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 Can GM Get It Together? By Kara Hadge
Posted Saturday, May 30, 2009, at 6:29 AM ET The New York Times and the Washington Post lead with stories on saving General Motors. The NYT focuses on Friday's tentative deal by GM to sell the European arm of the company, Opel, to Canadian parts manufacturer Magna in an alliance with Russian bank Sberbank. The WP looks forward to Monday's deadline from the Obama administration for GM's restructuring plans, with word from the Treasury Department that the U.S. government would recoup the $50 billion it plans to pour into the company within five years. The Wall Street Journal tops its world-wide news box with Defense Secretary Robert Gates' warning to North Korea against developing and, in particular, exporting nuclear weapon technologies that could threaten the U.S. and its allies. The Los Angeles Times leads local with a story on severe budget cuts in California. In an effort to trim another $2.8 billion to prevent the state from running out of money this summer, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed deep cuts to education, transportation, and a slew of other government functions. Although the Opel deal has not been finalized, Magna and Sberbank appear to have won out over Fiat, which was also looking to buy the stake in GM's European operations. Had Fiat done so, it would have become the second-largest car manufacturer in the world, after Toyota. The NYT implies that Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne lost out in the deal, but an earlier story online in the WP yesterday suggested Marchionne was just recoiling due to requests by the German government, which is leading the search for Opel's buyer, "to fund Opel on an emergency basis while the government determines the timing and conditions of financing." To continue reading, click here. Kara Hadge is a former Slate intern.
Also In Slate
The Latest From Barack Obama's Facebook Newsfeed
There Are Already 355 Terrorists in Federal Prisons, Dummy
Books, Movies, and Music Recommended by Slate This Month
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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.
" Expressing a similar view, New York Daily News columnist Stanley Crouch wrote: "When black Americans refer to Obama as 'one of us,' I do not know what they are talking about.
Lugar and Obama inspected a Nunn-Lugar program-supported nuclear warhead destruction facility at Saratov, in southern European Russia.
Through three televised debates, Obama and Keyes expressed opposing views on stem cell research, abortion, gun control, school vouchers, and tax cuts.
He has responded to and personally participated in online discussions hosted on politically-oriented blog sites.
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.
In September 2006, Obama supported a related bill, the Secure Fence Act, authorizing construction of fencing and other security improvements along the United States–Mexico border.
In 1985, Obama moved to Chicago to direct a non-profit project assisting local churches to organize job training programs.
"I've never been a heavy smoker," Obama told the Chicago Tribune.
Boosted by increased national standing, he went on to win election to the U.S. Senate in November 2004 with a landslide 70% of the vote in an election year marked by Republican gains.
Hillary Clinton (D-NY) who placed first with 28% of the responses.
In March 2007, speaking before AIPAC, a pro-Israel lobby, he said that while the U.S. "should take no option, including military action, off the table, sustained and aggressive diplomacy combined with tough sanctions should be our primary means to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons.
However, Hull's popularity declined following allegations of domestic abuse.
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 With a Little Help from My Friends By Roger McShane
Posted Sunday, May 24, 2009, at 6:14 AM ET The New York Times leads with the U.S. depending on foreign intelligence services to do its dirty work in the war on terror. The current approach, which began under George Bush and continues under Barack Obama, relies on foreign governments "to capture, interrogate and detain all but the highest-level terrorist suspects seized outside the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan." The Los Angeles Times leads with the story of four French and Belgian al-Qaida recruits who were picked up by police in Europe after they traveled to Pakistan. The seemingly failed recruits "just weren't tough enough," says one of their lawyers. But anti-terrorism officials wonder if they were meant to attack inside Europe. The Washington Post leads with Nancy Pelosi's trip to China, where she will focus on the country's carbon emissions. The Post notes that Pelosi, a staunch critic of Beijing's human rights record, declined to say whether that topic would come up in her talks. Hillary Clinton played down human rights when she visited China earlier in the year, and the paper sees a trend. In it's lead, the NYT notes America is continuing to provide intelligence and logistical support to foreign governments, but it's letting them pick up and detain terror suspects. This has put Barack Obama in a tough spot. He is likely to take heat from the left for continuing a Bush-era approach that has the U.S. relying on regimes that are known to torture prisoners. Yet Obama's own policies--such as closing the prisons at Guantanamo Bay and the CIA's black sites--have left him with few options. For example, one official says the administration is having an "extremely, extremely sensitive" debate over what to do with two al-Qaida suspects in Pakistani custody. "They're both bad dudes," says the official. "The issue is: where do they get parked so they stay parked?" That is something that the president did not address in his speech on Thursday. To continue reading, click here. Roger McShane writes for the Economist online.
Also In Slate
The Audio Book Club Debates Rivka Galchen's Atmospheric Disturbances
Electrocutions, Explosions, and Other Hazards of University Science Labs
Killer Robots Could Take Over the World. Here's How.
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He entered Harvard Law School in 1988.
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.
"President Bush signs the "Coburn-Obama" Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006.
Obama's own self-narrative reinforces what a May 2004 New Yorker magazine article described as his "everyman" image.
" Entered in fulfillment of a campaign promise, the bill proposed increasing the maximum amount of Pell Grant awards to help students from lower income families pay their college tuitions.
On returning to Chicago, Obama directed a voter registration drive.
Asked to name a "hidden talent," Obama answered: "I'm a pretty good poker player.
Through three televised debates, Obama and Keyes expressed opposing views on stem cell research, abortion, gun control, school vouchers, and tax cuts.
Questioning the Bush administration's management of the Iraq War, Obama spoke of an enlisted Marine, Corporal Seamus Ahern from East Moline, Illinois, asking, "Are we serving Seamus as well as he is serving us?" He continued: When we send our young men and women into harm's way, we have a solemn obligation not to fudge the numbers or shade the truth about why they're going, to care for their families while they're gone, to tend to the soldiers upon their return, and to never, ever go to war without enough troops to win the war, secure the peace, and earn the respect of the world.
Through three televised debates, Obama and Keyes expressed opposing views on stem cell research, abortion, gun control, school vouchers, and tax cuts.
In July 2005, Samantha Power, Pulitzer-winning author on human rights and genocide, joined Obama's team.
Obama began podcasting from his U.S. Senate web site in late 2005.
I'm opposed to dumb wars.
" Obama writes: "It was because of these newfound understandings—that religious commitment did not require me to suspend critical thinking, disengage from the battle for economic and social justice, or otherwise retreat from the world that I knew and loved—that I was finally able to walk down the aisle of Trinity United Church of Christ one day and be baptized.
He has responded to and personally participated in online discussions hosted on politically-oriented blog sites.
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 Obama and the Fighting Irish by Joshua Kucera
Posted Monday, May 18, 2009, at 6:00 AM ET The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times lead with President Obama's speech at Notre Dame University's graduation ceremony where he addressed the issue of abortion directly while several anti-abortion protesters attempted to disrupt the event. The story also tops the Wall Street Journal worldwide news box. The New York Times leads with U.S. officials' increasing concern that Pakistan is adding to its nuclear arsenal even as it struggles against an insurgency that threatens to topple the government. USA Today leads with news that local law enforcement agencies are cutting back services, merging or even shutting down altogether because of the recession. Obama's speech was an attempt to bridge the gap between both sides of the abortion debate by calling on each side to respect the other with "open hearts, open minds, fair-minded words," as he said in a much-quoted part of his address. "Mr. Obama did not engage on the merits of the debate on abortion; he instead made an appeal to each side of the issue," the NYT wrote. Those on the anti-abortion side of the issue were not impressed: an anti-abortion mass was held in response to his presence, a small group protested outside (some were arrested, "nearly 40" according to the NYT) and some students registered their objection by skipping the ceremony. To continue reading, click here. Joshua Kucera is a freelance writer based in Washington, D.C.
Also In Slate
The Latest Updates From Barack Obama's Facebook Newsfeed
Were People Really This Fat in Prehistoric Times?
My Plan To Fix the Republican Party: More Puppies
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Before announcing his presidential candidacy, he began a well-publicized effort to quit smoking.
In December 2006, Obama spoke at a New Hampshire event celebrating Democratic Party midterm election victories in the first-in-the-nation U.S. presidential primary state.
I've got an ironclad demand from my wife that in the stresses of the campaign I don't succumb.
His knowledge about his absent Luo father came mainly through family stories and photographs.
The donations came from 104,000 individual donors, with US$6.9 million raised through the Internet from 50,000 of the donors.
Obama traveled to Russia, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan in August 2005 with Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN), then Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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.
In Dreams from My Father, he ties his maternal family history to possible Native American ancestors and distant relatives of Jefferson Davis, president of the southern Confederacy during the American Civil War.
Obama's parents separated when he was two years old and later divorced.
Among his major accomplishments as a state legislator, Obama's U.S. Senate web site lists: "creating programs like the state Earned Income Tax Credit"; "an expansion of early childhood education"; and "legislation requiring the videotaping of interrogations and confessions in all capital cases.
In August 2004, with less than three months to go before election day, Alan Keyes accepted the Illinois Republican Party's nomination to replace Ryan.
Obama encouraged "others in public life to do the same" to show "there is no shame in going for an HIV test.
Of his early childhood, Obama writes: "That my father looked nothing like the people around me—that he was black as pitch, my mother white as milk—barely registered in my mind.
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 Leaning on Pakistan By Jesse Stanchak
Posted Monday, May 4, 2009, at 6:34 AM ET The New York Times and the Washington Post each lead with American officials expressing doubts about the future of Pakistani security in the face of a Taliban uprising. The Los Angeles Times leads with a trend piece on how American car buyers are beginning to shop more like Europeans. USAToday leads with a look at President Barack Obama's search for a new U.S. Supreme Court justice to replace Justice David Souter. The Wall Street Journal tops its world-wide newsbox with word that cases of H1N1/swine flu have appeared in 18 countries, even as officials note that the disease may not be that severe after all. The NYT's Pakistan coverage is squarely focused on the nuclear threat, with U.S. officials saying they believe Pakistan's nuclear stockpile is secure for now, while acknowledging that they don't know where all of Pakistan's weapons are. The WP focuses on the long-term logistical challenges Pakistan presents, like providing funding and training to an unreliable partner. Both pieces note that the Taliban uprising requires the U.S. to rely on the Pakistanis to handle their own security, a difficult prospect given the history of mistrust between the two countries. To continue reading, click here. Jesse Stanchak is a writer living in Washington, D.C.
Also In Slate
The Terrible Things That Happen to Surrogate Mothers in China
Where Has Swine Flu Been Hiding for the Last 33 Years?
Life Is Still Good for Business School Students ... in Wisconsin
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In the November 2004 general election, Obama received 70% of the vote to Keyes's 27%.
The book's last chapters describe his first visit to Kenya, a journey to connect with his Luo family and heritage.
" Three months into his Senate career, and again in 2007, Time magazine named Obama one of "the world's most influential people.
Obama was sworn in as a Senator on January 4, 2005.
Former presidential candidate Gary Hart describes the book as Obama's "thesis submission" for the U.S. presidency: "It presents a man of relative youth yet maturity, a wise observer of the human condition, a figure who possesses perseverance and writing skills that have flashes of grandeur.
In August 2004, with less than three months to go before election day, Alan Keyes accepted the Illinois Republican Party's nomination to replace Ryan.
The family moved from their Hyde Park, Chicago condominium to a nearby US$1.6-million home in 2005.
" Film critic David Ehrenstein, writing in a March 2007 Los Angeles Times article, compares the cultural sources of candidate Obama's favorable polling among whites to those of "magical negro" roles played by black actors in Hollywood movies.
But the big telephone and cable companies want to change the Internet as we know it.
Obama has encouraged Democrats to reach out to evangelicals and other religious people, saying, "if we truly hope to speak to people where they’re at—to communicate our hopes and values in a way that’s relevant to their own—we cannot abandon the field of religious discourse.
Finally, he spoke for national unity: The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats.
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 Judgment Call By Kara Hadge
Posted Saturday, May 2, 2009, at 6:24 AM ET Barely past the 100-day mark in his Presidency, Barack Obama already has an opportunity to shape his legacy: The Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal's world-wide news box, and Los Angeles Times lead, and the New York Times off-leads, with speculation about the type of judge the President will appoint to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter. Obama will personally lead the search for a nominee, and his background as a constitutional law professor and community organizer is a likely influence behind his desire to appoint someone who will show "empathy" towards "people's hopes and struggles," as he said in yesterday's press briefing. The NYT leads with a look at the U.S. government's outreach to Nawaz Sharif, the chief opposition to the Pakistani president. While the U.S. had avoided Sharif before due to his ties to Islamists, the Obama administration now views those connections as a useful way to prop up a government that is losing influence to Taliban insurgents. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Richard Holbrooke, special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, are encouraging Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari to work together, although the two men are fierce rivals. To continue reading, click here. Kara Hadge is a former Slate intern.
Also In Slate
Short, Hairy, Angry, Canadian, and the Worst Superhero Ever
Pick a Nominee To Replace Justice Souter
Jim Jarmusch's New Movie Is Unbearably Pretentious
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But I've got news for them too.
An October 2005 article in the British journal New Statesman listed Obama as one of "10 people who could change the world.
"A theme of Obama's keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, and the title of his 2006 book, The Audacity of Hope, was inspired by his pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
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.
He was overwhelmingly reelected to the Illinois Senate in 1998 and 2002, officially resigning in November 2004, following his election to the U.S. Senate.
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.
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.
US$24.8 million of Obama's first quarter funds can be used in the primaries, the highest of any 2008 presidential candidate.
The family moved to Jakarta in 1967, where Obama attended local schools from ages 6 to 10.
Obama's fundraising prowess was affirmed again in the second quarter of 2007, when his campaign raised an additional $32.5 million, the most ever raised by a Democratic Presidential candidate in a single quarter.
" Expressing a similar view, New York Daily News columnist Stanley Crouch wrote: "When black Americans refer to Obama as 'one of us,' I do not know what they are talking about.
We've got it all.
In July 2005, Samantha Power, Pulitzer-winning author on human rights and genocide, joined Obama's team.
Obama plays basketball, a sport he participated in as a member of his high school's varsity team.
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.
Manage your newsletters on Slate Unsubscribe | Newsletter Center | Advertising Information
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today's papers Judgment Call By Kara Hadge
Posted Saturday, May 2, 2009, at 6:24 AM ET Barely past the 100-day mark in his Presidency, Barack Obama already has an opportunity to shape his legacy: The Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal's world-wide news box, and Los Angeles Times lead, and the New York Times off-leads, with speculation about the type of judge the President will appoint to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter. Obama will personally lead the search for a nominee, and his background as a constitutional law professor and community organizer is a likely influence behind his desire to appoint someone who will show "empathy" towards "people's hopes and struggles," as he said in yesterday's press briefing. The NYT leads with a look at the U.S. government's outreach to Nawaz Sharif, the chief opposition to the Pakistani president. While the U.S. had avoided Sharif before due to his ties to Islamists, the Obama administration now views those connections as a useful way to prop up a government that is losing influence to Taliban insurgents. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Richard Holbrooke, special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, are encouraging Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari to work together, although the two men are fierce rivals. To continue reading, click here. Kara Hadge is a former Slate intern.
Also In Slate
Short, Hairy, Angry, Canadian, and the Worst Superhero Ever
Pick a Nominee To Replace Justice Souter
Jim Jarmusch's New Movie Is Unbearably Pretentious
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" 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.
After graduating from Columbia University and Harvard Law School, Obama worked as a community organizer, university lecturer, and civil rights lawyer before entering politics.
If elected, Obama would become the first non-white U.S. president.
Questioning the Bush administration's management of the Iraq War, Obama spoke of an enlisted Marine, Corporal Seamus Ahern from East Moline, Illinois, asking, "Are we serving Seamus as well as he is serving us?" He continued: When we send our young men and women into harm's way, we have a solemn obligation not to fudge the numbers or shade the truth about why they're going, to care for their families while they're gone, to tend to the soldiers upon their return, and to never, ever go to war without enough troops to win the war, secure the peace, and earn the respect of the world.
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.
In the same week, Zogby International reported that Obama leads all prospective Republican opponents in polling for the 2008 general election.
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.
55 million for candidates he supports and his own 2010 re-election fund.
In it he recalls his childhood in Honolulu and Jakarta, college years in Los Angeles and New York City, and his employment as a community organizer in Chicago in the 1980s.
On the first day of the Democratic-controlled 110th Congress, in a column published in the Washington Post, Obama called for an end to "any and all practices that would lead a reasonable person to believe that a public servant has become indebted to a lobbyist.
Its enthusiastic reception at the convention and widespread coverage by national media gave him instant celebrity status.
The trip focused on strategies to control the world's supply of conventional weapons, biological weapons, and weapons of mass destruction, as a strategic first defense against the threat of future terrorist attacks.
But they sense, deep in their bones, that with just a slight change in priorities, we can make sure that every child in America has a decent shot at life, and that the doors of opportunity remain open to all.
Obama's campaign reported raising US$25.8 million between January 1 and March 31 of 2007.
" In December 2006, Obama joined Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) at the "Global Summit on AIDS and the Church" organized by church leaders Kay and Rick Warren.
" Time magazine's Joe Klein wrote that the book "may be the best-written memoir ever produced by an American politician.
Obama's own self-narrative reinforces what a May 2004 New Yorker magazine article described as his "everyman" image.
Obama traveled to Russia, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan in August 2005 with Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN), then Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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 Souter Calls it Quits By Daniel Politi
Posted Friday, May 1, 2009, at 6:44 AM ET The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal's world-wide newsbox lead with late-breaking word that Justice David Souter plans to retire this summer, creating the first Supreme Court vacancy in President Barack Obama's administration. Souter, 69, was appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1990, but quickly turned into one of the biggest disappointments for conservatives as he became a reliable member of the court's liberal wing. The vacancy will be the first for a Democratic president in 15 years, and everyone notes Obama will be under intense pressure to appoint a woman since Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg stands alone among the nine justices. The New York Times off-leads the Souter news but leads with Chrysler filing for bankruptcy protection yesterday. Chrysler has now become "the first major American automaker to seek bankruptcy protection since Studebaker did so in 1933," details the paper. The WSJ specifies that it's the sixth-largest Chapter 11 filing. In what the NYT describes as "yet another extraordinary intervention into private industry by the federal government," President Obama announced a plan to create a new ownership structure for the automaker that would give the company a "new lease on life." Obama wasn't shy about pointing fingers, saying that the government was eager to avoid bankruptcy but its efforts were thwarted by a group of investment firms and hedge funds, which the president referred to as "a small group of speculators." To continue reading, click here. Daniel Politi writes "Today's Papers" for Slate. He can be reached at todayspapers@slate.com.
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An October 2005 article in the British journal New Statesman listed Obama as one of "10 people who could change the world.
After the visits, Obama traveled to Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian territories.
Asked to name a "hidden talent," Obama answered: "I'm a pretty good poker player.
Obama spoke out in June 2006 against making recent, temporary estate tax cuts permanent, calling the cuts a "Paris Hilton" tax break for "billionaire heirs and heiresses.
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.
"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.
In the fall of 2002, during an anti-war rally at Chicago's Federal Plaza, Obama said: I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda.
It was an immediate bestseller and remains on the New York Times Best Seller List.
" Expressing a similar view, New York Daily News columnist Stanley Crouch wrote: "When black Americans refer to Obama as 'one of us,' I do not know what they are talking about.
ABC News 7 (Chicago) reported Obama telling the students that "the U.S. will never recognize winning Hamas candidates unless the group renounces its fundamental mission to eliminate Israel," and that he had conveyed the same message in his meeting with Palestinian authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
" 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.
" 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.
Obama has encouraged Democrats to reach out to evangelicals and other religious people, saying, "if we truly hope to speak to people where they’re at—to communicate our hopes and values in a way that’s relevant to their own—we cannot abandon the field of religious discourse.
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.
I can say what I want without censorship or without having to pay a special charge.
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.
Boosted by increased national standing, he went on to win election to the U.S. Senate in November 2004 with a landslide 70% of the vote in an election year marked by Republican gains.