United States Presidential Election of 2008

Obama won 365 to 173, the first Black president, with 69.5 million votes and record turnout.

Overview

Amid the September financial collapse, Barack Obama's organization and message of change defeated John McCain, whose campaign suspended over the crisis and whose Sarah Palin pick energized both bases, 365 to 173 with 52.9 percent and 69.5 million votes, a record total. Turnout was the highest since 1968, with Black and young voters surging. Obama's election as the first African American president, 143 years after slavery's end, redrew Indiana, North Carolina, and Virginia's maps and fed the 2010 backlash.