Barack Obama Elected Us President

Barack Obama elected US president November 5, 2008 - 5:21AM Barack Obama faces up to the daunting task of forging the change he has promised after Americans emphatically elected him as their country's first black president. "Tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America," Obama told a euphoric crowd of 240,000 tearful supporters after defeating Republican John McCain. Obama, 47, will be inaugurated as the 44th US president on January 20, 2009, and inherit an economy mired in the worst financial crisis since the 1930s, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and a nuclear showdown with Iran. "The road ahead will be long, our climb will be steep, we may not get there in one year or even one term, but America - I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there," Obama said in his hometown of Chicago. "I promise you - we as a people will get there." Television networks projected Obama's win over McCain after Senator Obama solidified traditional Democratic states and cut deep into the Republican territory which his rival needed to control to win the White House. Obama's win was greeted with euphoria across the United States and reverberated around the world. New York's Times Square exploded in joy at a moment of healing for America's racial scars and a crowd gathered outside the White House. In Kenya, where Obama's father was born, President Mwai Kibaki called his win "momentous". Democrats also made huge strides in Congress and will hold an unshakeable monopoly in power in Washington after a rare generational and political realignment. After a bilious campaign, McCain was gracious in defeat and noted that his election was a moment to cherish for African Americans. "The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly. A little while ago, I had the honour of calling Senator Barack Obama to congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country that we both love," he said. "Though we fell short, the failure is mine, not yours," he told a crowd of supporters in Phoenix in his home state of Arizona. President George W Bush who has steered his country through eight turbulent years also congratulated Obama. "Mr President-elect, congratulations to you," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino quoted the president as saying in a phone call to Obama.

"What an awesome night for you, your family and your supporters. Laura and I called to congratulate you and your good bride." Obama's inauguration will complete a stunning ascent to the pinnacle of US and global politics from national obscurity just four years ago and close an eight-year era of turbulence under President George W Bush. Obama is promising to renew bruised ties with US allies and to engage some of the most fierce US foes like Iran and North Korea. He has vowed to tackle climate change and provide health care to all Americans. His presidency also marks a stunning social shift, with Obama, the son of Kenyan father and white mother from Kansas, the first African American president of a nation still riven by racial divides. Forty-five years after civil rights icon Martin Luther King laid out his "dream" of racial equality, Obama's election broke new barriers and may have helped heal the moral wounds left by slavery and the US civil war. © 2008 AFP