Barack Hussein Obama became the 44th president of the United States, vowing to restore the nation’s leadership in the world and asking Americans to take responsibility for rebuilding the faltering economy together.
“Our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed,” Obama, 47, said in his inaugural address after being sworn in. “Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin again the work of remaking America.”
Obama, the first black to assume the nation’s highest elected office, took the oath on the same Bible used for the 1861 inauguration of Abraham Lincoln, the president who led the US through the Civil War and freed the slaves. As many as 2 million people flocked to Washington to witness the event.
The new president, charged with leading the US through the deepest financial crisis in generations and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, devoted much of his address to restoring the country’s standing in the world. He pledged to renew efforts to fight foes, work with friends and help the world’s poor.
“We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals,” Obama said. “To all the other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: Know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and we are ready to lead once more.”
‘Power Alone’: Obama, an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq, also addressed people who say the US has overstepped its role in the rest of the world.
More From This Section
“Our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please,” he said. “Our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.”
Minutes before Obama took the oath of office, Joseph Biden was sworn in as vice president.
Obama spoke to a crowd that waited hours for a glimpse of history. Spectators in some cases traveled thousands of miles, braving sub-freezing temperatures, long waits on the subway and miles of walking.
Celebration: “I couldn’t get to a critical point on Election Night, like Times Square or Harlem, but I said I was going to take the chance to get to Washington for the inauguration,” said Eric Eaton, 54, whose family took part in the civil rights movement when he was growing up in Montgomery, Alabama. “It is overwhelming, personally, after watching my family do what they did.”
Tempering Celebration: The nation-wide revelry accompanying Obama’s inauguration is tempered by the monumental tasks he faces. The country’s economy invites comparisons to the Great Depression; programmes such as Medicare and Social Security face funding crises; and soaring costs for health care, energy and education have no easy solutions.
“The challenges we face are real,” Obama said.