Washington; November 5, 2008 -  IR Summary/AFP – Americans have changed the history, elected Barack Obama as their President to guide the nation and solve their problems, economic and others and also help establish world peace.

Obama, 47, will be inaugurated the 44th US president on January 20, 2009, and inherit an economy mired in the worst financial crisis since the 1930s, two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and a nuclear showdown with Iran.

Television networks projected his victory over Republican John McCain after Senator Obama solidified traditional Democratic states and cut deep into the Republican territory which his rival needed to control to win the White House.

Obama's win was greeted with euphoria by a vast crowd gathered in his home city of Chicago, as his supporters, screamed, waved American flags as they waited for him to arrive to deliver his victory speech.

New York's Times Square exploded in joy at a moment of healing for America's racial scars, a huge crowd gathered outside the White House and the result immediately reverberated around the world.

Democrats also made ground in Congress, and will hold an unshakeable monopoly in power in Washington after a rare generational and political realignment.

McCain was gracious in defeat, and noted that his election was a moment to cherish for African Americans.

"The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly. A little while ago, I had the honor of calling Senator Barack Obama to congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country that we both love," he said.

"Though we fell short, the failure is mine, not yours," he told a crowd of supporters in Phoenix in his home state of Arizona.

President George W. Bush who has steered his country through eight turbulent years also congratulated Obama.

"Mr president-elect, congratulations to you," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino quoted the president as saying in a phone call to Obama .

"What an awesome night for you, your family and your supporters. Laura and I called to congratulate you and your good bride."

Obama's historic inauguration will complete a stunning ascent to the pinnacle of US and global politics from national obscurity just four years ago and close an eight year era of turbulence under Bush.

Obama is promising to renew bruised ties with US allies, and to engage some of the most fierce US foes like Iran and North Korea. He has vowed to tackle climate change and provide health care to all Americans.

His presidency also marks a stunning social shift, with Obama, the son of Kenyan father and white mother from Kansas, the first African American president of a nation still riven by racial divides.

Forty-five years after civil rights icon Martin Luther King laid out his "dream" of racial equality, Obama's election broke new barriers and may have helped heal the moral wounds left by slavery and the US civil war.

When he launched his campaign on a chilly day in Illinois in February 2007, Obama forged a mantra of change which powered him throughout the longest, most costly US presidential campaign in history.

With a stunning grassroots political movement, powered by massive multi-million dollar fundraising, Obama first beat Hillary Clinton, and the Democratic Party's then preeminent political machine.

Obama strode towards victory on Tuesday by capturing the states of Pennsylvania, the key battleground which McCain needed to win to keep his long-shot hopes of victory alive. .

Obama had led national and battleground polls and had capitalized on the fear of Americans pitched into the deep financial crisis, especially as he appeared to be presidential in a string of debates.

NIA Chairman, Dr. Raj Baldev and other members of National Integration Assembly (NIA) have sent their feliciations to Barack Obama on his being elected as President of America.