Barack Obama's Inauguration0
Posted by - In Life
The 44th president, speaking in front of the biggest inauguration crowd in US history, said: “Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin again the work of remaking America.”
An estimated 2 million people, wrapped up against the winter cold, many of them in place since dawn, filled the Mall to see Obama sworn in as America’s first black president. A big proportion of the crowd was African-American, many having travelled from across the continent to witness the historic moment.
It’s a great day in America. Is anyone watching the inauguration? Or were you there?
I’m still watching it live on Fox tv and the parade is happening at the moment. Obama is in bullet-proof clothing, surrounded by a ton of security, while he and his wife are walking down the streets, waving, with big smiles across their faces. I’ve been watching it for 3 hours now, so yeah… I missed whatever speeches happened at the very beginning. I’m sure it’ll be playing again somewhere or on the internet everywhere. It’s still great and it’s still history in the making. This will be written in history books! And I was alive to be apart of this new era. Amazing. Goodbye Bush, Hello Obama. I believe that he’ll do something great for our country. Even if it’s just making people become more color-blind. He’s already bringing more hope and inspiration to our nation, moreso than anyone in politics has before (in my eyes). I hope he’ll do an incredible job as our 44th President, and make the necessary changes that we need/want as a country.
Joe Biden was first sworn in as vice-president. After a brief glitch in oath-taking, Obama was sworn in at 12:05pm, with the new first lady, Michelle, holding the Bible, the same one used for the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln.
Security in the capital was much higher than for Bush’s inauguration four years ago. There were 28,000 security service agents, police and US national guard members on duty, about 50% more than last time.
As soon as the inauguration ceremony was over, vans and buses began ferrying Obama’s team to the White House to begin work.
