Last modification: 20/01/09
 -  Democrats (US) - elections - Republicans
 
Obama makes history
Obama-Victory-m.jpg
On November 4, 2008, the Democratic Senator from Illinois became the 44th US President, and the nation’s first black president. Surpassing all expectations, he took 349 electoral college votes to McCain’s 163.
New President-elect Barack Obama, who officially takes office on January 20, 2009, won by a landslide. He had been ahead in the polls, but sceptics had pointed out that the projected red-blue state distribution was similar to that immediately prior the last two elections. Back then, polls had predicted victory for the Democrats, only for the Republicans to win in a surprise upset. This election also marked a victory for US democracy. With 136.6 million Americans voting, or close to 66%, this was the highest voter turnout in 100 years. The fervour of Obama’s support was reflected in his record-making campaign fundraising, raking in over $650 million. High expectations rest on Obama’s shoulders. Not only must he live up to the legend that took seed even before he became the Democratic candidate, but he also inherits a messy legacy. He will take office at a time when his country is witnessing its worst economic state since the Great Depression of the 1930s, and he will be expected to make good on his promise to set an agenda for troop withdrawal in Iraq. Now the real work begins, and the world is watching him closely.

US 2008 election snapshot

  •  Photos: campaign at a glance
  •    •  Swing states map  /  Democratic Convention   /  Republican Convention
 

 

  • USA - VOTE 2008
    Barack Obama makes history as first black US president
    Democratic candidate Barack Obama has won the 2008 US presidential election, becoming the first black president in the country's history. Republican candidate John McCain has conceded defeat.
  • USA - VOTE 2008
    Obama’s journey from Hyde to Grant Park
    Chicago’s Grant Park is getting set for Barack Obama’s address Nov. 4 night. It’s barely six miles, but a world away from Hyde Park, the neighborhood Obama has lived in since he made the Windy City his home.
  • USA - VOTE 2008
    Obama's agenda
    What now for Barack Obama? From 'Abortion' to 'National Security', catch a glimpse of the new US president's political platform.
  • US ELECTION ABROAD
    World hails Obama's victory
    French President Nicolas Sarkozy and other EU leaders congratulated Barack Obama on Wednesday on his "brilliant victory" in the US presidential election, expressing hopes for closer collaboration between Europe and the USA.

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  • USA - RACE
    In some parts, Obama’s election sparks white backlash
    While Barack Obama’s election represented a break with America’s troubled racial past, in some pockets, the past lives on – as a growing number of black victims of extremist white rage have painfully learned.
  • UNITED STATES
    Obama announces economic team
    US President-elect Barack Obama is due to officially announce his incoming economic team, including New York Federal Reserve head Timothy Geithner as Treasury Secretary and Lawrence Summers as National Economic Council chairman.
  • UNITED STATES
    Obama picks Geithner, Summers to heal economy
    Barack Obama will nominate New York Federal Reserve head Timothy Geithner as Treasury Secretary, Obama aide David Axelrod told US media. Seasoned former policymaker Lawrence Summers is tapped to chair the National Economic Council.
  • USA - POLITICS
    ‘Obama’s Indian’ slammed with extremist accusations
    Sonal Shah's appointment onto US President-elect Barack Obama's transition team advisory board prompted loud rejoicing. But her alleged links with extremist Hindu groups has marred the celebrations.
  • REPORTERS
    Obama’s election viewed from around the world
    Barack Obama's election has stirred the winds of change inside and outside America. From Nairobi to Washington via Baghdad or even Phoenix, our correspondents report on how Obama’s victory left people across the world awestruck.
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  • REPORTERS
    From Harlem to LA, African-Americans turn out to vote for Obama
    Americans voted en masse to elect the first black president of the United States, Barack Obama. From Harlem to Los Angeles, our special correspondents followed events in the African-American community at this historic moment.
  • USA - VOTE 2008
    Barack Obama: the quiet revolution
    Elected the first black president of the United States, Barack Obama, 47, has reclaimed the American dream he defended throughout his campaign. Ambitious and charismatic, the Democrat has vowed to be a leader for all Americans.
  • USA - ENVIRONMENT
    Obama aims at greener targets
    American President-elect Barack Obama has promised to change the tack followed by current President George W. Bush concerning the environment. First task will be to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.
  • UNITED STATES
    Obama wants to tackle economy immediately
    In his first televised news conference as US president-elect, Barack Obama said he would back a further economic stimulus package, and that protecting jobs and the economy would be the top priority of his administration.
  • UNITED STATES - IRAN
    Obama calls a nuclear Iran 'unacceptable'
    In his first press conference since winning the US election, President-elect Barack Obama said Iran's development of a nuclear weapon would be "unacceptable" and called for an international effort to prevent this eventuality.
  • USA - 2008 ELECTIONS
    Chicago and Phoenix: Reporters' Notebooks
    France24.com has dispatched its correspondents to the campaign headquarters of both the Democratic and the Republican presidential candidates. Read articles and travel notes from the election’s front lines.
  • USA
    Rahm Emanuel accepts chief of staff position
    US president-elect Barack Obama has begun the process of forming a new US administration by asking Democratic Congressman Rahm Emanuel, who served in the Clinton administration, to be his White House chief of staff.
  • USA - VOTE 2008
    Obama begins choosing a new administration
    US President-elect Barack Obama has begun the process of forming a new US administration by asking Democratic Congressman Rahm Emanuel, who served in the Clinton administration, to be his White House chief of staff.
  • USA - VOTE 2008
    Obama's agenda
    What now for Barack Obama? From 'Abortion' to 'National Security', catch a glimpse of the new US president's political platform.
  • USA - VOTE 2008 - KENYA
    Kenya celebrates Obama win in US election
    Barack Obama's ancestral country of Kenya has been celebrating his winning the US presidential election. President Mwai Kibaki was among the first foreign leaders to congratulate Obama, while declaring Thursday a public holiday.
    (1) comment
  • UNITED STATES
    Once for Hillary, now for Obama in Philadelphia
    Clay Smith, who campaigned for Hillary Clinton during the Pennsylvania primaries, is now working for Barack Obama. He is certain that polls don't reflect people's true feelings about his candidate, with racism the hidden variable.
  • UNITED STATES
    Great expectations in Chicago
    In Chicago, our reporters came across some of the people who have met or worked with Barack Obama during his rise to power. They have high expectations of him should he win the election and become the first African-American president.
    (1) comment
  • UNITED STATES
    Black vote made traditional south look different
    The mobilisation of black voters in the US's southern states has changed the face of a region in which northern-born Democratic presidential candidates have not stood a chance since World War II.

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