Today, January 20th, 2009, Barack Obama will be inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States. Inauguration means "Amtseinführung/Vereidigung".
Winning the White House
When the results came in, 67 million people voted for Barack and 58 million voted for John McCain. Barack won 365 electoral votes and John McCain won 173 votes. At least 270 electoral votes are needed to become President of the United States.
Barack Obama won the election. On that cold, windy night in a park in Chicago called Grant Park, Barack, Joe Biden, and their families were greeted warmly with cheers and tears from thousands of supporters gathered to celebrate his victory. After he won, Barack gave a speech that was shown on televisions around the country and around the world. He began his speech with these words:
“If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our Founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.”
The people in the park cheered. Many people in all parts of the country, as well as the world, were happy to have witnessed this moment in American history. Barack continued his speech by saying that even though being President is not easy, he would do his best for the country and for the American people while he is President.
Facts about Barack Obama
The name Barack means “blessing from God”
He is left-handed.
His favorite music includes artists like The Fugees, the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, and Kanye West.
He won a Grammy award for the audio recording of his book Dreams from My Father.
He has authored three very successful books.
According to his official Facebook profile, his favorite TV show is Sportcenter.
When he was a child, he wanted to become an architect.
He collects comic books.
When he lived in Indonesia, he had two baby crocodiles, chickens, ducks and a gibbon named Tata as his pets.
He loves to cook chili.
Barack Obama will be the first African American president, and one of the youngest presidents ever elected. He has a wife, Michelle, and two daughters, Malia, 10, and Natasha (called Sasha), 7.
Barack Obama was born August 4, 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii. His father came to America from Kenya, which is a country in Africa. His parents, Ann and Barack, met when they were students at the University of Hawaii. Since Barack had the same name as his father, young Barack went by the nickname “Barry”.
After his dad finished college, he went back to Kenya, leaving his mother to take care of Barry. In 1967, when Barry was six years old, his mother married a student from Indonesia and they moved to Indonesia with him. They had many pets, including baby crocodiles and a gibbon, which is a type of monkey.
While they were in Indonesia, his mother had another baby. Her name was Maya. Right after she was born, Barry’s mother got divorced, and Barry, his mother, and his new baby sister moved back to Hawaii.
Soon, Barry’s mother had to go back to Indonesia to work. Her job was studying how farmers lived and how their lives could be made better. When she went away, Barry lived with his grandparents. He called them Gramps and Toot, and he was very close with them and his sister.
Growing up, Barry enjoyed spending time on the beach, fishing and bodysurfing. He was a really good student. He went to an expensive private school even though his family didn’t have much money to pay for it. His family felt that the best thing they could do for Barry was to give him a good education, so they worked hard to pay for his school.
Barry earned good grades and played on his high school basketball team. He loved playing basketball as a kid, and President-Elect Obama still loves to play whenever he can. Even when he was campaigning for president, he took time out every day to shoot hoops with his friends.
The life of Barrack Obama in pictures
Have a look at all American Presidents so far.
US Election - Facts
Every four years the people of the United States choose a new President.
You have to be thirty-five years old to run for President.
Last year's (2008) Republican Candidate was Barack Obama. He became President.
Last year's (2008) Democratic Candidate was John McCain.
Candidates try to get people to vote for them by giving speeches and shaking hands.
The political parties choose their candidate at their conventions.
The candidates have debates where they answer questions about the issues that are important to the people in our country.
On the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, people go to the polls to vote.
Today, January 20th, 2009
Barack Obama will be sworn in as president just days before the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth, and his inauguration theme will reflect the timing: "A New Birth Of Freedom," a phrase from the Gettysburg Address.
This is the Oath of Office for President (US Constitution, Article II, Section 1)
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
The Emmy Winning video "Yes We Can" is a collage style music video inspired by a speech delivered by Barack Obama following the 2008 New Hampshire primary, derived from similar union catch cries. The song was released on February 2, 2008 by the Black Eyed Peas member Will.i.am on Dipdive.com and also on YouTube.
Lyrics:
It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.
Yes we can.
It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom.
Yes we can.
It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.
Yes we can.
It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballots;
A President who chose the moon as our new frontier;
And a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.
Yes we can to justice and equality.
Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.
Yes we can heal this nation.
Yes we can repair this world.
Yes we can.
We know the battle ahead will be long,
But always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, Nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.
(We want change.)
We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics
They will only grow louder and more dissonant.
We’ve been asked to pause for a reality check.
We’ve been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.
But in the unlikely story that is America,
There has never been anything false about hope.
Now the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA;
We will remember that there is something happening in America;
That we are not as divided as our politics suggests;
That we are one people;
We are one nation; and together,
We will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three Words that will ring from coast to coast;
From sea to shining sea:
Yes We Can.
