius' nomination, but neglects to mention that the Senate's Catholic bloc is by no means ideologically consistent on abortion issues. To continue reading, click here. Justin Peters is a writer in New York, and the editor of Polite.
Also In Slate
The Obamas and the Great American Tradition of Church Shopping
Is It Legal To Send Blood Through the Mail?
The Obamas Should Name Their Dog "Government"
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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.
" Replying to an Associated Press survey of 2008 presidential candidates' personal tastes, he specified "architect" as his alternate career choice and "chili" as his favorite meal to cook.
"In 1988, while employed as a summer associate at the Chicago law firm of Sidley & Austin, Obama met Michelle Robinson, who also worked there.
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.
Obama's mother died of ovarian cancer a few months after the publication of his 1995 memoir, Dreams from My Father.
Obama's mother died of ovarian cancer a few months after the publication of his 1995 memoir, Dreams from My Father.
In 2003, Obama began his run for the U.S. Senate open seat vacated by Peter Fitzgerald.
In a nationally televised speech at the University of Nairobi, he spoke forcefully on the influence of ethnic rivalries and corruption in Kenya.
Barack Hussein Obama (born August 4, 1961) is the junior United States Senator from Illinois and a member of the Democratic Party.
Beginning in 2005, he co-sponsored the "Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act" introduced by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).
Since announcing his candidacy in February 2007, Obama has emphasized ending the Iraq War and implementing universal health care as campaign themes.
As an associate attorney with Miner, Barnhill & Galland from 1993 to 1996, he represented community organizers, discrimination claims, and voting rights cases.
" During his first two and a half years in the Senate, Obama received Honorary Doctorates of Law from Knox College, University of Massachusetts Boston, Northwestern University, Xavier University of Louisiana, and Southern New Hampshire University.
The first such poll, taken in November 2006, ranked Obama in second place with 17% support among Democrats after Sen.
In early May 2007, the U.S. Secret Service announced that Obama had been placed under their protection.
He received his B.A. degree in 1983, then worked for one year at Business International Corporation.
After graduating from Columbia University and Harvard Law School, Obama worked as a community organizer, university lecturer, and civil rights lawyer before entering politics.
Obama took an active role in the Senate's drive for improved border security and immigration reform.