Barack Hussein Obama, a basic bio from Wikipedia.org; first in a series on the presidential candidates

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Barack Hussein Obama, born August 4, 1961, is the junior United States Senator from Illinois and a leading candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 2008 presidential election, says Wikipedia.[2][3] The U.S. Senate Historical Office lists him as the fifth African American Senator in U.S. history, the third to have been popularly elected, and the only African American currently serving in the Senate.[4]

Obama was born in Honolulu to a Kenyan father and an American mother. He lived most of his early life in the Pacific island U.S. state of Hawaii. From ages six to ten, he lived in Jakarta, Indonesia. A graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, Obama worked as a community organizer, university lecturer, and civil rights lawyer before running for public office. He served in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004. Following an unsuccessful bid for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000, he launched his campaign for U.S. Senate in 2003.

He was elected to the U.S. Senate in November 2004 with a landslide 70% of the vote in an election year marked by Republican gains.

Obama has emphasized ending the Iraq War, increasing energy independence, and providing universal health care as major priorities.[7] He married in 1992 and has two daughters. He has written two bestselling books: a memoir of his youth titled Dreams from My Father, and The Audacity of Hope, a personal commentary on U.S. politics.