Barack Obama Elected 44th President
On November 4th, 2008, Democratic candidate Barack Hussein Obama beat Republican candidate John McCain in the U.S. presidential election.
Obama was sworn in as the 44th U.S. president on January 20th, 2009. He is the first African-American president.
The first two years of President Obama’s term have kept him busy with trying to bring the United States out of the economic downturn started in 2007 with the housing market crash, as well as presiding over the passing of health insurance reform. Despite the successful passing of the health insurance bill and the improvement of the economy, Obama is still faced with challenges like the rise of the tea parties and the BP oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the inability to draw down troops from the Middle Eastern wars or close Guantanamo Bay.
On a more positive note, Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on October 9, 2009, “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples”. Obama accepted the award in Oslo, Norway on December 10, 2009.
