History will be made when Barack Obama is inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States. He will be the first President of African American heritage. On January 19, one day earlier, the nation will celebrate the annual birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Perhaps the most incisive comment on President-elect Obama's election actually came long ago. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. addressed the Hawaii Legislature in 1959, two years before Mr. Obama was born in Honolulu. King declared that the civil rights movement aimed not just to free blacks but "to free the soul of America."

Dr. King ended his Hawaii speech by quoting a prayer from a preacher who had once been a slave, and it's an apt description of the idea of America today: "Lord, we ain't what we want to be; we ain't what we ought to be; we ain't what we gonna be, but, thank God, we ain't what we was."

The inaguration brings hope of a new era in America. A new Democratic Congress and President are promising change in national and international policies.

More than 325,000 SIRS Researcher users voted on which issue they think President-elect Obama should prioritize during his first 100 days in office.



Explore these important topics through SIRS Researcher's Leading Issues features. Content and a unique five-step research process help students to learn more about the important issues facing President-elect Obama: U.S. Economic Policy (New!); Environmentalism; Health Care Reform; Immigration; and Iraq & the War on Terror.

Students should select one of these issues and write a report of at least 150 words or a presentation of at least two minutes and seven slides that cites at least three resources. Each of these issues already includes the essential questions for critical thinking that will guide student selection of the integrated editor-selected resources.

Click Pro vs. Con section > More Issues > Selected Issue > My Analysis >
Follow the 5-step process

SIRS Leading Issues also provides four unique models that students and teachers can use to report/present their conclusions. These models are templates that correlate with the five-step process and can be accessed in Step 5 of My Analysis.

Are you looking for global perspectives of popular leading issues in 2009? SIRS Researcher's updated title lists boasts 1,700+ sources, including 270+ international sources.

From Outsourcing to Global Warming to the President-elect's transition to the White House, popular leading issues are covered from an International perspective through relevant articles from sources such as Calgary Herald, China News and India Today.

For a full list of SIRS Researcher's sources, click here.