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WASHINGTON: Barack Obama was on Wednesday set to begin shaping his White House team, facing a barrage of daunting global and domestic challenges after sweeping to victory as America's first black president.
Swept into the White House with his powerful message of hope and change, Obama inherits an economy mired in financial crisis, dragging wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and a nuclear showdown with Iran.
"Even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime: two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century," Obama, 47, told 240,000 people gathered at a Chicago victory rally.
"The road ahead will be long, our climb will be steep, we may not get there in one year or even one term, but America - I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there," Obama told the cheering and tearful supporters on Tuesday.
"I promise you - we as a people will get there."
President George W. Bush on Wednesday publicly congratulated Obama and promised "complete cooperation" as he moves into the White House.
"Last night, I had a warm conversation with president-elect Barack Obama. I congratulated him and Senator (Joseph) Biden on their impressive victory," Bush said in the White House Rose Garden.
Bush has also invited Obama to visit the White House as soon as possible.
Congratulations poured in from across the world, now eyeing a new era of US leadership, amid a global tide of celebrations and euphoria.
New York's Times Square exploded in joy, and a screaming crowd gathered outside the White House. In Kenya, where Obama's father was born, President Mwai Kibaki declared a national holiday.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon said: "I am confident that we can look forward to an era of renewed partnership and a new multilateralism."
Obama was spending the day at home in Chicago with his wife and first lady-elect, Michelle, and two daughters Malia and Sasha, and was later due to visit his campaign headquarters in the city to thank his staff.
But rumours were already swirling about whom he might be tapping for his cabinet, with news reports suggesting hard-nosed Washington player Illinois congressman Rahm Emanuel might be in line to be his White House chief of staff.
In an extraordinary, history-making night, Obama not only became the first African-American president but also redrew the political map solidifying traditional Democratic states and cutting deep into Republican territory.
With results given in 46 states and the District of Columbia, Obama had 349 and McCain had 163 of the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House.
But in toss-up states, North Carolina and Missouri, the race was still to close to call between Obama and his Republican rival John McCain.
Democrats also made huge strides in Congress, gaining an unshakeable grip on power in Washington. They boosted their majority in the Senate by five seats, with results still pending in four states, and by 20 seats in the lower House of Representatives.
After a bitter campaign, 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," 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.
And he urged his supporters to help the country heal its racial demons and rally behind their new leader.
Obama's 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 deepening international and economic crises under Bush.
Obama is promising to renew bruised ties with US allies, and to engage some of the United States' fiercest foes such as Iran and North Korea. He has vowed to tackle climate change and ensure health care access for all Americans.
His presidency also marks a stunning societal shift, with Obama - the son of a black 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 some of the deep scars left by slavery and the US civil war.
Click here for the full text of president-elect Obama's speech.
- AFP/de
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