Mahinder Tak is an Indian-American radiation oncologist and retired US Army colonel. Tak was co-chair of the Democratic National Committee's Indo-American Council during the 2008 Obama campaign [1] She is also one of the largest private collectors of Indian art in the U.S. [2] [3] [4]
John Sidney McCain III was an American politician, statesman, and United States Navy officer who served as a United States Senator for Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms in the United States House of Representatives and was the Republican nominee for president of the United States in the 2008 election, which he lost to Barack Obama.
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. is an American politician who is the 46th and current president of the United States. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice president from 2009 to 2017 under Barack Obama and represented Delaware in the United States Senate from 1973 to 2009.
Artur Genestre Davis is an American attorney and former politician who served as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives for Alabama's 7th congressional district from 2003 to 2011. He was also a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Alabama in the 2010 election. After losing in the primary, he moved to Virginia and joined the Republican Party. He rejoined the Democratic Party 2015 and 2017 in his two attempts to be elected Mayor of Montgomery, Alabama in the 2015 and 2019 elections, losing both times. He rejoined the Republican Party for one year in 2016.
Barack Hussein Obama II is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the United States. He previously served as a U.S. senator from Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and as an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004.
Kalpen Suresh Modi, known professionally as Kal Penn, is an American actor, author, academic lecturer and former White House staff member in the Barack Obama administration. As an actor, he is known for his role portraying Lawrence Kutner on the television program House, as well as White House staffer Seth Wright on Designated Survivor and Kumar Patel in the Harold & Kumar film series. He is also recognized for his performance in the film The Namesake. Penn has taught at the University of Pennsylvania in the Cinema Studies Program as a visiting lecturer.
Piyush "Bobby" Jindal is an American politician who served as the 55th Governor of Louisiana from 2008 to 2016. Jindal previously served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and Chairman of the Republican Governors Association.
David M. Axelrod is an American political consultant and analyst and former White House official. He is best known for being the chief strategist for Barack Obama's presidential campaigns. After Obama's election, Axelrod was appointed as Senior Advisor to the President. He left the position in early 2011 and became the Senior Strategist for Obama's successful re-election campaign in 2012. Axelrod wrote for the Chicago Tribune, and joined CNN as Senior Political Commentator in 2015. As of May 2021, Axelrod serves as the director of the non-partisan University of Chicago Institute of Politics. His memoir is titled Believer: My Forty Years in Politics.
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is an American attorney and author who served as the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017. She was the first African-American woman to serve in this position. She is the wife of former President Barack Obama.
From January 3 to June 3, 2008, voters of the Democratic Party chose their nominee for president in the 2008 United States presidential election. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois was selected as the nominee, becoming the first African American to secure the presidential nomination of any major political party in the United States. However, due to a close race between Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, the contest remained competitive for longer than expected, and neither candidate received enough pledged delegates from state primaries and caucuses to achieve a majority, without endorsements from unpledged delegates (superdelegates).
William Joseph Posey is an American businessman and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Florida's 8th congressional district, in Congress since 2009. A member of the Republican Party, he formerly served in the Florida Senate and the Florida House of Representatives.
Joe Biden, a longtime U.S. senator from Delaware, began his 2008 presidential campaign when he announced his candidacy for President of the United States on the January 7, 2007, edition of Meet the Press. He officially became a candidate on January 31, 2007, after filing papers with the Federal Election Commission.
Robert Lane Gibbs is an American communication professional who served as executive vice president and global chief communications officer of McDonald's from 2015 to 2019 and as the 27th White House Press Secretary from 2009 to 2011.
The 2008 presidential campaign of Barack Obama, then junior United States senator from Illinois, was announced on February 10, 2007, in Springfield, Illinois. After winning a majority of delegates in the Democratic primaries of 2008, on August 23, leading up to the convention, the campaign announced that Senator Joe Biden of Delaware would be the vice presidential nominee. At the 2008 Democratic National Convention on August 27, Barack Obama was formally selected as the Democratic Party nominee for President of the United States in 2008. He was the first African American in history to be nominated on a major party ticket.
Jim Messina is an American political adviser who was the White House deputy chief of staff for operations under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2011 and served as the campaign manager for Obama's successful 2012 re-election campaign. His "innovative fusion of technology and politics led Google chairman Eric Schmidt to call the 2012 race 'the best-run campaign ever'." He is the CEO of the Messina Group.
Kimberly Teehee is an American attorney, politician, and activist on Native American issues. She is a Delegate-designate to the U.S. House of Representatives from the Cherokee Nation. She served as senior policy advisor for Native American affairs in the administration of President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2012. In February of 2020, she was named by Time as one of 16 activists fighting for a "More Equal America."
Jennifer Rene Psaki is an American political advisor serving as the 34th and current White House press secretary. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served in the Obama administration as the White House deputy press secretary (2009); the White House deputy communications director (2009–2011); the spokesperson for the United States Department of State (2013–2015); and the White House communications director (2015–2017). Psaki was a political contributor for CNN from 2017 to 2020.
Barack Obama won the 2008 United States presidential election on November 4, 2008. During campaign, by using social media and mobilizing the general public online, Obama was able to raise awareness and financial support of his campaign. Obama used over 15 social networking sites.
Joshua Ryan Henry Earnest is an American political advisor who served as the 29th White House press secretary under President Barack Obama from 2014 to 2017. He succeeded Jay Carney as Obama's press secretary, in 2014, and was succeeded by President Donald Trump's first presidential press secretary, Sean Spicer. He currently serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer for United Airlines.
Katherine L. Archuleta is an American teacher and a political executive. She was the director of the United States Office of Personnel Management. President Barack Obama appointed her on May 23, 2013. She was sworn in on November 4, 2013. She had previously served as National Political Director for Obama's 2012 reelection campaign. Prior to that, she had been executive director of the National Hispanic Cultural Center Foundation in New Mexico, had co-founded the Latina Initiative, had worked at a Denver law firm, and had worked in the Clinton Administration as chief of staff to the Secretary of Transportation, Federico Peña. She became embroiled in controversy after the disclosure of a massive national security breach in June 2015. The hack involved the theft of millions of federal employee records and included security-clearance details dating back 15 years, which prompted lawmakers from both political parties to demand that she resign. On July 10, 2015, Archuleta tendered her resignation.
Shefali Razdan Duggal is an Indian-born American Democratic political activist. She was appointed by President Barack Obama to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, which supervises the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, for a term which expired in January 2018.