<Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election . It was held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008 . The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, a Senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, a long - time Senator from Delaware, defeated the Republican ticket of Senator John McCain of Arizona and Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska . Obama became the first African American ever to be elected as president . </P> <P> Incumbent Republican President George W. Bush was ineligible to pursue a third term due to the term limits established by the 22nd Amendment . As neither Bush nor Vice President Dick Cheney sought the presidency, the 2008 election was the first election since 1952 in which neither major party's presidential nominee was the incumbent president or the incumbent vice president . McCain secured the Republican nomination by March 2008, defeating Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, and other challengers . The Democratic primaries were marked by a sharp contest between Obama and the initial front - runner, Senator Hillary Clinton . Clinton's victory in the New Hampshire primary made her the first woman to win a major party's presidential primary . After a long primary season, Obama clinched the Democratic nomination in June 2008 . </P>

Who ran against obama in his first election