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Obama Officially Declared Next President

It’s official: Barack Obama will become the 44th president.

A joint session of Congress convened Thursday to record the results of the Electoral College, handing 365 votes to President-elect Obama and Vice President-elect Joseph Biden and 173 to the Republican ticket of John McCain and Sarah Palin.

Vice President Dick Cheney and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) presided over the quadrennial tally in a chamber filled mostly with Democratic lawmakers.

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