The Obama–Ayers controversy arose during the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign regarding Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama‘s contact with Bill Ayers, a Distinguished Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a former leader of the Weather Underground.[1] He served on two nonprofit boards with Barack Obama. Both Ayers and his wife, Bernardine Dohrn, hosted a gathering at their home in 1995,[2] where Alice Palmer introduced Obama as her chosen successor in the Illinois State Senate.[3][4] Investigations by the New York Times, CNN, and other news organizations concluded that Obama does not have a close relationship with Ayers.[5][3]
The matter was initially raised by Hillary Rodham Clinton in February 2008 after it had been suggested by Sean Hannity and other hosts on conservative talk radio programs. Moderator George Stephanopoulos revisited the discussion during a debate between Clinton and Obama in April 2008. In October 2008, the matter was mentioned in attack ads and campaign speeches by Republican presidential candidate John McCain and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin as an issue in the general election campaign. Obama has condemned Ayers’s past,[6] and stated that he does not have a close association with Ayers.[2]
