WASHINGTON - Barack Obama swept to victory as the first black president in the US history Tuesday night in an electoral college landslide that overcame racial barriers as old as America itself. "Change has come," he told a huge group of cheering supporters. In his first speech as victor, Obama catalogued the challenges ahead. "The greatest of a lifetime," he said, "two wars, a planet in danger, the worst financial crisis in a century." He added, "There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president, and we know that government can't solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face." The son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas, the Democratic senator from Illinois sealed his historic triumph by defeating Republican Sen. John McCain in a string of wins in hard-fought battleground states -- Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Iowa and more. In his speech, Obama invoked   the words of Lincoln and echoed John F. Kennedy. "So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in   and work harder," he said. He and his running mate, Joseph Biden of Delaware, will take their oaths of office as president and vice president on Jan. 20, 2009. Obama will move into the Oval Office as leader of a country that is almost certainly in recession  , and fighting two long wars, one in Iraq, the other in Afghanistan. Obama has said his first order of presidential business will be to tackle the economy. He has also pledged to withdraw most US combat troops from Iraq within 16 months. What is special about Barack Obama, the newly-elected president of the United States?
He has a black father and a white mother. He is the first black president in the US history. He defeated Republican Sen. John McCain easily. He will move into the White Palace on Jan. 20, 2009.