David Mendell is an American journalist who wrote for the Chicago Tribune until the summer of 2008. Mendell was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and currently lives in Oak Park, Illinois. During his time with the Tribune, Mendell has covered the Columbine High School shootings and riots in Seattle spurred by meetings of the World Trade Organization. Mendell began covering Barack Obama on a regular basis in 2003, during Obama's U.S. Senate campaign.

While covering the 2004 U.S. Senate race in Illinois, Democratic candidate and state comptroller Daniel Hynes accused Mendell of alluding in an article that Hynes' wife, Christina, was sexually attracted to Barack Obama; in the January 24, 2004 story, Mendell discussed Obama's personal charm and wrote, "Obama grabbed the hand of Christina Hynes...and then kissed her cheek prompting her to flush and smile broadly." The reference to Christina Hynes was changed in subsequent Chicago Tribune editions to "a supporter of an opponent."

Mendell wrote the biography Obama: From Promise to Power, which was published in 2007. In writing the book, Mendell utilized both the first-hand research from Mendell's original reporting, as well as a wide range of interviews which Obama's aides, mentors, political adversaries and family. The National Review called Obama: From Promise to Power "the single best source of background information on our new president." In February 2008, Mendell received an NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Literary Work in the Biography/Autobiography category for the book.

David (Hebrew: דָּוִד, דָּוִיד, Modern David Tiberian Dāwîḏ; ISO 259-3 Dawid; Strong's Daveed; beloved; Arabic: داوود‎ or داود‎ Dāwūd) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the second king of the United Kingdom of Israel and, according to the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke, an ancestor of Jesus. David is seen as a major Prophet in Islamic traditions. His life is conventionally dated to c. 1040–970 BC, his reign over Judah c. 1010–1003 BC,^{[citation needed]} and his reign over the United Kingdom of Israel c. 1003–970 BC.^{[citation needed]} The Books of Samuel, 1 Kings, and 1 Chronicles are the only sources of information on David, although the Tel Dan stele records "House of David", which some take as confirmation of the existence in the mid-9th century BC of a Judean royal dynasty called the "House of David".

David is very important to Jewish, Christian and Islamic doctrine and culture. In Judaism, David, or David HaMelekh, is the King of Israel, and the Jewish people. Jewish tradition maintains that a direct descendant of David will be the Messiah. In Islam, he is known as Dawud, considered to be a prophet and the king of a nation. He is depicted as a righteous king, though not without faults, as well as an acclaimed warrior, musician, and poet, traditionally credited for composing many of the psalms contained in the Book of Psalms.

Barack Hussein Obama II (ⁱ/bəˈrɑːk huːˈseɪn oʊˈbɑːmə/; born August 4, 1961) is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. In January 2005, Obama was sworn in as a U.S. Senator in the state of Illinois. He would hold this office until November 2008, when he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.

Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was the president of the Harvard Law Review. He was a community organizer in Chicago before earning his law degree. He worked as a civil rights attorney in Chicago and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. He served three terms representing the 13th District in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004.

Following an unsuccessful bid against the Democratic incumbent for a seat in the United States House of Representatives in 2000, Obama ran for the United States Senate in 2004. Several events brought him to national attention during the campaign, including his victory in the March 2004 Illinois Democratic primary for the Senate election and his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in July 2004. He won election to the U.S. Senate in Illinois in November 2004. His presidential campaign began in February 2007, and after a close campaign in the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries against Hillary Rodham Clinton, he won his party's nomination. In the 2008 presidential election, he defeated Republican nominee John McCain, and was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2009. Nine months later, Obama was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. In April 2011, he announced that he would be running for re-election in 2012.

"The Man" is a slang phrase that may refer to the government or to some other authority in a position of power. In addition to this derogatory connotation, it may also serve as a term of respect and praise.

The phrase "the Man is keeping me down" is commonly used to describe oppression. The phrase "stick it to the Man" encourages resistance to authority, and essentially means "fight back" or "resist", either openly or via sabotage.

The earliest recorded use^{[citation needed]} of the term "the Man" in the American sense dates back to a letter written by a young Alexander Hamilton in September 1772, when he was 15. In a letter to his father James Hamilton, published in the Royal Dutch-American Gazette, he described the response of the Dutch governor of St. Croix to a hurricane that raked that island on August 31, 1772. "Our General has issued several very salutary and humane regulations and both in his publick and private measures, has shewn himself the Man." ^{[dubious – discuss]} In the Southern U.S. states, the phrase came to be applied to any man or any group in a position of authority, or to authority in the abstract. From about the 1950s the phrase was also an underworld code word for police, the warden of a prison or other law enforcement or penal authorities.

Wes Mendell is a fictional character on the US television series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, played by Judd Hirsch.

Wes Mendell is the creator and former executive producer of Studio 60. He wrote for many of the great comedy performers, such as the Smothers Brothers, Richard Pryor, and Bill Cosby. While Wes was generally regarded as a good showrunner and a good man, his policies are often stated to run counter to Matt and Danny's. For example, he refused to do a Christmas show while Matt insisted that they do, and he did not approve of Studio 60 staff dating each other, while Matt ultimately dates Harriet and Danny falls in love with his boss, Jordan.

Wes had a heart attack before the start of the 2001-2002 season of Studio 60. While he was recuperating, Danny and Matt had to act as executive producers, forcing them to plan the first show after the 9/11 attacks. The season premiere for the 2001 season featured a sketch that was considered offensive by conservatives who threatened a boycott. Bowing to the pressure, Wes issued an apology from his hospital bed which, in turn, resulted in Matt and Danny quitting the show.