Barack Obama Elected

On November 4, 2008, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois defeated Senator John McCain of Arizona in the U.S. presidential election, winning 365 electoral votes to McCain's 173 and approximately 52.9% of the popular vote. Obama became the first African American elected to the presidency. Running with Senator Joe Biden of Delaware, he carried states including Virginia, Colorado, and Florida that had voted Republican in the two preceding presidential elections. Voter turnout was the highest in four decades. Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president on January 20, 2009.