Obama’s Win Earns Emotional Reactions, Turns Page in History

JIM LEHRER:

And what the election means to individual Americans and to the country. Margaret Warner talks to our historians about that.

MARGARET WARNER:

And with me for that is our team of regulars: presidential historians Michael Beschloss; Richard Norton Smith, scholar in residence at George Mason University; Peniel Joseph, professor of history and African-American studies at Brandeis University; and Ellen Fitzpatrick, professor of history at the University of New Hampshire.

But, first, we hear voices from around the country, in Phoenix, Minneapolis, Chicago, Colorado, Orlando and Washington, on what this election meant to them.

D’NESSTAH FIELDS:

It was said that it could never be done, it would never happen. It was a long road. There was a phrase someone said, "Rosa sat so Martin could walk; Martin walked so Obama could run." And run he did, and win he did. And that's — oh, man, it's so overwhelming.

OLIVIA PARKER:

It's important to me personally, because of the plight that my ancestors have had and my family have had, their right to march and to protest, just so black people one day would have the right to vote.

So it's been a historical event, an historical moment, and I was just blessed to have been able to have been a part of this history.

This is something that one day I'll be able to relate to my grandchildren and my great-grandchildren about this day and this moment. I mean, everything, the weather, nothing could have been better, nothing could have gone wrong.

MARIANNE ATKINSON:

My husband's an American, and he was able to vote. We're really pleased that we got back to America this time so we could vote in this election for the future of our daughter.

You know, 20 years from now — well, four years from now, eight years from now, there could be a woman president. And I really believe that.

PAUL BINSFELD:

I'm a registered Republican, but I was really impressed with the level of hope and excitement within the community, the national community, and the world, in terms of the outcome. It's just an incredible speech, an incredible leader. I just — I hope he can live up to it.

DANA LANGLY:

It is an amazing thing. It's wonderful. I'm very excited. We need a change. This is the change that we needed.

For the country as a whole, we're getting some new blood in there. He's going to mix some things up. He's going to make some things happen. And that's what we need in this country.

SARAH THORNHOLM, Phoenix:

As far as the way our country will be run, actions speak louder than words. And Obama is a great communicator, and I hope he's not just another actor.

DENNIS FOWLER:

I can't get over the jubilation of America as a whole over this election. The fact that he won in Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Nevada, it's just — it's so enlightening.

JOHN VALENTA:

He's got to unify everything. He's got to make everybody come together and work as one. No matter who we voted for — and I didn't vote for him — but we have to support him. He needs the help of everybody to get the economy to where it needs to be.

GAYLE WOODBURY, Minneapolis:

It was a very unifying event, because it was such a margin with the electoral votes. And I don't remember seeing people celebrate the way that they did last night in recent elections, and so that's pretty exciting.

WILL WELCH:

I think personally it's going to change for me, because I have an African-American son. So, obviously, you know, for him, it's a great thing, because he was — this was his first election. So he got to vote. And so, for me, that was a sense of pride for me.

He was ecstatic. I mean, you know, I got goosebumps. You know, it was just an amazing thing, just an amazing thing to see.

And, of course, we talked about it, but this being his first election, you know, him being old enough to vote, for him to be able to vote for someone with his ethnicity, it meant a lot. And it meant a lot to me to see that.