Obama won the elections and elected as next president of America

Americans elected Barack Obama as their first black president and he will be sworn in as the 44th US president on January 20, 2009.

Obama, 47 year old president will face the challenges of worst financial crisis since the 1930s, two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and a nuclear showdown with Iran.

"The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America -- I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you -- we as a people will get there," Obama said in Chicago, Illinois.

In a sweet moment for Democrats, he also seized the midwestern battleground of Ohio and captured New Mexico and Iowa, two states won by Bush in 2004 to close out McCain's possible route towards the White House.

Bush told Obama he was about to begin one of the great journeys of his life, and invited him to visit the White House as soon as it could be arranged

Supporters in Chicago cheering, "Yes, we can" were met with cries of "Yes, we did."More than 1,000 people gathered outside of the White House, chanting, "Obama, Obama!".

The win by Obama, son of a black father from Kenya and white mother from Kansas, marked a milestone in U.S. history. It came 45 years after the height of the civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King.