THE 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL WORLD LEADERS OF ALL TIME

7 The 100 Most Influential World Leaders of All Time 7

claim the Democratic
nomination.
On August 27
Obama became the
fi rst African American
to be nominated for
the presidency by
either major party and
went on to challenge
Republican Sen. John
McCain for the coun-
try’s highest offi ce.
McCain criticized
Obama, still a fi rst-
term senator, as being
too inexperienced for
the job. To counter,
Obama selected Joe
Biden , a veteran sena-
tor from Delaware
who had a long resume
of foreign policy
expertise, to be his
vice-presidential running mate. Obama and McCain
waged a fi erce and expensive contest. Obama, still bol-
stered by a fever of popular support, eschewed federal
fi nancing of his campaign and raised hundreds of millions
of dollars, much of it coming in small donations and over
the Internet from a record number of donors. Obama’s
fund-raising advantage helped him buy massive amounts
of television advertising and organize deep grassroots orga-
nizations in key battleground states and in states that had
voted Republican in previous presidential cycles.
The two candidates offered a stark ideological choice
for voters. Obama called for a swift withdrawal of most

Memorabilia from Barack Obama’s

presidential campaign. Obama for

America