February 15, 2009
Barack Obama: The making of a candidate
Follow the arc of Barack Obama's life, from his family's roots to his meteoric political rise -- all through rare interviews and exclusive photos and video. (Photo: At their home in Jakarta, Ann Dunham poses in this undated photo with her second husband, Lolo Soetoro, their daughter, Maya, and Barack Obama.) (Photo courtesy of Barack Obama)
Barack Obama photos:
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Obama Watch: Get the latest Obama news
The not-so-simple story of Barack Obama's youth
The life stories, when the presidential candidate tells them, have a common theme: the quest to belong.
PART 1 SIDEBAR
The troublesome return of a long-lost classmate
In the introduction to his 1995 memoir, "Dreams from My Father," U.S. Sen. Barack Obama noted that except for his family and several public figures, he had changed the names of most of the people in the book "for the sake of their privacy."
PART 1 SIDEBAR
History of schooling distorted
When Barack Obama was a boy here, he studied for three years at a religious school and prayed four times a day.
Barack Obama: Mother not just a girl from Kansas
Chip Wall can't help but zero in on the little stuff whenever he watches Barack Obama on TV.
Barack Obama: Portrait of a pragmatist
Barack Obama packed his few belongings into his newly purchased but creaky old Honda and headed west from New York into a political and social battle zone.
PART 3 SIDEBAR
Activism blossomed in college
Barack Obama's interest in political activism took root at Occidental College, a small liberal arts institution in this city's hilly Eagle Rock section.
Building Barack Obama's money machine
Sen. Barack Obama tapped everyone from small Internet donors to Hollywood stars and industry titans to raise a towering $25 million in the first three months of this year.
MAKING OF A CANDIDATE
Obama knows his way around a ballot
The day after New Year's 1996, operatives for Barack Obama filed into a barren hearing room of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners.
Barack Obama: Showing his bare knuckles
The day after New Year's 1996, operatives for Barack Obama filed into a barren hearing room of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners.
Barack's rock: Michelle Obama
The featured speaker at a luncheon, Michelle Obama is about to ask a crowd of influential Chicago women to commit their hearts and wallets to her husband's presidential campaign.
Barack Obama: Careful steps, looking ahead
Sen. Barack Obama calls himself a strong defender of abortion rights, and the presidential contender quickly condemned the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding a ban on a controversial late-term procedure. The decision, he feared, "will embolden state legislatures to enact further measures to restrict a woman's right to choose."
PART 7 SIDEBAR
State pork to Obama's district included allies, donors
Barack Obama has expressed pride in his ability to bring home old-fashioned pork.
Carefully crafting the Barack Obama 'brand'
One evening in February 2005, in a four-hour meeting stoked by pepperoni pizza and grand ambition, Sen. Barack Obama and his senior advisers crafted a strategy to fit the Obama "brand."
PART 8 SIDEBAR
Critics: Obama endorsements counter calls for clean government
There was little controversy earlier this year when Sen. Barack Obama endorsed Mayor Richard Daley over two black opponents for a sixth term, lending his star power to an inevitable rout.
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