Barack Obama

President-elect Barack Obama delivers his victory speech at his election night party at Grant Park in Chicago, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008. Obama's convincing victory over Republican John McCain was the culmination of a lengthy campaign, but also capped a meteoric rise for Obama, who went from speaking at the 2004 Democratic convention as an Illinois state legislator to the White House in a four-year span.

Credit: AP Photo/David Guttenfelder