| By AFRO Staff |
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July 27— Barack Obama, then an Illinois state senator running for the U.S. Senate, delivers the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in Boston. The speech served as a precursor to his current mantras of hope and unity and propelled him to political stardom.
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Feb. 10 – Sen. Barack Obama announces his candidacy for president of the United States on the steps of the Old State Capitol Building in Springfield, Ill., where Abraham Lincoln once declared that a house divided against itself cannot stand.
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March 29 – Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, a former presidential candidate, endorses Obama which he reaffirmed later after he was quoted accusing Obama of “acting like he’s white.”
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May — Media mogul Oprah Winfrey endorses Obama.
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Sept. 12 – In a major national security address in Iowa, Obama outlines his plan to end the war in Iraq.
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October – A widespread smear campaign, first aired on Fox News, alleges that Obama is a Muslim, one of many smears thrown at Obama by right-wing pundits during the campaign.
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Jan. 3 – Obama wins the nation’s first Democratic presidential contest – the Iowa caucuses, a pivotal victory for his campaign that wowed the party faithful. John Edwards comes in second and Sen. Hillary Clinton a surprising third. That month, the campaign reports $32 million in campaign donations.
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Jan. 26 – After a bitter and divisive contest, Obama wins a decisive victory over Clinton in South Carolina with strong support from the Black community. Afterwards, Bill Clinton appeared to brush off the victory, saying Jesse Jackson Sr. had also won the state in 1988. Obama’s South Carolina win was the beginning of the end of Black support of Hillary Clinton in the campaign.
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Jan. 28 – Two generations of Kennedys (Caroline and Sen. Ted Kennedy) – the Democratic Party’s best-known political family – endorse Obama for president, with Ted Kennedy calling him a “man with extraordinary gifts of leadership and character,” a worthy heir to his assassinated brother.
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Feb. 12 - Obama sweeps Super Tuesday’s Potomac Primary, winning Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
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Feb. 27 – Civil rights icon, Cong. John Lewis, switches his support of Clinton to Obama, saying, “Something’s happening in America, something some of us did not see coming.” He said his decision was a difficult one, a choice between a longtime friend and a little-known Black man.
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| March 13 – On “Good Morning America,” ABC airs clips of some controversial sermons delivered by Obama’s then pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, in which he asserted that the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were a function of cause and effect, and that African Americans should sing "God damn America" instead of “God bless America.” Wright’s comments gain traction and draws negative attention to the Obama campaign.
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March 18 – Obama delivers the speech, “A More Perfect Union,” at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. In the speech, later called his speech on race in America, the candidate attempts to place Wright’s comments in a historical and sociological context, though he does denounce the sermons as “not only wrong but divisive.”
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June 3 – After defeating Sen. Hillary Clinton in the final primaries, Obama declares in St. Paul, Minn., “I can stand before you and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States.”
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July - To buttress his international and foreign affairs credentials, Obama travels to Europe where he is enthusiastically received.
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Aug. 23 – Obama returns to Springfield, Ill, to announce his pick of Sen. Joe Biden as his vice presidential running mate.
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Aug. 28 -- Obama delivers his nomination acceptance speech before a crowd of more than 80,000 at Invesco Field at Mile High in Denver, Co., capping the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
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Oct 19 - Former Secretary of State Colin Powell broke with his party to endorse Obama. "He has both style and substance. I think he is a transformational figure," Powell said on NBC's “Meet the Press.” (AP Photo)
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| Nov. 3 – One day before the historic election, Obama’s grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, dies in Honolulu; she was 85. Obama temporarily halted his campaign schedule a week before to visit Dunham who raised him and whom he called a “cornerstone” of his life and affectionately called “Toot.”
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November 4, 2008
History is made:
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