President-elect Barack Obama and vice president-elect Joe Biden meet with the Transition Economic Advisory Board in Chicago. (Getty Images / November 7, 2008.

For millions of Americans, 11:01 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Tuesday, Nov. 4, marked a moment of unbridled joy and disbelief that American history had brought the nation to this night. Barack Obama became the first black candidate elected to the nation's highest office.

Across the country, millions of Americans cheered in their homes, ran out into streets, honked horns and openly wept. Tens of thousands filled a Chicago park to hear Obama speak. Television pundits spoke of a country that had long wrestled with race knocking down a high wall.

To many, it was moment they thought they'd never see.