Barack Obama, the first African American president, has been re-elected for his second term, defeating Republican challenger Mitt Romney. The preliminary result on Wednesday (Vietnam time) announced that Obama had won 303 electoral votes over Romney’s 206. The victory has returned Obama as the second Democratic President to hold the presidency twice. Romney admitted failing, but called on all Americans, despite whatever party they belong to, to work together to move the country forward.

The crowd erupts when Obama is announced to win the 2012 presidential race (Photo: foxnews)

Obama has received congratulations from leaders around the world. UK Prime Minister David Cameron showed his pleasure at continuing to work with Obama as the US 44^th President. European Council President, Herman Van Rompuy, said he is happy about Obama’s victory. The Prime Minister of Luxembourg Jean-Claude Juncker said that the EU finds it easy to work with the incumbent US president, calling for close cooperation to deal with the current global economic challenges.

Obama will be inaugurated on January 20^th.