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.
The Slate Dozen - Morning Edition 
 |
-
Despite Chinese Objections, Obama Will Meet Dalai Lama
The Tibetan spiritual leader arrived in the United States yesterday and plans to meet with both President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton today to ask for help finding "a solution in resolving the Tibet issue that would be mutually beneficial to the Tibetan and Chinese people."
Read original story in AFP | Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010 -
Facebook Becomes Second Most Visited Site in U.S.
Yahoo was the U.S.'s most visited site for years, but the one-time go-to search engine has slipped to third, behind Google and now, Facebook.
Read original story in Mashable | Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010 -
Mentally Ill Man Breaches Olympic Security, Approaches Biden
During the opening ceremony, a 48-year-old man who "had an infatuation with the U.S. Vice President" used fake credentials that he printed off the Internet to bypass several layers of security.
Read original story in USA Today | Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010 -
Casino Owners Banking on Harry Reid's Re-Election
Republican leaders are hoping to keep the current Senate Majority Leader from winning another term, but Reid is calling in favors from the gambling industry, which is responsible for "nearly one in every three jobs" in Nevada.
Read original story in The Associated Press | Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010 -
Did Soros Double His Gold Investment Because the Dollar is About to Fail?
U.S. billionaire George Soros quietly doubled his invesment in gold at the same time financial reporter Ken Kurson called it the only sound place to keep your money since the economy's bottom is about to fall out.
Read original story in BBC | Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010 -
School Administrators Allegedly Spied on Students With Webcams
A new lawsuit claims that administrators from the Lower Merion School District in Pennsylvania issued laptops to high school students so they could covertly spy on them and their families with both audio and video.
Read original story in Boing Boing | Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010 -
Ugandan Pastor Shows Gay Porn to Increase Anti-Gay Support
With legislation on the table that would make homosexuality punishable by death in his country, anti-gay Pastor Martin Ssemba told the BBC "we need to educate ourselves about what homosexuals do."
Read original story in BBC | Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010 -
Another Toyota Recall Coming?
The U.S. will open an investigation into steering problems in half a million Toyota Corolla's later today following more than 150 complaints to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Read original story in BBC | Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010 -
New Lawsuit Accuses 'Harry Potter' Author of Plagiarism
And the agent representing the plaintiff believes his client's case could be worth a billion dollars.
Read original story in The Guardian | Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010 -
For Sale: Tony Rezko's Suburban Chicago Mansion
The seven-bedroom home where Tony Rezko, convicted of public corruption charges in 2008, held a Senate fundraiser for Barack Obama is on the market for just over $3.5 million.
Read original story in Chicago Breaking News Center | Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010 -
Nominated Songs Won't Be Performed at Oscars
Instead of five individual performances, producers have opted for the "musical shortlist [to be] showcased with clips from the films they featured in" in an effort to save time.
Read original story in BBC | Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010 -
Britain Opens Up UFO Files to Public
More than 6,000 pages of records -- and these just cover the years 1994 through 2000 -- document sighting after sighting of unidentified flying objects.
Read original story in CNN | Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010 | Advertisement   | |
Manage your newsletters on Slate Unsubscribe | Newsletter Center | Advertising Information
Please do not reply to this message since this is an unmonitored e-mail address.
If you have questions about newsletters, please go here. Ideas on how to make something better? Send an e-mail to newsletters@email.slate.com. Copyright 2009 Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive Co. LLC | Privacy Policy
Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive | c/o E-mail Customer Care |1515 N. Courthouse Rd. | Arlington, VA 22201 |
