Barack Obama

On November 4, Americans elected Illinois Senator Barack Obama the 44th president of the United States.

Addressing supporters in Chicago November 5, the president-elect said, “To all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright, tonight we’ve proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.”

Obama said that through their votes, Americans sent a message “that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states. We are and always will be the United States of America.”

“A new dawn of American leadership is at hand,” he said. “To those who would tear the world down, we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security, we support you.”

As of early November 5, Obama had won at least 26 states and the District of Columbia with a total of 338 electoral votes, putting him well above the 270 needed to clinch the presidency. Results still were being reported from some states in the early hours of the day after Election Day.

Obama will become the first African-American president of the United States and also the first person of color to govern a country with a white majority.

The Illinois senator carried all the states won by Democrat John Kerry in 2004, as well as Ohio, Iowa, Florida, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada and Virginia — states previously carried by Republican George Bush.

In his concession speech from Phoenix, Senator John McCain said he had telephoned President-elect Obama to offer his congratulations. He recognized the significance of Obama’s victory for African Americans and the “special pride that must be theirs tonight” following a long history of slavery, segregation and discrimination.

He said the United States is now “a world away from the cruel and prideful bigotry of that time,” and “there is no better evidence of this” than Obama’s election. He also pledged to support the incoming president and urged his supporters to offer their “good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together.”