
Jill Biden, Vice President-ELECT Joe Biden, President-ELECT Barack Obama, and Michelle Obama wave to the crowd gathered at the Lincoln Memorial (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Between November 6th, A.D. 2012 (the date of our most recent presidential election) and January 21st, A.D. 2013 (the date of the next President’s inauguration), Barack H. Obama holds two offices. During this 75-day period, Mr. Obama is both:
1) the President of the United States (serving from January, A.D. 2009 through January 21st, A.D. 2013); and,
2) the “President elect” (who will be inaugurated on January 21st, A.D. 2013 to begin his next, four year term of office.)
The 75-day period between the election and the inauguration allows for a fairly smooth transition whenever a current President is replaced by a newly-elected President.