US President Barack Obama took the oath of office yesterday to formally start a second term that will carry over many of the same battles from his first.
Obama was officially sworn in by US Chief Justice John Roberts at 11:55 am during a brief ceremony in the White House. He was scheduled to take the oath again on Monday outside the US Capitol, as the paper went to press, and deliver his inaugural address to thousands of people spread across the National Mall in Washington.
Lingering high unemployment, bitter political battles and a divisive re-election campaign have tempered the mood of optimism and hope that infused Obama's 2009 inauguration after he was swept into office on a mantle of hope and change. Obama, 51, the nation’s first black president, has presided over an economy that is still recovering from the worst recession in a generation. While the world’s largest economy grew at a 3.1 per cent rate in the third quarter, this year will bring growth of just 2 per cent, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg.
Over the next two months his administration will engage in a fiscal debate with Republican lawmakers who hold the majority in the US House over raising the government’s $16.4 trillion borrowing limit, steps to shrink the deficit and funding federal operations.
Before heading to the Capitol, the President and his family attended services at St. John’s Episcopal Church, the 197-year-old parish a block from the White House known as “the church of the presidents”.
Hours before the ceremonies began, crowds began filling the parade route along Pennsylvania Avenue between the executive mansion and the Capitol. Red, white and blue bunting decorated the bleachers while band music played and Boy Scout troops help direct crowds.
“We have a chance to finish what we started. Our work begins today. Let's go,” Obama said in a pre-inauguration message on Twitter.
Obama’s inaugural address won’t be a policy speech and he won’t be outlining new proposals, according to White House aides, who asked for anonymity because they weren’t authorised to discuss the address. While he plans to avoid making a political speech, Obama will seek public support for his goals.
Policy specifics will be left for the president’s State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on February 12.
As Obama embarks on his second term, he has shed the aura of a hopeful consensus builder determined to break partisan gridlock. Instead, the Democratic president has adopted a more confrontational stance, refusing to negotiate with Republicans over the debt ceiling and asserting executive authority on gun control.
Battle hardened
“He’s much more battle hardened in terms of understanding that the opposition may not just be subject to sitting down and reasoning together,” said John Podesta, who was former President Bill Clinton’s chief of staff. “He’s shaping the battlefield now, with a much keener understanding of what the opposition looks like.”
Obama’s first term was largely consumed by repairing economic wreckage from the 2008 financial crisis and getting his health-care law passed. His next four years -- and ultimately his legacy -- may be judged by how much he can accomplish in an era of domestic political dysfunction and persistent international challenges.
In recent weeks, Obama has been reading up on second terms, reviewing past inaugural addresses, and dining with presidential historians at the White House. He solicited advice while golfing with Clinton, a fellow Democrat who served two terms.
