Yes. Obama will have served 8 years as an Illinois senator and 4 years as a U.S. senator; Lincoln served 8 years as an Illinois house rep and 2 years as U.S. house rep.Barack Obama was first elected to government office in 1997 as an Illinois state senator, where he served eight years in the Illinois Senate. Obama was then elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004; if elected he will have served four years as a U.S. senator when sworn in as President. [1,2]
Abraham Lincoln was first elected to government office in 1833 as an Illinois state representative, where he served eight years in the Illinois House of Representatives. Lincoln was then elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1846 where he served one two-year term; he chose to not run for a second term after having publicly opposed the Mexican War, a then-politically unpopular position.
Lincoln was elected President in 1860. He hadn't held elective office since his single term as a U.S. Congressman, but in 1958 Lincoln achieved national prominence during his unsuccessful bid to unseat Illinois Senator Stephen A. Douglas, having established himself as a master orator during the now-legendary
Would Obama be the youngest president to take office, if elected?
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[1] Janny, Scott. In Illinois, Obama Proved Pragmatic and Shrewd New York Times July 30, 2007
[2] Obama.Senate.Gov. About Barack Obama
[3] NotableBiographies.com. Abraham Lincoln Biography
[4] McNamara, Robert. Timeline: Early Life of Abraham Lincoln About.com
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