President Barack Obama Inauguration Speech January 20 2009

As a black American who grew up in a segregated nation, Mr. Powell said the inauguration was looming as a powerful and emotional moment for African Americans. You almost start tearing up, he said.

The crowd that stretched down the mall was festive and enthusiastic. They were bundled against the cold, with the temperature just above 20 degrees at 9 a.m., and the forecast calling for it to remain in the low 30s.

Mr. Obamas assumption of the presidency caps a remarkable rise for a man first elected to national office in 2004, winning a Senate seat in a year when he also delivered the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in Boston.

To win the presidency, he defeated Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, who will become his secretary of state, in a pitched presidential primary battle and then beat Senator John McCain of Arizona in a general election conducted against the backdrop of a national economic collapse.

Though Mr. Obama did not emphasize his African American heritage as a candidate, the symbolism was evident and was reinforced by the fact that the swearing in was taking place the day following the national holiday to mark the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King. He will take office less than a month before the bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, another Illinoisan who took the office at a time of national turmoil and a man whom Mr. Obama clearly looks to as an inspiration for his own presidency.

Today is about validation of the dream Dr. King enunciated 45 years ago on the steps on the Lincoln Memorial, Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina, the No. 3 Democrat in the House and the highest ranking black lawmaker in Congress, said on Tuesday morning.

Responding to warnings that the huge crowd could cause long waits and security screen checkpoints, people packed Washingtons subway trains by 5:30 a.m., filling all the parking lots at the outer stations; the subways had carried more than 400,000 riders by 8 a.m. An accident halted service on one of the main lines around 10 a.m.

Shortly after 7 a.m., as the sun rose above the Capitol dome, there was a glittering burst of flash-bulbs as the teeming crowd collectively snapped thousands of photos of the dramatic moment. Around the Capitol, ticket gates opened for the long lines that were already waiting. Before long the Mall was packed with people for as far as the eye could see; by 9 a.m the eastern half of the Mall, closer to the Capitol, was completely full. Large crowds continued to stream in on foot from many blocks away, heading to the area near the Washington Monument. On the East Front, where the swearing in of the president used to occur, Marine One was parked in the plaza, ready to be re-designated for the flight taking President Bush and Mrs. Bush to the airport.

Inside the Capitol, staffers were scurrying about putting the final touches on the Inaugural Luncheon in Statuary Hall. The corridor leading to the House chamber had been transformed into staging grounds for the caterers, with huge serving tins of beets and green vegetables. Outside the House chamber, were dozens of cases of Korbel Champagne.

The tables were set with large centerpieces of red roses. And a lectern, fashioned from a brass statue of a bald eagle, was positioned behind the dais. Decorators were making final adjustments to the lighting of View of Yosemite Valley an 1885 painting by Thomas Hill that was positioned directly behind the President Obamas seat at the center of the dais.

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[biggestclassifieds]

Biggest crowd, biggest live coverage, biggest hope.

Lets pray and work as one united nation under God.

In God We Trust.

May God bless the new leadership under Obama and may God bless America and world.

[Daedalus5279]

He is our new FDR

[Thetaloops]

LOL! LOLLOOOOL! Fooled you didn't he?

[msboricua57]

lier , lier , lier. lier and so on! you know that you dont believe in god! go on tell the world the truth , you cant because you are a coward,lier .fake no good illiminati pig just like george washington,bejamin franklin,the bush fam and the list goes on and on and on ! america you have been lied to the gov,fbi,cia,judicial system are all corrupt and inmoral investicate and you will find out.ok?

[msboricua57]

@msdoe8 yes you are right and by the way this man is not a muslim but a zionist believe me ! just thought you would like to know!

[SuperGuitarman69]

Worst day in my lifetime. I was alone in my warnings about Obama back then. Now I have to wait my turn to rip on him by the same people who voted him in. 2012 will be Yes We Can (get him out of office!!!)

[SuperGuitarman69]

@Daedalus5279 You are right he is. He is running the country into the ground just as FDR did. Good point!!

[msdoe8]

WHAT OBAMA SAID IN BETWEEN THE LINES. We are not even going to discuss given health care to the mentally ill, or protect the American people from this type of murder. If a few good Americans get killed, so be it. I will dazzle them with my demonic hand clapping & read them a bible verse. Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with malice. Their throat is an open grave; with their tongues they tell lies. Psalm 5:8-10

[davenetdog]

Is his success America's failure? The lights are dimming across a great country as it enters another Great Depression brought on by government injecting itself into the Economy, yet again.

[07PREZES07]

Hypnotizer...

[sharukh1]

He sure did bud! Passed Health care! U called it!