January 18, 2009
Obama transition period: Dec. 2008
Barack Obama: The first Jewish president?
Writer Toni Morrison famously dubbed Bill Clinton "the first black president"—a title he fervently embraced.
Ethanol counting on campaign promises
Record corn prices drove VeraSun Energy into bankruptcy. Shares in Aventine Renewable Energy are trading for less than 50 cents, down 99 percent from their peak. Plans for 19 ethanol refineries were recently canceled, including nine in Illinois.
Tuskegee Airmen invited to Barack Obama's inauguration
WASHINGTON — The Tuskegee Airmen — who made history during World War II as the country's first black military pilots only to return home to discrimination and exclusion from victory parades — have been invited to Barack Obama's inauguration.
Barack Obama makes history, and museums chronicle it
The Old State Capitol in Springfield has a Barack Obama speech and the pen he used to sign it. The DuSable Museum of African American History will be getting paintings that adorned his Senate office.
Smithsonian celebrates Barack Obama's inauguration
WASHINGTON — To celebrate the inauguration of Barack Obama, the Smithsonian Institution has announced 10 exhibits at its museums — five that are brand-new and five that center on Abraham Lincoln.
Wisconsin governor makes his pitch
MADISON, Wis. — Gov. Jim Doyle has presented members of President-elect Barack Obama's economic team with a list of nearly 1,800 projects in Wisconsin that could benefit immediately from an infusion of federal money.
Barack Obama's envoy at UN climate talks presses China to step up emissions cuts
POZNAN, Poland — President-elect Barack Obama's administration is prepared to embrace mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions in the United States but will push through Congress a new international climate treaty only if China and other big emitters join in a "global solution," Sen. John Kerry warned at the latest round of climate talks Thursday in Poland.
Gitmo chief doubts camp will close soon
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba — Guantanamo's commander believes that the prison on this base won't close anytime soon after President-elect Barack Obama takes office.
Decision on executing terrorists may be left to Barack Obama
President-elect Barack Obama may soon have to choose between executing five confessed plotters of the Sept. 11 attacks or having them tried in courts that provide more legal safeguards.
Obama: Health care 'part of emergency'
WASHINGTON—Far from pulling back on his pledge to overhaul the nation's health-care system, President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday reasserted that commitment, saying the economic downturn makes major changes more imperative instead of less.
Obama decries 'politics as a business'
Barack Obama on Thursday delivered a primer for the nation on the strange and often sordid universe of Illinois politics as the president-elect promised full disclosure—soon—of any contact between his aides and Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration over a new U.S. Senate pick.
Obama names Daschle to lead new health-care reform office
President-elect Barack Obama reasserted his pledge to overhaul the nation's health-care system when he takes office, signaling Thursday that despite the economic downturn he would attempt a major reworking of the sector that has eluded presidents since Franklin Roosevelt.
Obamas can't stay at Blair House
President-elect Barack Obama and his family may be moving from Chicago to Washington during the first two weeks of January, after an extended vacation to Hawaii over the Christmas and New Year's holidays.
Rahm Emanuel talked with governor's office about who should fill Obama's Senate seat
Rahm Emanuel, President-elect Barack Obama's pick to be White House chief of staff, had conversations with Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration about who would replace Obama in the U.S. Senate, the Tribune has learned.
Obama pick makes return trip to HUD
WASHINGTON — A Harvard-educated architect is Barack Obama's choice to head his housing agency, one which the president-elect says will play a key role in tackling the mortgage crisis in his administration.
The Obama guide to parenting
Life in the public eye has shined a light on how the Obamas raise their children.
Parents hoping to emulate Barack and Michelle Obama
Seven-year-old Ava Childers will soon be responsible for making her own bed every day.
John Kass: Will 'feditis' spread to Obama and Daley?
Why are Chicago machine Democrats lining up against Gov. Rod "Dead Meat" Blagojevich like a bunch of thin-lipped Victorian physicians in some old movie set in an musty insane asylum?
Many Illinois residents' reaction to Gov. Rod Blagojevich's arrest: [Expletive deleted]!
The ink had barely dried on Gov. Rod Blagojevich's arrest warrant when Dan Ianna posted a classified ad on Craigslist offering to sell Illinois' U.S. Senate seat.
Barack Obama's stimulus plan has lobbyists circling
By James Oliphant and Richard Simon WASHINGTON — Since President-elect Barack Obama laid out plans for the largest injection of federal spending into the economy since the New Deal, just about everyone has started angling for a piece of the action.
Barack Obama, U.S. senators, state officials urge Rod Blagojevich to resign
President-elect Barack Obama and Democrats in the U.S. Senate ratcheted up pressure on disgraced Gov. Rod Blagojevich to resign Wednesday while federal agents fanned out to investigate the details of the Illinois chief executive's alleged shakedown schemes.
Obama says ...
President-elect Barack Obama said Tuesday afternoon that he has never spoken to Blagojevich about his replacement in the U.S. Senate. "I have not discussed the Senate seat with the governor at any time," Obama said. "My strong belief is that it needed to be filled by somebody who is going to represent the people of Illinois and fight for them."
Barack Obama: Life in presidential bubble 'hardest thing to adjust to'
Here are excerpts from an interview Tribune reporters conducted Tuesday with President-elect Barack Obama:
RIDING OUT THE RECESSION
Barack Obama's plan to stimulate economy garnering support
WASHINGTON — Economists generally frown on building roads, bridges, hospitals and other projects as a tool to stimulate a sick economy. Takes too long, some say. Causes waste and inefficiency, others say.
Barack Obama considering Chicago neurosurgeon Gail Rosseau as surgeon general
Chicago neurosurgeon Dr. Gail Rosseau, an early supporter of President-elect Barack Obama's, is being considered to be the next U.S. surgeon general.
Barack Obama interview
Barack Obama interview Dec. 10, 2008
This is an edited transcript of an interview Tuesday in Chicago with President-elect Barack Obama:
THEATER REVIEW 'Brother, Can You Spare Some Change?' ★★★
Obama can fix it all in e.t.c.'s 'Brother, Can You Spare Some Change?'
With the presidency of Barack Obama still a blank slate, his comedic muses at the Second City e.t.c. are concentrating on what they think they know.
THE UNITED STRESS OF AMERICA
The presidency can age a person
Look at how these U.S. presidents aged from the beginning to the end of their terms.
Plenty of Illinois spirit in Barack Obama's inauguration parade
Seven performance groups from Illinois, including the Jesse White Tumblers and three high school bands, have been selected for the Jan. 20 inaugural parade in Washington, officials announced Monday.
Supreme Court rejects bid to deny Barack Obama presidency
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court turned down an emergency appeal Monday from a New Jersey man who claimed that President-elect Barack Obama was not a "natural born citizen" and therefore was ineligible to become president.
Barack Obama to meet with Al Gore
WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden planned to meet privately Tuesday with former Vice President Al Gore in Chicago.
Court won't review suit challenging Obama's eligibility to serve
By David G. Savage
Barack Obama says he won't smoke cigarettes in the White House
While the burning question of whether he smokes still rages, Barack Obama says he definitely won't be lighting up in the smoke-free White House.
CITIZENSHIP LAWSUITS
Fast facts on Barack Obama citizenship lawsuits
UPDATE: The Supreme Court has turned down an emergency appeal from a New Jersey man who says President-elect Barack Obama is ineligible to be president because he was a British subject at birth.
Worst of economic pain yet to come, Obama says
President-elect Barack Obama warned Sunday that the nation's economic problems "are going to get worse before they get better," pointing to the fragility of the financial system and to recent numbers showing the U.S. with its highest unemployment rate in 15 years.
Barack Obama, others say Republic is an example of the nation's financial disarray
The plight of workers at the shuttered Republic Windows & Doors plant in Chicago drew sympathy and support from President-elect Barack Obama and community leaders on Sunday who called it a symbol of the nation's financial disarray.
Obama predicts extended downturn for economy
President-elect Barack Obama predicted Sunday that the country's economy would continue on its downward path, but he declined in a wide-ranging television interview to say how much his recovery plan would cost or if he intended to raise taxes immediately on wealthy Americans to help pay for it.
Virulent Barack Obama opponents won't go away
Silly me. Here I had been thinking that the wild-eyed foamers at the mouth who were driven nearly to madness by the prospect of Barack Obama's election to the presidency were going to wait until Obama actually did something to offend them before going nuts again.
Barack Obama a native son to Hawaii
HONOLULU — Locals here sometimes call Barack Obama a kamaaina, the Hawaiian word for native born or one who has lived here for some time. Chicagoans, of course, think of him as a South Sider who often wears a White Sox cap.
For Obamas, friends, a day for a drive in Hawaii
WAIALUA, Hawaii — On his ninth day of vacation, President-elect Barack Obama enjoyed a scenic Sunday drive with his family and friends from Chicago.
Obama aides say he won't back away from tax cuts for middle-class
WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama's top advisers said Sunday they won't back away from a promise to cut taxes for the middle class and raise them for the wealthiest Americans, as they made the case for a massive new stimulus package geared toward reviving the slumping economy.
Obama aides won't be subpoenaed in impeachment hearings
Gov. Rod Blagojevich's attorney will not get to call key aides of President-elect Barack Obama to testify at impeachment hearings after U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald told an Illinois House panel doing so would "significantly compromise" his ongoing criminal investigation of the governor.
Obama's election inspires blacks in Latin America
BELMOPAN, Belize — Dean Barrow doesn't look like the faces on his country's dollar bills. Nor does he resemble its previous leaders—he is this Central American nation's first black prime minister.
Obama family lasts night with no electricity in Hawaii
HONOLULU — With virtually all of the island of Oahu without power late Friday and early Saturday, aides to President-elect Barack Obama said he and his family decided to rough it like most everyone else and didn't use generators made available to them at their vacation home.
Inauguration long on cash, short on perks
WASHINGTON — Barack Obama may change Washington when he takes over the White House next month, but when it comes to paying for his inauguration, the president-elect is mostly doing it the old-fashioned way—putting the arm on wealthy supporters and promising VIP treatment on the big day in return.
Obama to seek quick rescue bill
WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama, planning to make the nation's economic recovery the urgent priority of his administration, will press Congress for quick approval of a stimulus plan.
Obamas moving to Washington early, but gawkers ever present near president-elect's Hyde Park home
Chicago—the center of the presidential universe since Election Day—faces a future with a bit less Barack Obama, but probably no fewer folks trying to check out his old stomping grounds.
Obama could have been in pictures
While in town promoting his movie "Nothing Like the Holidays," producer and Chicago native Robert Teitel recounted a story from another one of his shoots: Barack Obama's 2001 visit to the set of "Barbershop."
Washington ready for Barack Obama's inauguration
WASHINGTON—If you're coming to Washington for the inauguration, pack some sturdy boots, a heavy coat, a powerful pair of binoculars, a cartload of patience and especially your platinum card.
Barack Obama's economic stimulus plan gains steam
WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama is crafting a new financial stimulus far more ambitious than any quick infusion of cash for a struggling economy, viewing it instead as a vehicle to create jobs and push the economy in the direction of improved health care and roads and clean energy.
ARCHITECTURE
What impact will Obama's public works have on the American landscape?
President-elect Barack Obama is a student of history, as he has deftly demonstrated by following the model of Abraham Lincoln's "team of rivals" in staffing his Cabinet. So as Obama pushes to pump hundreds of billions of dollars into the nation's infrastructure, I hope he'll direct his motorcade past some living architectural history in Chicago, such as the Art Deco-style Lake Shore Drive Bridge over the Chicago River.
Another Obama change: It's cool to be grown up
HOLLYWOOD—Already the signs are there in the most unexpected and disparate places.
Barack Obama pledges $700B public works plan to help economy
WASHINGTON—President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday pledged to launch the biggest public works program since the construction of the interstate highway system in the 1950s as part of his plan to create millions of jobs and stem an economic tailspin that is growing worse by the day.
Barack Obama, Sarah Palin dogged by Internet birth rumors
You've heard the story: The birth is a sham, the official line a coverup. There are no hospital records. The original birth certificate has never been produced. And this person who has talked of bringing honesty and transparency to the nation's highest offices is, in fact, a fraud.
Barack Obama picks two more Chicagoans for White House duty
They are fellow lawyers, Chicagoans and friends of Barack Obama.
Barack Obama now says Gov. Rod Blagojevich should resign
As President-elect Barack Obama on Wednesday joined a chorus of political leaders urging the resignation of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, his staff remained tight-lipped about the growing federal probe into a scandal that has broken the momentum of his transition.
Lack of attendance at a Christmas service shows Barack Obama's church dilemma
HONOLULU — Barack Obama has long stressed the importance of religion in his life.
Obama sends condolences on South Side rabbi's death
The death this week of Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf, an influential leader of Reform Judaism, drew a response Thursday from President-elect Barack Obama, whose Kenwood home is across the street from Wolf's temple.
Forgotten Afghan war waiting for Obama
WASHINGTON — By all accounts, President-elect Barack Obama will be sworn into office Jan. 20, vowing to transform the country. His words, appointments and actions all arrive upon a cleansing wind the American people hunger for.
Food safety likely to take back seat again in Barack Obama administration
WASHINGTON — After years of food-poisoning episodes, tainted imports and unrealized promises of reform, the incoming Obama administration has been saying the embattled Food and Drug Administration would finally get what it needs to make the nation's food supply safer.
Barack Obama's radio address
HONOLULU — President-elect Barack Obama used a holiday radio address released Wednesday to remember the nation's troops serving overseas and average citizens at home who are struggling amid a troubled economy.
Obama shifts strategy for new media
The video at Change.gov is informal, conversational. The man speaking—it's hard not to notice his bright red glasses—looks more like affable talk-show host David Letterman than Tom Daschle, the former U.S. senator from South Dakota.
OBAMA REPORT ON BLAGOJEVICH CONTACTS
Internal review clears Barack Obama's aides of improper contact with Rod Blagojevich
Rahm Emanuel, the chief of staff for Barack Obama, was the point man for telling Gov. Rod Blagojevich whom the president-elect would prefer to succeed him in the U.S. Senate, a report from Obama's White House transition team concluded Tuesday.
PECTORAL PICTORIAL
Shirtless Barack Obama photos heat up the Internet
If you were one of the many people who checked out President-elect Barack Obama's topless Hawaiian beach photos this week on the Internet, don't worry, you're not a presidential pervert.
Barack Obama to be sworn in on Bible used by Abraham Lincoln in 1861
KAILUA, Hawaii — When he places his hand on a Bible to be sworn into office on Jan. 20, Barack Obama plans to use the holy book used by Abraham Lincoln at his first inauguration in 1861.
Barack Obama bids grandmother Madelyn Dunham goodbye at Honolulu memorial service
HONOLULU— Barack Obama said a final goodbye on Tuesday to the woman who served as his second mother.
No pork in stimulus plan, Joe Biden says
WASHINGTON — Amid a daily drumbeat of grim economic reports, President-elect Barack Obama's top economic advisers met Tuesday to refine plans for a massive new stimulus proposal, promising the money would not go toward dubious pork-barrel projects.
Is Barack Obama's hair turning gray?
President-elect Barack Obama is looking more and more presidential every day—if you count the gray hairs.
Barack Obama team said to be satisfied for now with proposals for troop levels in Afghanistan
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon and national security officials are transmitting a battery of new information concerning the Afghanistan war to President-elect Barack Obama's transition team in hopes the new administration will act quickly to prevent U.S. fortunes there from eroding further.
Karen Gordon Mills, Barack Obama's Small Business Administration nominee, has Chicago ties
By Tribune staff
Barack Obama has added you as a friend on Facebook
Despite common assumptions that President-elect Barack Obama's Cabinet nominees are told of their selection via personal phone calls, the Los Angeles Times has learned that the famously tech-friendly Obama is actually notifying his picks by "friending" them on the social-networking site Facebook. Requests to Obama for comment on the following transcript have gone unanswered, though he did "poke" us just as this went to press.
Cyclist makes a rolling statement for Obama
CONTINENTAL DIVIDE, N.M. -- He zipped by in a blur -- wild hair, wide smile and churning knees, two fingers flashing a triumphal "V." Bound by bicycle for Washington and Barack Obama's inauguration, Ryan Bowen had just crossed the nation's topographical spine, the Continental Divide.
RuPaul sends Christmas card photo of himself as both Barack Obama and Michelle Obama
While RuPaul still dresses in drag, his holiday season is anything but.
Salute to Christmas vacation
HONOLULU — Cameras were not allowed to capture the moment, but future Commander in Chief Barack Obama may be starting to practice his salute.
After assembling Cabinet, Barack Obama must re-invent wheel
WASHINGTON — The Cabinet of President-elect Barack Obama is a largely centrist and pragmatic-minded collection of politicians and technocrats without a pronounced ideological bent. Liberals are satisfied but not delighted. Conservatives say the nominees aren't as leftist as they'd feared. Powerful interest groups with conflicting agendas are appeased.
In multifaceted Michelle Obama, black women see a mirror
ATLANTA — At age 11, Mykesia Daniels has lots of time to decide what she wants to be when she grows up. She likes the idea of being a surgeon, a teacher or a hairstylist. Recently, she added a new role to the list.
Arabs' hope for Obama dented by doubts
BEIRUT — His middle name might be Hussein, and without a doubt he is viewed more favorably than his predecessor. But President-elect Barack Obama isn't going to find it easy to win over a skeptical Arab world that is already starting to doubt whether he really will represent much change.
Before the White House, Barack Obama starts vacation in Hawaii's white sands
KAILUA, Hawaii — The beachfront estate that will serve as the holiday-season headquarters for President-elect Barack Obama and his entourage should offer all the comforts of home—and then some.
Clarence Page: No need to get mad at Obama's church pal
Some of President-elect Barack Obama's supporters are upset that he chose Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration. They should not be surprised. He promised as a candidate that he would try to change the divisive tone of America's politics.
Barack Obama, family in Hawaii for pre-inaugural vacation
KAILUA, Hawaii — The beachfront estate that will serve as the holiday-season headquarters for President-elect Barack Obama and his entourage should offer all the comforts of home—and then some.
Admiral picked for spy chief
WASHINGTON—President-elect Barack Obama has selected retired Navy Adm. Dennis Blair to serve as the nation's next intelligence director, but has not concluded his search for someone to lead the CIA, according to government officials familiar with the selection process.
Conservative evangelical Christians express host of fears about Barack Obama's administration
He's not in office yet, but conservative evangelical Christians are already worried that Barack Obama's rise to the White House will threaten their freedom to live according to the Bible and profess it as the literal word of God.
From 'Letter from a Christian in 2012'
Ten laws and political moves dreaded by conservative evangelicals
Obama defends choice of Pastor Rick Warren to speak at inauguration
Calling on Americans to "come together, even though we may have disagreements on certain social issues," President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday defended his selection of conservative evangelical Rev. Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration, a choice that had angered Obama supporters who see the minister as intolerant to gays.
Obama selects 3rd Latino for Cabinet
WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama is expected to complete his Cabinet appointments Friday when he names Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.), a Congressional Hispanic Caucus leader, to be the new labor secretary, a selection hailed by union officials.
NASA ' s out-of-this-world costs draw new scrutiny
Military leaders float more gradual Iraq withdrawal plan than Barack Obama
WASHINGTON—U.S. military commanders in Iraq have outlined troop reduction plans that remain at odds with President-elect Barack Obama's preferences but believe they may be able to reconcile the two goals.
Arne Duncan won't join Barack Obama's team until after inauguration, Mayor Richard Daley says
Chicago Public Schools chief Arne Duncan, nominated as the next U.S. education secretary, won't leave the district until after President-elect Barack Obama is sworn in, Mayor Richard Daley said Thursday.
Obama inauguration tickets put pinch on Chicago congressmen
President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration has created a supply-and-demand crisis for Chicago congressmen.
Veteran regulators gain top posts
WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama added three veteran regulators to an economic team that will grapple with a deepening recession and policing the financial system.
Why is Obama dodging?
President-elect Barack Obama could have stayed out of the business of who will fill his vacant Senate seat. He could have pointed to a plate brimming with national problems and everyone would have understood.
Obama to the world: Let's talk
After an administration that has for eight years made "sticking to our guns" a centerpiece of foreign policy with forlorn results, President-elect Barack Obama should stick to his principled promise to have conversations with the world leaders frozen out by President George W. Bush.
Obama presents financial watchdogs, vows return to 'adult supervision'
Decrying a lack of "adult supervision" in American society, President-elect Barack Obama this morning vowed to try and clean up the worlds of politics and finance and called on others to take seriously their own responsibility to "operate honorably."
Barack Obama's ' basketball Cabinet'
Here are some of the members of Barack Obama's real "basketball Cabinet"—a lineup of friends and family he plays hoops with—and their stats:
Obama picks Salazar for interior, Vilsack for agriculture
WASHINGTON — Every stream tells a story on the half-day drive from Denver to the Salazar family ranch, every culvert a tale of water and politics. Ken Salazar knows them all, a font of knowledge tapped by President-elect Barack Obama on Wednesday when he introduced the Democratic senator from Colorado, whose ancestors farmed and ranched the American southwest for more than 400 years, as his choice to lead the Interior Department.
Obama reportedly picking LaHood for transportation chief
WASHINGTON — Peoria Republican Rep. Ray LaHood has been chosen as Barack Obama's transportation secretary, placing him in a key role in an administration that has signaled plans for an ambitious public works program, according to Democratic and Republican officials.
Aretha Franklin and Yo-Yo Ma part of Barack Obama inauguration
WASHINGTON, D.C.
2 more Obama challenges are denied
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy has rejected two more bids to get the court to consider if President-elect Barack Obama is eligible to take office.
Time names Barack Obama its ' Person of the Year'
NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Barack Obama has won another contest: He's been named Time magazine's "Person of the Year" for 2008.
Military's Northern Command to bolster security at inauguration
(This article originally said that Northcom succeeded the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD. The NORAD command still operates. Air Force Gen. Victor Renuart heads both commands.)
Obama admits ' frustration ' about withholding details on Senate seat
President-elect Barack Obama told reporters Wednesday to wait until he's out of town on Christmas vacation in Hawaii for answers to questions on his advisers' dealings with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
CITY SCHOOLS CHIEF TAKES NATIONAL STAGE
Arne Duncan to tackle 'No Child' policy as Obama's education secretary
When Arne Duncan heads to Washington, his driving task will be to rethink No Child Left Behind, the all-or-nothing law that has shaped how every child and every classroom in the country is judged.
Barack Obama to pick Iowa's Tom Vilsack for agriculture secretary
Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, who aggressively campaigned for Sen. Hillary Clinton before his state's precinct caucuses in January, will be named agriculture secretary by President-elect Barack Obama, three Democratic officials confirmed Tuesday.
Duncan to join Obama Cabinet
Chicago Public Schools chief Arne Duncan, who over seven years maintained a positive story line for the troubled district, will join longtime basketball buddy Barack Obama's Cabinet as secretary of education, a transition source said.
Special Barack Obama code language
By now, almost everyone knows the president-elect's Secret Service code name ("Renegade"). But there's an entire private language used by the entourage of staff and press traveling with Barack Obama. Here are some terms from the lexicon:
Covering President-elect Barack Obama not always as sexy as it sounds
Everywhere Barack Obama goes, a band of 12 reporters now follows on a boxy white tour bus. Called the "protective pool," the group represents the country's major news organizations. Reporters work rotating shifts, which run seven days a week. I signed up to find out what it would be like to trail the president-elect. Would I get to see him up close? Would I get to call out a question?
Obama's environment choices send a message
WASHINGTON—With the nomination of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu for energy secretary, President-elect Barack Obama made sure no one missed the message in the résumé.
Ken Salazar—Barack Obama's interior secretary nominee
WASHINGTON — Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.), a Western Latino with deep grounding in water and land issues, is President-elect Barack Obama's choice to lead the Interior Department.
TRANSITION DIGEST
Obama riding rails to D.C.
Nearly 150 years ago, a newly elected president from Illinois rode a train through Philadelphia on his way to his inauguration, pausing to speak to the people there.
Obama delays release of Blagojevich report
President-elect Barack Obama said Monday that his transition office was delaying release of a report on contacts with the Blagojevich administration until next week because the U.S. attorney's office in Illinois asked for more time to conduct interviews about the controversial Senate vacancy.
Vacationing Obama makes a run for it without the media
HONOLULU — President-elect Barack Obama on Friday broke from the pool of reporters and photographers assigned to follow him and took his daughters to see a dolphin show at a marine park on the windward coast of Oahu.
Which Muslim capital will Barack Obama choose?
BEIRUT—President-elect Barack Obama says he plans to deliver a major speech in an Islamic capital aimed at improving America's image in the Muslim world.
Barack Obama picks environmental team
WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama will tap Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu as his energy secretary and former New Jersey environmental protection commissioner Lisa Jackson as head of the Environmental Protection Agency, a senior Democrat said Wednesday.
Inauguration has Chicagoans lining up for pilgrimage
Inauguration Day is five weeks away, and Cindy McMahon has already secured a condo for her family of four to stay in Alexandria and mapped out driving directions from her Pullman house to the capital.
Barack Obama inauguration festivities to span 4 days
Activities surrounding the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama will stretch over four days and will start with a welcome event for the public and end with a prayer service, officials with the Presidential Inaugural Committee said Wednesday.
Myers 'stars' as Obama
Perhaps for Pete Myers' next trick he can play the role of a deity.
MORE ON BARACK OBAMA
Barack Obama plans to reach out to Muslim world
Barack Obama says his presidency is an opportunity for the U.S. to renovate its relations with the Muslim world, starting the day of his inauguration and continuing with a speech he plans to deliver in an Islamic capital.
Building a more diverse Cabinet
Of all the titles that Bill Richardson has held in his storied political career, the one he seems to like most is memorialized in the Guinness Book of Records.
John Kass: Barack Obama's corruption outrage is left in Kenya
It's a good thing for George Ryan that he is just a crooked Illinois politician behind bars hoping to get sprung by the Illinois Combine, and not some corrupt governor in Kenya relying on the Masai Combination or whatever they call it over there.
Barack Obama stays out of debate over George Ryan's clemency bid
President-elect Barack Obama's office said Wednesday that he doesn't feel it's "appropriate" to get involved in the controversy about whether former Republican Illinois Gov. George Ryan should get executive clemency from President George W. Bush.
Barack Obama can chart new path on Cuba
HAVANA — Barack Obama will be the first American president in nearly 50 years to have a relatively free hand in deciding whether to ease punitive Cold War-era policies toward communist Cuba, according to one analyst, and the foreign policy team he announced this week seems predisposed to making it happen.
For the Obama team, it's raining resumes
WASHINGTON — One member of President-elect Barack Obama's transition team measures meetings by the number of résumés arriving on his BlackBerry.
Group's chief discusses ad
Robert Schulz speaks with WGN-AM's John Williams at chicagotribune.com/ad
MORE ON BARACK OBAMA
Tax activist's ad challenges Obama's eligibility for office
An anti-tax activist from upstate New York who is questioning whether President-elect Barack Obama is a "natural born citizen" eligible for the nation's top job said Tuesday that his non-profit group spent "tens of thousands of dollars" to get his message across in ads in the Chicago Tribune this week.
Federal aid for states
How aid to states could lift economy: chicagotribune.com/meltdown
Obama reassures governors
PHILADELPHIA—The nation's governors came to tell tales of financial woe, but President-elect Barack Obama was already sold on their playing a role in the national economic recovery plan.
Another rival for his team
President-elect Barack Obama will name New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson as his pick for commerce secretary during a Wednesday morning news conference in Chicago, Democratic officials said.
Clarence Page: Obama takes leftists' fire
You can't please everybody in politics. You can't even please your fans all of the time. Remember when President-elect Barack Obama was battling opposition to his promise of "change"? That was so last month.
The inner Obama --- Interpreting Obama's 'Dreams'
Maybe at age 29, Barack Obama was fantasizing about running for president.
Not always eye-to-eye on foreign policy
Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton both support withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, U.S. commitment to Israeli security, international action on climate change and a preference for multilateral responses to global challenges such as terrorism. But the president-elect and his secretary of state-designate had plenty of foreign policy disagreements before and during the presidential campaign.
A centrist approach to security
President-elect Barack Obama on Monday introduced his national security team, made up of centrist Washington insiders, and promised an overhaul of foreign policy to give added emphasis to diplomacy and bring a "new dawn of American leadership."
James Jones and the environment
Get the nominee's views on the link between national security and energy at chicagotribune.com/jamesjones
Early book deal
Most first-time authors have to squeeze in their writing while working one or more rent-paying jobs. But Barack Obama had it much easier.
The nitty-gritty
Like many modern memoirists, Barack Obama used his imagination in telling his life story in "Dreams From My Father."
Julia Keller: Obama has the 'Look'
Richard Nixon had "My fellow Americans." George W. Bush has "Folks." Increasingly, Barack Obama is revealing the latest linguistic fingerprint of leadership: "Look."
Obama works Congress to 'hit the ground running'
WASHINGTON — As President-elect Barack Obama looks toward Inauguration Day, coordination with Congress could produce a remarkable result: Democrats may try to pass an economic stimulus bill even before Obama takes office Jan. 20, and have it on his desk to sign immediately.
Barack Obama campaign raised nearly $1 billion, shattering records
As he hosted a gala celebration for some of his earliest and most loyal financial supporters Thursday evening, President-elect Barack Obama's aides released new information showing the magnitude of their feat: They raised nearly $1 billion for his campaign and other election-related efforts.
Obama seen using Zune music player, not an iPod
Here's what we know about President-elect Barack Obama and gadgets:
Role for Barack Obama's volunteer network still in flux
WASHINGTON — James Dillon, a onetime Republican activist who grew disgusted with politics, was so inspired by Barack Obama's candidacy that he joined the campaign's massive volunteer army, hosting house parties and recruiting supporters.
Tracking 'brilliance'
Three days after President-elect Barack Obama announced in a radio address that he had directed his "economic team" to devise a plan "that will mean 2.5 million more jobs by January of 2011," he said at a news conference that he favored measures "that will help save or create 2.5 million jobs." To the extent that his ambition is clear, it is notably modest.
After 60 years, wrestling to reinvent NATO's mission
BRUSSELS—In the aftermath of World War II, the United States and Europe created the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to try to ensure the mutual security of its members and bring lasting peace to Europe.
Nuclear 'football' carries global arms woes
WASHINGTON — On Jan. 20, an unobtrusive military officer carrying a small leather-bound metal briefcase will follow President George W. Bush up to Capitol Hill. After the inauguration ceremony, he will accompany President Barack Obama back to the White House.
EPA mining rule change slammed by activists
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Angry environmentalists launched an online campaign this week urging President-elect Barack Obama to undo a federal rule that clarifies when coal companies can dump mining waste in streams, calling it a long-awaited "parting gift" from the Bush administration.
District of Columbia seeks Barack Obama's support for vote in Congress
Associated Press
Even if Obama pulls out of Iraq, thousands of troops may remain
WASHINGTON—On the campaign trail, Sen. Barack Obama offered a pledge that electrified and motivated his liberal base, vowing to "end the war" in Iraq.
Obama to formally nominate Clinton
WASHINGTON — After weeks of speculation, President-elect Barack Obama formally will introduce Sen. Hillary Clinton as his nominee for secretary of state at a news conference Monday morning in Chicago, according to a Democrat close to the New York senator. Clinton plans to attend the event.
Michelle Obama's family tree has roots in a Carolina slave plantation
GEORGETOWN, S.C.—Tiny wooden cabins line the dirt road once known as Slave Street as it winds its way through Friendfield Plantation.
Jon Hilkevitch: No messing around when it comes to Obama motorcade
Chicago drivers have been adjusting to a new reality since the Nov. 4 election: Wherever President-elect Barack Obama goes, traffic disruptions follow.
Obama: Was he sent to save us?
Some people believe Barack Obama is a near-messianic figure anointed by God. Others think they need a reality check.
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