Presidential transition of Barack Obama Presidential transition of Barack Obama The Presidential transition of Barack Obama began when Barack Obama won the United States presidential election on November 4, 2008, and became the President-elect. He was formally elected by the Electoral College on December 15, 2008. The results were certified by a joint session of Congress on January 8, 2009, and the transition ended when he was inaugurated at noon on January 20, 2009. The Obama transition organization was called the Obama-Biden Transition Project. The transition team was convened during the height of the campaign, well before the outcome could be known, to begin making
African-American candidates for President of the United States Senator Obama was identified as a potential candidate for president of the U.S. after his speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. The distinct possibility of an African American becoming elected was realized as the Democratic primary elections got under way in early 2008. Barack Obama emerged as a serious contender for the nomination and was the first African American to win the nomination of a major party in a United States presidential election. As the Democratic Party's nominee he went on to win the general election on November 4, 2008. On January 20, 2009 he was sworn in as