Beta Kappa Psi National would like to congratulate President Obama

On February 10, 2007, Obama announced his candidacy for President of the United States in front of the Old State Capitol building in Springfield, Illinois. Throughout the campaign, Obama emphasized the issues of rapidly ending the Iraq War, increasing energy independence, and providing universal health care. A large number of candidates initially entered the Democratic Party presidential primaries. After a few initial contests, the field narrowed to a contest between Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton. On June 3, with all states counted, Obama passed the threshold to become the presumptive nominee for the Democratic party and gave a victory speech in St. Paul, Minnesota. Clinton suspended her campaign and endorsed him on June 7. From that point on, he campaigned for the general election race against Senator John McCain, the Republican nominee. At the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, During the speech, which was viewed by over 38 million people worldwide, he accepted his party's nomination and presented his policy goals.

Obama has been praised as a master of oratory on par with other renowned speakers in the past such as Martin Luther King, Jr. His "Yes We Can" speech, which artists independently set to music in a video produced by will.i.am, was viewed by 10 million people on YouTube in the first month, and received an Emmy Award. Not only did several polls show strong support for him in other countries, but Obama also established close relationships with prominent foreign politicians and elected officials even before his presidential candidacy.

On November 4, 2008, Barack Obama defeated John McCain to became the first African American to be elected President of the United States. In his victory speech, Obama proclaimed that "change has come to America". The theme of the inauguration was "A New Birth of Freedom," commemorating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln.

In December 2008, Time magazine named Barack Obama as its Person of the Year for his historic candidacy and election, which it described as "the steady march of seemingly impossible accomplishments.