PRESIDENT ELECT BARACK OBAMA Makes history as the first black U.S. President

Obama - First Black President

Democrat Barack Obama captured the White House on Tuesday after an extraordinary twoyear campaign, defeating Republican John McCain to make history as the first black U.S. president.

Obama will be sworn in as the 44th U.S. president on January 20, 2009 and will face a crush of immediate challenges, from tackling an economic crisis to ending the war in Iraq and trying to overhaul the U.S. health care system.

McCain saw his hopes for victory evaporate with losses in a string of key battleground states led by the big prizes of Ohio and Florida, the states that sent Democrats to defeat in the last two elections.

The win by Obama, son of a black father from Kenya and white mother from Kansas, marked a milestone in U.S. history. It came 45 years after the height of the civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King.

"It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, at this defining moment, change has come to America," Obama, 47, told 125,000 ecstatic supporters gathered in Chicago's Grant Park to celebrate.

"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," he said.

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