Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign
Barack Obama, then junior United States senator from Illinois, announced his candidacy for President of the United States on February 10, 2007, in Springfield, Illinois.[1] After winning a majority of delegates in the Democratic primaries of 2008, on August 23, leading up to the convention, the campaign announced that Senator Joe Biden of Delaware would be the vice presidential nominee.[2] At the 2008 Democratic National Convention on August 27, Barack Obama was formally selected as the Democratic Party nominee for President of the United States in 2008.[3] He was the first African American in history to be nominated on a major party ticket.[4]
On November 4, 2008, Obama defeated the Republican nominee, Senator John McCain of Arizona, making him the President-elect and the first African American elected president.[5][6] He was the third sitting U.S. Senator, after Warren G. Harding and John F. Kennedy, to be elected president. Upon the vote of the Electoral College on December 15, 2008, and the subsequent certification thereof by a Joint Session of the United States Congress on January 8, 2009, Barack Obama was elected as President of the United States and Joe Biden as Vice President of the United States, with 365 of 538 electors.[7][8] He also became the first president to not be born in the contiguous United States, as he was born in Hawaii.
Obama's campaign is considered one of the most successful in US history. His victory over Hillary Clinton was considered by many to be an upset due to Clinton's early lead in the polls.[9] In the general election, overwhelming backing by two-thirds of voters aged 18-29 and minority voters (66% of Hispanic voters and 95% of Black voters) were considered the most crucial demographic victories.[10] Analysts also praised his campaign's effective use of the Internet in general and social media in particular, and considered their utilization of both a crucial factor in Obama's victory.[11]
Major events[edit]
Middle Eastern and European tour[edit]
In July 2008 Obama traveled to Kuwait, Afghanistan,[55] Iraq,[56] Jordan,[57] the West Bank,[58] Israel, Germany, France, and Britain. During the course of this trip he met with assorted international leaders, including President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan,[59] Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of Iraq, King Abdullah II of Jordan, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Olmert, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France,[60] and Prime Minister Gordon Brown of the United Kingdom, as well as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Conservative opposition leader (and future Prime Minister) David Cameron.[61]
On July 24, 2008, he gave a speech at the Victory Column in Berlin before a crowd of estimated 200,000 to 240,000 people.[62][63][64]
Election day[edit]
On November 4, 2008, Barack Obama became the first African American to be elected President of the United States, sparking many celebrations in the United States and around the world. He gained almost 53% of the popular vote and 365 electoral votes. The popular vote percentage was the best showing for any presidential candidate since George H. W. Bush in 1988. His 365 electoral votes was the best showing since Bill Clinton had 379 in 1996. He won Colorado, Nevada, Virginia, Indiana, Florida, Ohio, and North Carolina, all states that were won by President George W. Bush in 2004. In addition, he became the first Democratic candidate to win one of Nebraska's electoral votes since the state decided to split their electoral votes. He was the first candidate to be elected president without winning Missouri since 1956. Though his record would be broken by both major party candidates 12 years later, Obama received more total votes than any presidential candidate in history up to that point, totaling well over 69 million votes.
63% of Americans who met the voting requirements voted, the highest percentage in fifty years. Obama won the moderate vote 60–39 and the independent vote 52–44.[115]
Joe Biden also made history by becoming the first Roman Catholic to be elected vice president. In addition, he is the longest-serving senator to become vice president, having served in the United States Senate for the 36 years prior to the election. Biden also won reelection to the Senate, but served only briefly in the 111th Congress before resigning to take his place as vice president.
Certification of the electoral votes[edit]
On January 8, 2009, the joint session of the U.S. Congress, chaired by Vice President Cheney as President of the Senate and Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House, announced and certified the votes of the Electoral College for the 2008 presidential election. From the electoral votes of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, Vice President Cheney declared 365 electoral votes for both Barack Obama of the state of Illinois and Joseph Biden of the state of Delaware and 173 electoral votes for both John McCain of the state of Arizona and Sarah Palin of the state of Alaska. Based on the results of the electoral vote count, Vice President Cheney declared officially that Obama was elected as President of the United States and Biden was elected as Vice President of the United States.[7]
Over 25% of the electorate was of a race besides Caucasian, a first for America.[115]