Barack Hussein Obama

Barack Hussein Obama (b. August 4, 1961) is the junior Senator from Illinois, elected to the United States Senate as a Democrat in 2004. In 2008 he is the only African American serving in the United States Senate, where he serves his first term.

Senator Barack Obama

Early Life and Education

Senator Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to Barack Obama, Sr., and Ann Dunham in 1961. In 1967 he moved to Jakarta, Indonesia, with his mother and new stepfather. He attended an Indonesian Public School followed by a Catholic school until he returned with his mother to Hawaii. There he attended the Punahou School, a private preparatory school until 1979, the year of his graduation.

Obama continued his education at Occidental College in Los Angeles, California, before graduating with his Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University in New York, New York. After working as a community organizer in New York City and Chicago, Illinois, Obama enrolled at Harvard Law School. He was elected the first African American president of the liberal Harvard Law Review and graduated magna cum laude with his J.D. in 1992.

Legal Career

Following law school, Obama continued his work as a community organizer in Chicago as Director of Illinois Project Vote. In 1993 he was hired as an associate at the Chicago law firm Miner, Barnhill & Galland, P.C., and began lecturing in Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago Law School. He remains on the faculty on leave of absence through today. During this time he wrote his first book, Dreams from My Father, detailing his background, his youth, and his education. Dreams was published in 1995.

Senate Career

Obama was elected to the Illinois State Senate for the first time in 1996 and served there for the next eight years. Following a failed campaign for the House of Representatives, Obama ran for the open Senate seat from Illinois in 2004. Obama rose to national prominence following his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. He defeated his opponent, Alan Keyes, and was elected to the 109th Congress.

His voting record places him as the tenth-most liberal member of the U. S. Senate. His composite liberal rating was 86 percent, just seven points behind Ted Kennedy. Among fellow Senate Democrats, he was further left than liberals like John Kerry, Dianne Feinstein, Charles Schumer, Russ Feingold, Carl Levin, Joseph Biden and Harry Reid.

In late 2006, Obama's second book, The Audacity of Hope, was published. The book contains more of Senator Obama's personal story including the roles of both family and politics. Audacity spent 30 weeks on the New York Times Nonfiction Best Sellers list.

Presidential Campaign

Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama on the campaign trail with Bill Richardson and Hillary Clinton during the National Anthem. (from Time.com)

Senator Obama announced his candidacy for President of the United States on February 10, 2007, in Springfield, Illinois. Many have been drawn to his message of hope and honesty, particularly younger voters and independants. It also attempted to strongly invoke the memory of Abraham Lincoln and his "House Divided" speech.

In early April 2007, Obama's campaign announced his first-quarter fund raising figures. The campaign generated over $25 million dollars from over 100,000 contributors. $23.5 million of that money will be available for the Democratic Primary. During a fund raising event in Virginia in May 2007 Obama told donors,

“

This week there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died. An entire town destroyed.

”

Obama broke what many mistakenly believed was the cardinal rule by declaring he would not use nuclear weapons.  However, scientist and reporters began coming out and acknowledging  that the idea of using nuclear weapons in such a situation would be ill-advised and incredibly unnecessary.

Political Views

Obama's political views have been a matter of controversy even before he put himself forward as a Presidential Candidate. Former House majority leader Tom DeLay has described Obama's record in the Illinois Senate as that of a “Marxist leftist". In May 2007, Obama voted against funding the Iraq War. The funding bill also included an increase in the minimum wage from $5.85 to $7.25, which was intended to help America's most needy individuals. Joining Obama in voting against HR 2206 were senators Coburn and Enzi, whose voting rank is among the most conservative in the Senate.

Obama has said, "Doing the Lord's work is a thread that runs through our politics since the very beginning," and "it puts the lie to the notion that separation of church and state in America means somehow that faith should have no role in public life."

Nonetheless, he has defied parents by asserting that elements of sex education should be taught in kindergarten.

Obama spoke at the May 1, 2006, illegal immigration march in Chicago.

We are hungry for change! S.C. January 26, 2008.

Faith and Values

As he describes in The Audacity of Hope Obama grew up in a non-religious environment. When he was a child in Indonesia, he attended a local Muslim school for two years, followed by two years at a local Catholic school. His father was a non-practicing Muslim.

Obama attended a school in a county that was 90% Muslim, this school taught lessions in both Christianity and Islam. Fox news has been critisized for creating rumors of Obama's attendance at a madarassa, which have been disproven. ..

Obama and his his wife (reared a Baptist) have been active members since 1988 at the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. Obama describes his conversion in The Audacity of Hope. The title of this book is borrowed from one of his pastor's sermons. He is at ease quoting Scriptures and speaking to church audiences.

See Also

• Articles about Barack Obama from previous "Breaking News"

Further reading

• Hitchens, Peter The Black Kennedy: But does anyone know the real Barack Obama? (2008). Daily Mail. Accessed 4 February 2008.

Sources

• Official Senate Website
• Barack Obama Personal Financial Disclosures Summary: 2005, retrieved from opensecrets.org 17 June 2007.
• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• University of Chicago Law School Faculty Listing
• Barack Obama Biography from Biography.com
• New York Times Topics, Barack Obama