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Former IC Mayor Joins Millions to Witness History at Inauguration
By Bruce Aune, Anchor/Reporter
By
Daren Sukhram
Story Created:
Jan 19, 2009 at 11:13 PM CST
Story Updated:
Jan 19, 2009 at 11:15 PM CST
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Tuesday Barack Obama takes the oath to become the 44th President of the United States.
When the swearing in of the new president takes place, one Iowa City man will feel a special pride.
Monday night at a gathering of Iowans, he talked about the role he played in getting Obama to the White House.
Two years ago few Americans knew who Barack Obama was, but Ross Wilburn had met the Illinois senator, and already in November 2006 he saw what he wanted to see in the next president.
"Being familiar with community service work and working with neighbors and friends to address changes that are in your community, that we can all work together if we put aside our differences, that was something that was very appealing to me, and it's just come to fruition here. It's just a wonderful, wonderful event," said Ross Wilburn.
At the time Wilburn was mayor of Iowa City. Many might consider an African American in that role unusual in a state like Iowa. And now he's helped elect the first African American president.
"It means so many different things at so many different levels. Just pride in our state to start with because I knew that if he could win Iowa, he was going to be the next President of the United States," said Wilburn.
Wilburn brought his two daughters to Washington to share the Obama inauguration with them. They've met Obama and enjoyed watching their dad's involvement in his campaign.
Iowa strongly supported Obama in the caucuses and the election. But it was people like Ross Wilburn who helped build that support.
And he deserves to watch Tuesday's inauguration ceremony with a personal pride.
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