This volume of letters is a pioneering eyewitness account of the nomination, election, and inauguration of the 44th president of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. And it just so happens that he is the very first African-American to achieve this position despite the fact that several members of his race have been running for this office since the nation bestowed upon its citizens of color the right to vote in national elections on February 3, 1870, with ratification of the 15th Amendment. The pioneering volume differs from all of the other books of letters to American presidents in that the other volumes harvested their letters from presidential libraries, the National Archives, the Library of Congress, the White House, and various state historical societies. Thus, all of the previous books of letters came out after these presidents had left office and most of the letters in these volumes were not eyewitness accounts. As many of these volumes focused on these presidents and their administrations through the prism of time, they lack the freshness, topically, and insight that come with writing at this moment in history. More importantly, none of these volumes have this historical advantage, nor could they match the time-frame in which Obama was elected to office. It was a moment that had never happened in America's political experience and will not happen again until a woman or another person of color is elected. The eyewitness letters in this volume pioneer in that they capture a rare event in American political history.