The Republicans on Friday elected Michael Steele, an African American and former lieutenant governor of Maryland, chairman of the party's national committee, dpa reported.
Steele, 50, becomes the first African American to hold the job in the party of Abraham Lincoln, the Republican president who freed the slaves.
"This is awesome," Steele said.
Maryland voters elected Steele as lieutenant governor in 2002, making him the first black to hold statewide office there. Steele ran unsuccessfully for the US Senate in 2006.
After the defeat, he returned to practicing law.