Presidential transition of Barack Obama time of their election, President-elect Obama and Vice President-elect Joseph Biden were incumbent U.S. Senators from Illinois and Delaware respectively. In accordance with Article I, Section 6 of the United States Constitution, both were required to resign their respective Senate seats on or before January 20, 2009, in order to become President and Vice President. Obama resigned from the Senate effective November 16, 2008. Initially, it was thought that his replacement would be named by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Since the term for the seat expired in January 2011, it would come up for its normal election in 2010 with
East Asian foreign policy of the Barack Obama administration never been more encouraged by and proud of the fact that the United States is our ally." Not long after Obama took office as President of the United States on 20 January 2009, North Korea elbowed its way back onto the international stage after a period of relative quiet during the waning months of the Bush administration. But in spite of a pledge, made during George W. Bush's last few weeks as president, to denuclearize, North Korea drew accusations of planning a new long-range intercontinental ballistic missile test weeks after Obama was sworn in. The accusations, which came mostly from