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.
 | |
 | |
 Now playing: Slate V, a video-only site from the world's leading online magazine. Visit Slate V at www.slatev.com. | |
today's papers Can GM Get It Together? 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.Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES 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 | Advertisement  |
Manage your newsletters on Slate Unsubscribe | Newsletter Center | Advertising Information | |
Ideas on how to make something better? Send an e-mail to newsletters@slate.com. | |
0 comments:
Post a Comment