In February 2007, Obama shocked everyone when he announced his candidacy for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. He was locked in a tight battle with former first lady and then-U.S. Senator from New York, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton, the wife of former president Bill Clinton. On June 3, 2008, however, Obama became the presumptive nominee for the Democratic party, and Senator Clinton delivered her full support to Obama for the duration of his campaign.
