Barack Obama - NEW United States President 2009

Four decades after Martin Luther King proclaimed his vision to a racially divided nation, Americans take a great step forward in electing Barack Obama as their first black president

Barack Obama completed a journey last night that had once been unthinkable, becoming the first African-American president in U.S. history and raising hopes this nation had entered a new, post-racial era.

A presidential bid first forged on the themes of hope and change – then carried home by a candidate who personified calm and cool – came 45 years after Martin Luther King told the world he had a dream.

"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible," Obama told tens of thousands gathered on the Chicago lakefront, "who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

"It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America."