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Inauguration of Barack Obama



 
 
The inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th
List of Presidents of the United States

File:WhiteHouseSouthFacade.JPGThe President of the United States is the head of state and the head of government of the United States. As chief of the executive branch and head of the Federal government of the United States as a whole, the presidency is the highest political office in the United States by influence and recognition....
 President of the United States
President of the United States

The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition....
 was held on January 20, 2009. The inauguration, with a record attendance for any event held in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the Capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790....
, marked the commencement of the four-year term of Barack Obama
Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the List of Presidents of the United States and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office....
 as President and Joseph Biden as Vice President
Vice President of the United States

The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office in the United States of America created by the Constitution of the United States....
. With his inauguration as President of the United States, Obama became the first African American
African American

African Americans or Black Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the Black people populations of Africa....
 to hold the office and the first President born in Hawaii
Hawaii

File:Pahoehoe and Aa flows at Hawaii.jpgThe State of Hawaii is a U.S. state in the United States, located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia....
.

The 2009 inauguration celebration began with a train ride by the President-elect along with family, colleagues and guests on January 17 from to Washington D.C.






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Encyclopedia


The inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th
List of Presidents of the United States

File:WhiteHouseSouthFacade.JPGThe President of the United States is the head of state and the head of government of the United States. As chief of the executive branch and head of the Federal government of the United States as a whole, the presidency is the highest political office in the United States by influence and recognition....
 President of the United States
President of the United States

The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition....
 was held on January 20, 2009. The inauguration, with a record attendance for any event held in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the Capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790....
, marked the commencement of the four-year term of Barack Obama
Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the List of Presidents of the United States and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office....
 as President and Joseph Biden as Vice President
Vice President of the United States

The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office in the United States of America created by the Constitution of the United States....
. With his inauguration as President of the United States, Obama became the first African American
African American

African Americans or Black Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the Black people populations of Africa....
 to hold the office and the first President born in Hawaii
Hawaii

File:Pahoehoe and Aa flows at Hawaii.jpgThe State of Hawaii is a U.S. state in the United States, located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia....
.

The 2009 inauguration celebration began with a train ride by the President-elect along with family, colleagues and guests on January 17 from to Washington D.C. Official events were held in Washington, D.C. from January 18 to 21, 2009, including two large concerts, a day of service on the federal observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the inaugural day ceremony, luncheon and parade, 10 official inaugural balls, and an inaugural prayer service. The theme of the 56th inauguration was "A New Birth of Freedom", commemorating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States. He successfully led the country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery....
. Obama and others paid homage to Lincoln by tributes and references for the inaugural train ride, the bible used for the oath of office, the luncheon plates and painting, and passages of the prayer service.

The oath of office was memorable for its miscues, in which it strayed from the proper oath prescribed in the United States Constitution
United States Constitution

The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme law of the United States. It is the foundation and source of the legal authority underlying the existence of the United States of America; the Federal Government of the United States; and all the State & local governments and Territorial Administrative bodies contained therein....
. Domestically, the inaugural address was received with mixed reviews in which conservatives had reservations about the message of rebuke toward the outgoing administration and liberals had a favorable take. The inaugural luncheon was most memorable for its breaking news
Breaking news

Breaking news is a current event that broadcasters feel warrants the interruption of scheduled programming in order to report its details. Its use is often loosely assigned to the most significant story of the moment or a story that is being covered live....
 of medical complications for two United States Senators, although one story was a false report. The inauguration day event included a host of musical and oratorical celebrants, who were largely well-received. Worldwide audiences were large and in some cases record-setting, with positive international reviews of the entire event.

Fundraising


As of January 30, 2009, Obama's 2009 Presidential Inauguration Committee raised more than $53 million, with at least 458 people giving the committee-imposed maximum amount of $50,000, including George Soros
George Soros

George Soros is an United States currency Speculation, stock investor, businessman, philanthropist, and activism.Soros is estimated to be worth around $9.0 billion in net worth; he is ranked by Forbes as the List of billionaires ....
, Halle Berry
Halle Berry

Halle Berry is an American actress, former fashion model, and beauty queen. Berry has received Emmy and Golden Globe awards for Introducing Dorothy Dandridge and an Academy Award for Best Actress in 2001 for her performance in Monster's Ball, becoming the first and, as of 2009, only woman of African-American descent to have won the a...
, Jamie Foxx
Jamie Foxx

Eric Marlon Bishop , professionally known as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, comedian and singing. Foxx received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on September 14, 2007....
, Sharon Stone
Sharon Stone

Sharon Yvonne Stone is an United Statesn actress, film producer and former Model . She first acheived international recognition for her performance in the erotic thriller Basic Instinct....
, Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson

Samuel Leroy Jackson is an United States film and television actor. Jackson came to fame in the early 1990s, after a series of well-reviewed performances, and has since become a major film star and cultural icon, having appeared in a large number of high-grossing films....
, Jeffrey Katzenberg
Jeffrey Katzenberg

Jeffrey Katzenberg is an United States film producer and CEO of DreamWorks Animation. He is perhaps most famous for his period as studio chairman at The Walt Disney Company, and for producing the DreamWorks animated films Shrek , Shark Tale, Madagascar , Over the Hedge , Bee Movie, and Kung Fu Panda....
, Ron Howard
Ron Howard

Ronald William "Ron" Howard is an Academy Award-winning American film director and film producer as well as an actor. Howard came to prominence in the 1960s while playing Andy Griffith's TV son, Opie Taylor, on The Andy Griffith Show , and later in the 1970s as Howard Cunningham's son and Arthur Fonzarelli's best friend, Richie Cunningha...
, George Lucas
George Lucas

George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an Academy Award-nominated United States film director, film producer, screenwriter and chairman of Lucasfilm Ltd. He is best known for being the creator of the Epic film Sci-Fi franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones....
, Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg

Steven Allan Spielberg, KBE is an American film director, screenwriter and film producer. Forbes magazine places Spielberg's net worth at $3.1 billion....
, Robert Zemeckis
Robert Zemeckis

Robert Lee "Bob" Zemeckis is an Academy Award- and Golden Globe-winning American film director, Film producer and screenwriter. Zemeckis first came to public attention in the 1980s as the director of the comedic time-travel Back to the Future trilogy films as well as the live-action/animated film Who Framed Roger Rabbit , though in t...
 and Lisa Henson, daughter of Jim Henson
Jim Henson

'James Maury "Jim" Henson' , was one of the most widely known puppeteers in American television history. He was the creator of The Muppets, Fraggle Rock, and the leading force behind their long run in the television series Sesame Street and The Muppet Show and films such as The Muppet Movie and The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth...
.

Unlike political campaigns, an individual or corporation could contribute to an inaugural celebration without legal restrictions on the amount of the donation. However, Obama's Presidential Inauguration Committee, which included Penny Pritzker
Penny Pritzker

Penny Sue Pritzker is an American business executive, and a member of the Pritzker family of Chicago, Illinois, one of America's wealthiest business families....
, John W. Rogers
John W. Rogers, Jr.

John Washington Rogers, Jr. is an investment manager who founded Ariel Capital Management , which is the United States' largest minority-run mutual fund firm, in 1983....
, Pat Ryan
Pat Ryan (executive)

Patrick G. Ryan is the founder and retired executive chairman of Aon Corporation. He is the Chairman and CEO of the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid committee....
, William Daley
William Daley

William or Bill Daley may refer to:*Bill Daley , American baseball player*Bill Daley , American footballer* William M. Daley , American politician from Illinois...
 and Julianna Smoot
Julianna Smoot

File:20090120 Julianna Smoot on Jumbotron.JPGJulianna Smoot is a leading professional fundraiser for the Democratic Party . She was the national finance director for the presidential campaign of the Barack Obama....
 as members, set a $50,000 contribution limit. To underscore its commitment to change business as usual, the inauguration committee did not accept donations from PACs
Political action committee

In the United States , a Political Action Committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group, regardless of size, organized to elect political candidates....
, federally registered lobbyists and corporations. In spite of its commitment, the committee did accept donations from individuals who had active lobbying interests but were not classified as registered lobbyists, such as executives from Google
Google

Google Inc. is an United States public company, earning revenue from AdWords related to its Google search, Gmail, Google Maps, Google Apps, Orkut, and YouTube services as well as selling advertising-free versions of the Google Search Appliance....
 and Microsoft
Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a multinational corporation computer technology corporation that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of computer software products for computing devices....
 executives Eric Schmidt and Steve Ballmer
Steve Ballmer

Steven Anthony Ballmer is an United States businessman and has been the chief executive officer of Microsoft since January 2000. Ballmer is the second person after Roberto Goizueta to become a billionaire in U.S....
.

In 2005, numerous corporations contributed $250,000 to the second inauguration of George W. Bush
Second inauguration of George W. Bush

The second inauguration of George W. Bush as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States took place on January 20, 2005 and marked the beginning of George W....
, which cost an estimated $42.3 million not including security costs. Obama's inauguration was expected to cost $45 million from Obama's Presidential Inaugural Committee and "near $50 million" from Washington, D.C. for security costs. Some estimated costs soared to more than $150—170 million for Washington, D.C. and more than $11 million for neighboring states such as Maryland
Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic States of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia and the Washington, D.C. to the south and west, Pennsylvania to the north, and Delaware to the east....
.

Pre-inaugural events


Train ride: Commemorating Lincoln

on January 17, 2009.]] On January 17, 2009, Obama began a tribute and partial reenactment of Abraham Lincoln's 1861 inaugural train ride by holding a town hall meeting with a few hundred supporters at the 30th Street Station in Philadelphia before embarking on his train ride to Washington, D.C. Lincoln, the sixteenth President of the United States and, like Obama, a former Illinois politician, was the cornerstone for the theme of the 2009 presidential inauguration. After the first phase of his historic train tour from , Lincoln arrived in Philadelphia on February 21, 1861 to begin a chartered train ride to his inauguration
Abraham Lincoln 1861 presidential inauguration

File:Abraham lincoln inauguration 1861.jpgThe 1861 United States presidential inauguration of Abraham Lincoln took place on March 4, 1861 on the eve of American Civil War....
 in Washington, D.C.

Honoring Lincoln's legacy, Obama departed from Philadelphia, stopping in Wilmington
Wilmington, Delaware

Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek , near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River....
, Delaware
Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the East Coast of the United States in the Mid-Atlantic States region of the United States. The state takes its name from Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, a British nobleman and Virginia's first colonial governor, after whom Cape Henlopen was originally named....
, to pick up Vice President-elect Biden. Together they continued in the Georgia 300
Georgia 300

File:Obama train ride.jpgThe Georgia 300 is a Private railroad car, owned by John H. ?Jack? Heard based in Florida and has been used by several recent presidents for various campaign related Whistle Stop Tours....
, a railroad car used by past presidents, to Baltimore, Maryland
Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic States of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia and the Washington, D.C. to the south and west, Pennsylvania to the north, and Delaware to the east....
, where Obama spoke to a crowd of around 40,000 people. Obama and Biden arrived at Union Station
Union Station (Washington, D.C.)

Union Station is the grand ceremonial train station designed to be the entrance to Washington, D.C., when it opened in 1908.It is one of the busiest and best-known places in Washington, D.C., visited by 32 million people each year....
 in Washington, D.C. at 7:00 p.m. EST. During the tour, Obama recited his trademark rejoinder "I love you back" in response to enthusiastic crowds. Forty-one "everyday" American citizens were selected to participate in the train ride and other inaugural events such as the parade, the swearing in and an inaugural ball. The 41 were composed of 16 invited citizens who had special stories and their families.

Concert at the Lincoln Memorial: "We Are One"

The day after Obama arrived in Washington, D.C., an inaugural concert, "We Are One", took place at the Lincoln Memorial
Lincoln Memorial

The Lincoln Memorial is a Presidential memorials in the United States built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C....
. The concert featured performances and readings of historical passages by more than three dozen celebrities.

Attendance at the concert was free to the public, and HBO broadcasted the concert live on an open feed, enabling anyone with cable television
Cable television

Cable television is a system of providing television to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through fixed optical fibers or coaxial cables as opposed to the over-the-air method used in traditional television broadcasting in which a television antenna is required....
 to watch the event. An estimated 400,000 people attended the concert at the Lincoln Memorial. The Washington Metro
Washington Metro

The Washington Metro is the rapid transit system in Washington, D.C. and its surrounding suburbs. The system is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority ....
 recorded 616,324 passenger trips during the day, breaking the old Sunday ridership record of 540,945 passenger trips set on July 4, 1999.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: National day of service

The eve of the inauguration day, January 19, 2009, fell on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a federal holiday
Federal holiday

In the United States, a federal holiday is a public holiday recognized by the Government of the United States. Non-essential federal government offices are closed....
 recognizing King's birthday, and was a national day of service. Obama, who declared the national service day, said of the combined MLK observance and day of service: "it's not a day just to pause and reflect—it's a day to act."

Obama and Biden participated in community service activities for the national day of service, and the Presidential Inauguration Committee also provided information through its website about how to host community service projects, along with information about a broad range of national service organizations. More than 11,000 community service events took place across the nation on the national day of service.

On January 19, the president-elect's motorcade
Motorcade

A motorcade is a procession of vehicles. The term motorcade is a neologism coined by Lyle Abbot , and is formed after cavalcade on the false notion that "wikt:-cade" was a suffix meaning "procession"....
 departed from Blair House
Blair House

Blair House is the official state guest house for the President of the United States. It is located at 1651-1653 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., opposite the Old Executive Office Building of the White House, off the corner of President's Park#Lafayette Park....
 and headed to Walter Reed Army Medical Center
Walter Reed Army Medical Center

The Walter Reed Army Medical Center is the United States Army flagship medical center on the East Coast of the United States. Located on 113 acres in Washington, D.C., it serves more than 150,000 active and retired personnel from all branches of the military....
. Obama spent a little more than an hour meeting privately with the families of troops who were recovering from wounds sustained in the Iraq War
Iraq War

The Iraq War, also known as the Second Gulf War, the Occupation of Iraq, and Operation Iraqi Freedom, is an ongoing conflicts military campaign which began on March 20, 2003 with the 2003 invasion of Iraq by a Multinational force in Iraq now led by and composed almost entirely of troops from the United States and United King...
 and the War in Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)

The War in Afghanistan, which began on October 7, 2001 as the U.S. military operation Operation Enduring Freedom, was launched by the United States with the United Kingdom in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks....
.

After the visit at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Obama and Martin Luther King, III headed to the Sasha Bruce House homeless shelter
Homeless shelter

Homeless shelters are temporary residences for homelessness people. Usually located in urban neighborhoods, they are similar to emergency shelters....
 for teens in Washington, D.C., while Jill
Jill Biden

Jill Tracy Jacobs Biden is an American educator and, as the wife of Vice President of the United States Joe Biden, the Wife of the Vice President of the United States....
 and Ashley Biden, Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is the wife of the forty-fourth President of the United States, Barack Obama, and the first African-American First Lady of the United States....
, and Obama's daughters Malia and Sasha, along with hundreds of volunteers, spent the morning at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium where they helped fill 60,000–85,000 care package
CARE Package

The CARE Package was the original unit of aid distributed by the humanitarian organization CARE . Although "CARE Package" is a registered trademark, the term has since been widely adopted as a generic term for a parcel of food or supplies sent for relief or comfort purposes....
s destined for U.S. troops overseas. After a morning of service activities, the Obamas and Bidens met for lunch at Coolidge High School, a public high school in N.W. Washington, D.C. Joe Biden spent part of his day hanging drywall
Drywall

Drywall is a common building material typically made of a layer of gypsum plaster pressed between two thick sheets of paper, then kiln dried. Drywall is used globally for the finish construction of interior walls and ceilings....
 at a Habitat for Humanity home in N.E. Washington, D.C., as others continued to perform numerous service activities throughout Washington, D.C. on that day. During the evening that day, Obama hosted three separate bipartisan dinners to honor the service of John McCain
John McCain

John Sidney McCain III is the senior senator United States United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican Party presidential nominee in the 2008 United States presidential election....
, Colin Powell
Colin Powell

Colin Luther Powell, Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, Meritorious Service Decoration, is an American statesman and a former four-star General in the United States Army....
 and Joe Biden.

Kids' inaugural: "We Are the Future"

On the evening of January 19, 2009, Michelle Obama and Jill Biden hosted the "Kids' Inaugural: We Are the Future" event at the Verizon Center
Verizon Center

The Verizon Center is a sports and entertainment arena in Washington, D.C., United States, named after telecommunications sponsor Verizon Communications....
. Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus

Miley Ray Cyrus is a Golden Globe and Critic's Choice Award nominated United States singer, and Actor. Cyrus is better known for starring as Miley Stewart in the television series Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel....
 and the Jonas Brothers
Jonas Brothers

The Jonas Brothers are an American pop-rock boy band. The band gained their popularity from the Disney Channel children's television network. Hailing from Wyckoff, New Jersey, the band consists of three brothers: Kevin Jonas, Joe Jonas, and Nick Jonas....
 honored military families in concert. The show was broadcasted live on the Disney Channel
Disney Channel

Disney Channel is a cable television television channel specializing in television programming for children through original series and movies as well as third party programming....
 and on Radio Disney
Radio Disney

Radio Disney is a radio network originally based in Dallas, Texas. In early November 2008, Radio Disney moved their studios to Burbank, California....
. Other celebrity participants included Demi Lovato
Demi Lovato

Demetria Devonne "Demi" Lovato is an American actress and singer. She played Mitchie Torres in the Disney Channel Original Movie Camp Rock, and she plays Sonny Munroe in the Disney Channel Original Series Sonny With A Chance....
, Bow Wow
Bow Wow

Shad Gregory Moss , better known by his stage name Bow Wow , is an United States rapper, actor, and music producer. He released his debut album Beware of Dog at age 13, then under the stage name Lil' Bow Wow, which he carried until his 2003 album Unleashed , under simply Bow Wow....
, Corbin Bleu
Corbin Bleu

Corbin "Bleu" Reivers , better known simply as Corbin Bleu, is an Italian-Jamaican-American actor, model , dancer, and singer-songwriter and the son of veteran character actor David Reivers....
, Queen Latifah
Queen Latifah

Dana Elaine Owens , better known by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American Rapping, Singing, CoverGirl and actress. Latifah's work in music, film and television has earned her a Golden Globe Award award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two NAACP Image Awards, a Grammy Award, six additional Grammy nominations, an Emmy Award nominat...
, Billy Ray Cyrus
Billy Ray Cyrus

Billy Ray Cyrus is a Grammy Award-nominated American country music singer, songwriter and actor from Flatwoods, Kentucky, best known for his Number One single "Achy Breaky Heart." Cyrus, a Music recording sales certification, has scored a total of eight top-ten singles on the U.S....
, Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille O'Neal

Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal , frequently referred to simply as "Shaq", is an United States professional basketball player, rapper, and actor....
 and Jamie Foxx
Jamie Foxx

Eric Marlon Bishop , professionally known as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, comedian and singing. Foxx received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on September 14, 2007....
. In keeping with the service theme of the day, Michelle Obama issued a call for children to become engaged in public service by volunteering in homeless shelters, visiting elderly people or writing letters to U.S. troops.

Unofficial events

In addition to the official events, an array of notable gatherings and celebrations were held throughout Washington, D.C. and the surrounding region in the days leading up to the inauguration, including:

  • African-American Church Inaugural Ball, held on January 18, 2009 at the Grand Hyatt Washington.
  • Aloha Inaugural Ball, held on January 18, 2009 by former Obama campaign workers at the Wardman Park Marriott Hotel
    Marriott Wardman Park

    The Marriott Wardman Park Hotel is a Marriott International property in Washington, D.C.. The hotel is located in the Woodley Park neighborhood at 2600 Woodley Road, NW and Connecticut Avenue , NW, adjacent the Woodley Park?Zoo/Adams Morgan station of the Washington Metrorail system....
    .
  • Black Tie & Boots Inaugural Ball, held on January 19, 2009 at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center
    Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center

    The Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center is a large hotel and convention center located in the National Harbor, Maryland and owned by Gaylord Hotels, a division of Gaylord Entertainment Company....
    , was sponsored by the Texas State Society.
  • The Dreams of My Father American Scholars Inaugural Ball, held on January 18, 2009 at the Four Seasons, featured Alicia Keys
    Alicia Keys

    Alicia Augello Cook , better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American contemporary R&B and soul music singer-songwriter, pianist, cello and actor....
    , Macy Gray
    Macy Gray

    Macy Gray is an American contemporary R&B and soul music singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor, famed for her distinctive raspy voice and a singing style heavily influenced by Billie Holiday and Betty Davis as well as Keith Harris as Orville the Duck....
     and LL Cool J
    LL Cool J

    James Todd Smith , better known as LL Cool J, is an American rapper and actor. LL Cool J stands for "Ladies love Cool James." He is known for romantic ballads such as "I Need Love" and "Hey Lover" as well as pioneering hip-hop such as "Headsprung", "I Can't Live Without My Radio", "I'm Bad", "The Boomin' System", "Mama Said Knock You O...
     as performers.
  • The Green Inaugural Ball, held on January 19, 2009, was hosted by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore
    Al Gore

    Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. is an United States environmentalism activist who served as the List of Vice Presidents of the United States Vice President of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President of the United States Bill Clinton....
     at the National Portrait Gallery
    National Portrait Gallery (United States)

    The National Portrait Gallery is an art gallery in Washington, D.C., administered by the Smithsonian Institution. Its collections focus on images of famous individual Americans....
    .
  • EMILY's List
    EMILY's List

    EMILY's List is a political action committee in the United States that aims to help elect progressive female candidates who are pro-choice to office....
     Inaugural Luncheon
    , held on January 18, 2009, with appearances by Cabinet appointees Hillary Rodham Clinton
    Hillary Rodham Clinton

    Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the List of Secretaries of State of the United States United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President of the United States Barack Obama....
     and Janet Napolitano
    Janet Napolitano

    Janet Ann Napolitano is the third United States Secretary of Homeland Security. She assumed the job on January 21, 2009, and is the first woman to serve in that office....
    , Senators Kay Hagan and Jeanne Shaheen
    Jeanne Shaheen

    Jeanne Shaheen , an United States politician and member of the Democratic Party , is the Seniority in the United States Senate United States Senate from New Hampshire....
     and North Carolina
    North Carolina

    North Carolina is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north....
     Governor
    Governor

    A governor is a governing official, usually the Executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state. In federations, a governor may be the title of each appointed or elected politician who governs a constitutive state....
     Bev Perdue.
  • Hip-Hop Inaugural Ball, held on January 19, 2009 at the Harman Center for the Arts
    Harman Center for the Arts

    The Harman Center for the Arts is a complex consisting ofthe Lansburgh Theatre at 450 7th Street NW in Washington, D.C. and Sidney Harman Hall at Sixth and F Streets NW....
    , was hosted by the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, Russell Simmons
    Russell Simmons

    Russell Simmons , is an United States entrepreneur, the co-founder, with Rick Rubin, of the pioneering Hip hop music label Def Jam, founder of another label, Russell Simmons Music Group, and creator of the clothing fashion line Phat Farm....
     and LL Cool J
    LL Cool J

    James Todd Smith , better known as LL Cool J, is an American rapper and actor. LL Cool J stands for "Ladies love Cool James." He is known for romantic ballads such as "I Need Love" and "Hey Lover" as well as pioneering hip-hop such as "Headsprung", "I Can't Live Without My Radio", "I'm Bad", "The Boomin' System", "Mama Said Knock You O...
    , among others.
  • Huffington Post Preinaugural Ball, held on January 19, 2009 at the Newseum
    Newseum

    The Newseum is an interactive museum of news and journalism in Washington, D.C. It opened at its first location in Rosslyn, Virginia, on April 18, 1997, where it admitted visitors without charge....
    , was hosted by Arianna Huffington
    Arianna Huffington

    Arianna Huffington is an Greek-American author and print syndication columnist. She is best known as founder of The Huffington Post.In 2003 she ran as an independent candidate in the California recall election, 2003....
    , founder of the Huffington Post. Performances at the event featured Sting and Will.I.Am
    Will.i.am

    William Adams , better known by his stage name will.i.am is a Jamaican American who has won an Emmy Award and a Grammy Award. Will.I.Am is a hip hop musician, rapper, dancer, songwriter, animation voice and founding member and frontman of Black Eyed Peas....
    , with appearances by Tom Hanks
    Tom Hanks

    Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American film actor, film director, voice-over artist, writer and film producer. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies before achieving success as a dramatic actor portraying several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia , the title role in Forrest Gump, Commander J...
    , Steven Spielberg
    Steven Spielberg

    Steven Allan Spielberg, KBE is an American film director, screenwriter and film producer. Forbes magazine places Spielberg's net worth at $3.1 billion....
    , Denzel Washington
    Denzel Washington

    Denzel Hayes Washington, Jr. is an United States actor and film director. He has garnered much critical acclaim for his work in film since the 1990s, including for his portrayals of real-life figures, such as Steve Biko, Malcolm X, Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, Melvin B....
    , Shakira
    Shakira

    Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll known simply as Shakira, is a Colombian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, dancer and philanthropist who emerged as a Prodigy in the music scene of Latin America in the mid-1990s....
    , Jon Bon Jovi
    Jon Bon Jovi

    John Francis Bongiovi, Jr. , better known as Jon Bon Jovi, is an United States musician, songwriter and actor, best known as the lead singer and founder of Bon Jovi....
    , Halle Berry
    Halle Berry

    Halle Berry is an American actress, former fashion model, and beauty queen. Berry has received Emmy and Golden Globe awards for Introducing Dorothy Dandridge and an Academy Award for Best Actress in 2001 for her performance in Monster's Ball, becoming the first and, as of 2009, only woman of African-American descent to have won the a...
     and Ashton Kutcher
    Ashton Kutcher

    Christopher Ashton Kutcher , best known as Ashton Kutcher, is an American actor and former fashion model best known for playing Michael Kelso in the television series That '70s Show and his role as Jesse Montgomery in Dude, Where's My Car?....
    .
  • The People's Inaugural Ball, also held on January 19, 2009, was hosted by Earl W. Stafford, a businessman from Fairfax County, Virginia
    Fairfax County, Virginia

    Fairfax County is a County in Northern Virginia Virginia, in the United States. , the estimated population of the county is 1,077,000, making it by far the most populous jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the most populous jurisdiction in the Washington Metropolitan Area....
    . Stafford envisioned and created the ball as a celebration for economically and physically disadvantaged people from across the United States who would be otherwise unable to afford to attend the inaugural festivities. Stafford, through his family's Stafford Foundation, spent an estimated $1.6 million dollars to bring to his guests to Washington, D.C., footing hotel expenses and throwing the actual ball. About 450 people were invited as guests for the gala, including 300 guests from around the United States and 150 from the local Washington, D.C. area. Invited guests included homeless individuals, people displaced by Hurricanes Katrina
    Hurricane Katrina

    Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest Atlantic hurricane, as well as one of the five deadliest, in the history of the United States....
     and Ike
    Hurricane Ike

    Hurricane Ike IPA] was the third most destructive hurricane to ever make landfall in the United States. It was the ninth named storm, fifth hurricane and third major hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season....
    , and others who were nominated as worthy by relatives or organizations. Clothing, shoes, tuxedos and hotel rooms for attendees were provided as part of the invitation. The ball was held at the JW Marriott Hotel, located two blocks from the White House.
  • Presidential Inaugural Luncheon and Fashion Show, held on January 18, 2009 at the Ritz-Carlton.
  • The Voto Latino Inaugural Party, held on January 18, 2009 at Union Station
    Union Station (Washington, D.C.)

    Union Station is the grand ceremonial train station designed to be the entrance to Washington, D.C., when it opened in 1908.It is one of the busiest and best-known places in Washington, D.C., visited by 32 million people each year....
     in Washington, D.C., featured appearances by Marc Anthony
    Marc Anthony

    Marc Anthony is an American Grammy award-winning, Latin Grammy award-winning, and Premio Lo Nuestro award winning singer/songwriter/actor. He is best known for his salsa music and ballads and for his wide-ranging tenor vocals....
    , Rosario Dawson
    Rosario Dawson

    Rosario Dawson is an American actress and singer perhaps best known for her roles in the films Clerks II, Sin City , Rent , Death Proof and Seven Pounds....
    , Tony Plana
    Tony Plana

    Tony Plana Personal lifePlana was born in Havana. His family moved to Miami in 1963. He is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University and was trained in acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, United Kingdom....
     and Wilmer Valderrama
    Wilmer Valderrama

    Wilmer Antonio Valderrama is an United States actor, best known for the role of Fez in the sitcom That '70s Show. Valderrama is also the host of the MTV series Yo Momma , and the voice of Manny in the children's show, Handy Manny....
    .


Events

.]]

Summary

The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies
United States Congress Joint Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies

File:US-Congress-JCCIC-2009Logo.svgThe Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies is a Select or special committee which is formed every four years to manage United States presidential inauguration....
 released the full schedule of the January 20 swearing in ceremonies on December 17, 2008. The inauguration schedule referred to the president-elect as "Barack H. Obama", even though Obama had specified previously that he wanted to be referred to by his full name, "Barack Hussein Obama".

Gates to the inaugural ceremony opened at 8:00 a.m. EST (13:00 UTC) on January 20, 2009, and the inaugural program started at 10:00 a.m. EST (15:00 UTC). The scheduled inaugural events included:
  • Musical selections by the United States Marine Band
    United States Marine Band

    The United States Marine Band, colloquially known as "The President's Own", was established by an Act of Congress on July 11, 1798, and is United States?s oldest professional musical organization....
  • Musical selections by the San Francisco Boys Chorus
    San Francisco Boys Chorus

    The San Francisco Boys Chorus is a choir for boys consisting of 230 members based in San Francisco, California with additional campuses in Oakland, California and San Rafael, California....
     and the San Francisco Girls Chorus
    San Francisco Girls Chorus

    San Francisco Girls Chorus is a regional center for music education and performance for girls and young women, ages 7-18, based in San Francisco....
  • Call to order, welcoming remarks and introductions by Senator Dianne Feinstein
    Dianne Feinstein

    Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein is the Seniority in the United States Senate United States Senate from California and a member of the Democratic Party ....
  • Invocation
    Invocation

    An invocation may take the form of:*Supplication or prayer.*A form of Spirit possession.*Command or conjuration.*Self-identification with certain spirits....
     by the Rev. Rick Warren
    Rick Warren

    Richard Duane "Rick" Warren is an American Evangelicalism minister and author. He is the founder and senior pastor of Saddleback Church, an evangelical megachurch located in Lake Forest, California, currently the eighth-largest church in the United States ....
  • Musical selection by Aretha Franklin
    Aretha Franklin

    Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter and pianist commonly referred to as "The Queen of Soul". Although renowned for her soul recordings, Franklin is also adept at jazz, rock and roll, blues, Pop music, Rhythm and Blues and Gospel music....
  • Oath of office administered to Biden by Supreme Court Associate Justice
    Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States

    Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States are the members of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the Chief Justice of the United States....
     John Paul Stevens
    John Paul Stevens

    John Paul Stevens is the senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He joined the Supreme Court of the United States in 1975 and is the oldest member of the Court....
  • Musical selection by John Williams
    John Williams

    John Towner Williams is an United States composer, conducting and pianist. In a career that spans six decades, Williams has composed many of the most famous film scores in Hollywood history, including Star Wars music, Superman music, Born on the Fourth of July , Harry Potter music and all but two of Steven Spielberg's feature fil...
     with Itzhak Perlman
    Itzhak Perlman

    Itzhak Perlman is an Israeli-United States of America violin virtuoso, conducting, and teacher....
    , Yo-Yo Ma
    Yo-Yo Ma

    Yo-Yo Ma is a France-born Chinese Americans virtuoso List of cellists and composer and winner of multiple Grammy Awards. He is one of the most revered cello players of the 20th and 21st centuries....
    , Gabriela Montero
    Gabriela Montero

    Gabriela Montero is a Venezuelan pianist.Montero gave her first public performance at the age of five. At age eight, she made her concert debut with the Venezuelan Youth Orchestra, conducted by Jos? Antonio Abreu and was granted a scholarship from the Venezuelan government to study in the USA....
     and Anthony McGill
    Anthony McGill

    File:Inauguration performance of Air and Simple Gifts.jpgAnthony McGill is the principal clarinetist for the Metropolitan Opera. McGill is originally from Chicago, Illinois, growing up in the city's Chatham neighborhood....
  • Oath of office administered to Obama by Supreme Court Chief Justice
    Chief Justice of the United States

    The Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal courts and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States....
     John Roberts
  • Inaugural address by Obama
  • Poem by Elizabeth Alexander
    Elizabeth Alexander (poet)

    Elizabeth Alexander is an United States poet, essayist, and playwright, and a Quantrell Award winning university professor....
  • Benediction
    Benediction

    A benediction is a short invocation for divine help, blessing and guidance, usually at the end of worship service....
     by Rev. Joseph E. Lowery
  • United States National Anthem
    The Star-Spangled Banner

    "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics come from a poem written in 1814 by then 35-year-old amateur poet Francis Scott Key who wrote "Defence of Fort McHenry" after seeing the bombardment of Fort McHenry at Baltimore, Maryland, Maryland, by Royal Navy ships in the Chesapeake Bay during th...
     by the "Sea Chanters" chorus of the United States Navy Band
    United States Navy Band

    The United States Navy Band, based at the historic Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., has served since 1925 in music as the official musical group of the United States Navy....


After the inaugural ceremony, President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden escorted former President George W. Bush
George W. Bush

George Walker Bush served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 2001 to 2009. He was the 46th List of Governors of Texas from 1995 to 2000 before being United States presidential inauguration as President on January 20, 2001....
 and his wife Laura Bush
Laura Bush

Laura Lane Welch Bush is the wife of the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States, George W. Bush, and was the First Lady of the United States from January 20th, 2001 to January 20th, 2009....
 to a departure ceremony on the east side of the U.S. Capitol. The Obamas and Bidens then attended an inaugural luncheon in Statuary Hall
National Statuary Hall

National Statuary Hall is a chamber in the United States Capitol devoted to sculptures of prominent United States. The hall, also known as the Old Hall of the House, is a large, two-story, semicircular room with a second story gallery along the curved perimeter....
 at the U.S. Capitol before traveling from there to the presidential reviewing stand at the White House
White House

The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., it was built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the late Georgian architecture and has been the executive residence of every U.S....
 to watch the parade.

Ceremony: "A New Birth of Freedom"

The inaugural ceremony took place at the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2009. The inaugural program started at 8:00 a.m. EST (13:00 UTC) with the playing of two hours of pre-recorded music of the "The President's Own" United States Marine Band, followed by the playing of live music by the United States Marine Band starting at 10:00 a.m. EST (15:00 UTC). The National Mall
National Mall

The National Mall is an open-area national park in downtown Washington, D.C., the Capital of the United States. Officially termed by the National Park Service the National Mall & Memorial Parks, the term commonly includes the areas that are officially part of West Potomac Park and Constitution Gardens to the west, and often is taken to...
, stretching to the Lincoln Memorial
Lincoln Memorial

The Lincoln Memorial is a Presidential memorials in the United States built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C....
, served as the public observation area to witness the inaugural ceremony, and a section of the Mall between 3rd and 4th Streets, N.W. was reserved for ticket holders. The event was planned by the United States Congress Joint Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies
United States Congress Joint Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies

File:US-Congress-JCCIC-2009Logo.svgThe Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies is a Select or special committee which is formed every four years to manage United States presidential inauguration....
, and its chair, Senator Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Feinstein

Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein is the Seniority in the United States Senate United States Senate from California and a member of the Democratic Party ....
, acted as the day's emcee.

, Gabriela Montero
Gabriela Montero

Gabriela Montero is a Venezuelan pianist.Montero gave her first public performance at the age of five. At age eight, she made her concert debut with the Venezuelan Youth Orchestra, conducted by Jos? Antonio Abreu and was granted a scholarship from the Venezuelan government to study in the USA....
, Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma

Yo-Yo Ma is a France-born Chinese Americans virtuoso List of cellists and composer and winner of multiple Grammy Awards. He is one of the most revered cello players of the 20th and 21st centuries....
 and Anthony McGill
Anthony McGill

File:Inauguration performance of Air and Simple Gifts.jpgAnthony McGill is the principal clarinetist for the Metropolitan Opera. McGill is originally from Chicago, Illinois, growing up in the city's Chatham neighborhood....
 performing "Air and Simple Gifts
Air and Simple Gifts

Air and Simple Gifts is a classical music quartet arranged by United States composer John Williams for the January 20, 2009, Barack Obama 2009 presidential inauguration as President of the United States....
" at the inauguration]] The theme of the inauguration was the phrase "A New Birth of Freedom". Obama is from Illinois as was Lincoln and the phrase is associated with Lincoln. It comes from the last of the ten sentences in the commonly accepted version of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address
Gettysburg Address

The Gettysburg Address was a speech by President of the United States Abraham Lincoln and one of the most quoted speeches in history of the United States....
. February 2009 marked Lincoln's 200th birthday.

The program by the congressional leaders included vocalist Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin

Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter and pianist commonly referred to as "The Queen of Soul". Although renowned for her soul recordings, Franklin is also adept at jazz, rock and roll, blues, Pop music, Rhythm and Blues and Gospel music....
 singing "My Country, 'Tis of Thee
My Country, 'Tis of Thee

"My Country, 'Tis of Thee", also known as "America", is an United States patriotic song, whose lyrics were written by Samuel Francis Smith....
" and a performance of John Williams
John Williams

John Towner Williams is an United States composer, conducting and pianist. In a career that spans six decades, Williams has composed many of the most famous film scores in Hollywood history, including Star Wars music, Superman music, Born on the Fourth of July , Harry Potter music and all but two of Steven Spielberg's feature fil...
' composition "Air and Simple Gifts
Air and Simple Gifts

Air and Simple Gifts is a classical music quartet arranged by United States composer John Williams for the January 20, 2009, Barack Obama 2009 presidential inauguration as President of the United States....
", which was both pre-recorded and performed live synched with the recording by cellist Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma

Yo-Yo Ma is a France-born Chinese Americans virtuoso List of cellists and composer and winner of multiple Grammy Awards. He is one of the most revered cello players of the 20th and 21st centuries....
, violin
Violin

The violin is a Bow string instrument with four strings usually tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello....
ist Itzhak Perlman
Itzhak Perlman

Itzhak Perlman is an Israeli-United States of America violin virtuoso, conducting, and teacher....
, pianist
Pianist

A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an musical ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers....
 Gabriela Montero
Gabriela Montero

Gabriela Montero is a Venezuelan pianist.Montero gave her first public performance at the age of five. At age eight, she made her concert debut with the Venezuelan Youth Orchestra, conducted by Jos? Antonio Abreu and was granted a scholarship from the Venezuelan government to study in the USA....
 and clarinetist Anthony McGill
Anthony McGill

File:Inauguration performance of Air and Simple Gifts.jpgAnthony McGill is the principal clarinetist for the Metropolitan Opera. McGill is originally from Chicago, Illinois, growing up in the city's Chatham neighborhood....
. Despite the fact that the performance was described as "classical-music equivalent of lip-syncing", NPR described it as "a transporting moment that moved many with its beauty and calm." Aretha Franklin's performance was notable both for the fact that she had previously sung at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s funeral and for the fact that she made a fashion statement with a Swarovski
Swarovski

Swarovski is the luxury good brand name for the range of precision-cut lead crystal glass and related products produced by Swarovski AG of Wattens, Austria....
 crystal studded bow on her hat.

Other participants included the "The President's Own", the United States Marine Band, and the United States Navy Band
United States Navy Band

The United States Navy Band, based at the historic Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., has served since 1925 in music as the official musical group of the United States Navy....
. The San Francisco Boys Chorus
San Francisco Boys Chorus

The San Francisco Boys Chorus is a choir for boys consisting of 230 members based in San Francisco, California with additional campuses in Oakland, California and San Rafael, California....
 and the San Francisco Girls Chorus
San Francisco Girls Chorus

San Francisco Girls Chorus is a regional center for music education and performance for girls and young women, ages 7-18, based in San Francisco....
 also performed at the ceremony. Evangelical pastor Rick Warren
Rick Warren

Richard Duane "Rick" Warren is an American Evangelicalism minister and author. He is the founder and senior pastor of Saddleback Church, an evangelical megachurch located in Lake Forest, California, currently the eighth-largest church in the United States ....
 delivered the invocation, while civil rights
Civil rights

Civil and political rights are a class of rights ensuring things such as the protection of peoples' physical integrity; procedural fairness in law; protection from discrimination based on sexism, religious intolerance, Racism, Homophobia, etc; individual freedom of freedom of belief, freedom of speech, freedom of association, and freedom...
 activist Joseph Lowery
Joseph Lowery

Joseph Echols Lowery is a minister in the United Methodist Church and leader in the United States American Civil Rights Movement movement.In 2004 Rev....
, minister of the United Methodist Church
United Methodist Church

The United Methodist Church is a Christian Church that understands itself to be a part of the one Holy catholic Church of Jesus Christ and the Communion of Saints....
, delivered the benediction.

Vice President-elect Biden took his oath first from Associate Justice
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States

Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States are the members of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the Chief Justice of the United States....
 John Paul Stevens
John Paul Stevens

John Paul Stevens is the senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He joined the Supreme Court of the United States in 1975 and is the oldest member of the Court....
. The oath was followed by the first playing of four ruffles and flourishes
Ruffles and flourishes

Ruffles and flourishes are preceding fanfare for ceremonial music for distinguished people.Ruffles are played on drums, and flourishes are played on Bugle ....
 and the anthem "Hail, Columbia
Hail, Columbia

"Hail, Columbia" was the unofficial national anthem of the United States until its replacement in 1931 by the officially mandated The Star-Spangled Banner....
".

After the performance of "Air and Simple Gifts", Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath of office to President Obama shortly after noon. Although the inaugural ceremony ran longer than scheduled, which also delayed the administering of the oath that finished around 12:05 p.m. EST (17:05 UTC), under the Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution
Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution

The Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution establishes some of the details dealing with the beginning and ending of the terms of the elected federal officials....
 Obama assumed the presidency at the expiration of President Bush's term at noon.

The oath was followed by a 21-gun salute
21-gun salute

Gun salutes are the firing of cannons or arms as a honor.The custom originates in naval tradition, where a warship would fire its cannons harmlessly out to sea to show that it was disarmed, signifying the lack of hostile intent....
 to the new President by members of the armed forces, followed by the first playing of four ruffles and flourishes and "Hail to the Chief
Hail to the Chief

"Hail to the Chief " is a march primarily associated with the President of the United States. Its playing accompanies the appearance of the President at almost every public appearance....
". Obama delivered his inaugural address as the President of the United States
President of the United States

The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition....
 following his swearing-in. Poet
Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry....
 Elizabeth Alexander
Elizabeth Alexander (poet)

Elizabeth Alexander is an United States poet, essayist, and playwright, and a Quantrell Award winning university professor....
 then delivered the inaugural poem, "Praise Song for the Day
Praise Song for the Day

"Praise Song for the Day" is a poem by the United States poet Elizabeth Alexander. It was written for and delivered at the Barack Obama 2009 presidential inauguration of President of the United States Barack Obama....
".

Oath of office


Chief Justice
Chief Justice of the United States

The Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal courts and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States....
 John Roberts administered the oath of office to Obama, while Michelle Obama held the Bible
Lincoln Bible

File:Lincoln inaugural bible.jpgThe Lincoln Bible was the Bible used by president Abraham Lincoln at his United States presidential inauguration....
 that was used in 1861 by Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States. He successfully led the country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery....
 at his first inauguration. Obama mentioned several weeks earlier that he intended to use his full name for his swearing-in ceremony, including his middle name
Middle name

Many people's names include one or more middle names, placed between the first given name and the surname. In the Western world, a middle name is effectively a second given name....
 Hussein, in "follow[ing] the tradition, not trying to make a statement one way or the other". His middle name had caused some controversy during the election
United States presidential election, 2008

The United States presidential election of 2008 was held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. It was the 56th consecutive wikt:quadrennial United States United States presidential election....
 campaign when detractors tried to imply falsely that he was a Muslim.

Roberts ended the presidential oath with the phrase "so help you God", and Obama responded "so help me God". Obama had previously asked to include "so help me God" after the oath. Roberts congratulated Obama as the new President at the end of the oath.

Missteps in administering the oath

Obama and the administering official, Chief Justice of the United States
Chief Justice of the United States

The Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal courts and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States....
 John G. Roberts, did not execute the 35-word oath of office
Oath of office

An oath of office is an oath or Affirmation in law a person takes before undertaking the duties of an office, usually a position in government or within a religious body, although such oaths are sometimes required of officers of other organizations....
 as prescribed by the United States Constitution
United States Constitution

The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme law of the United States. It is the foundation and source of the legal authority underlying the existence of the United States of America; the Federal Government of the United States; and all the State & local governments and Territorial Administrative bodies contained therein....
. After the completion of the first phrase of the presidential oath, Roberts recited the next part of the oath incorrectly by saying "that I will execute the Office of President to the United States faithfully" (rather than "that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States"). Obama recited the words "I will execute", and then paused. Roberts then tried to correct his mistake in administering the oath by reciting "faithfully the Office of President of the United States". However, Obama repeated Roberts' first incorrect phrase. The flaw is recorded in the transcript
Transcript (law)

A transcript is a transcription . In court proceedings, a transcript is usually a record of all decisions of the judge, and the spoken Logical argument by the litigants' lawyers....
 of the oath as follows:

Roberts: I, Barack Hussein Obama …
Obama: I, Barack …
Roberts: … do solemnly swear …
Obama: I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear …
Roberts: … that I will execute the office of president to the United States faithfully …
Obama: … that I will execute …
Roberts: … the off — faithfully the pres — the office of president of the United States …
Obama (at the same time): … the office of president of the United States faithfully …


Retaking the oath
on January 21, 2009.]] Although White House press secretary
White House Press Secretary

The White House Press Secretary is a senior White House official with a rank one step below Presidential Cabinet level. The Press Secretary is the primary spokesman for the Administration ....
 Robert Gibbs
Robert Gibbs

Robert L. Gibbs is an American political consultant, and the current White House Press Secretary. Gibbs was the communications director for U.S....
 indicated at first that President Obama did not plan to retake the oath of office, Chief Justice Roberts agreed to re-administer the oath to Obama at the request of White House counsel
White House Counsel

The White House Counsel is a staff appointee of the President of the United States....
. The second oath ceremony took place on the evening of January 21, 2009 in the Map Room
Map Room (White House)

The Map Room is a room on the ground floor of the White House, the official home of the President of the United States.The Map Room takes its name from its use during World War II, when Franklin Roosevelt used it as a situation room where maps were consulted to track the war's progress ....
 of the White House
White House

The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., it was built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the late Georgian architecture and has been the executive residence of every U.S....
 before a small audience of presidential aides, several reporters and a White House photographer. When Roberts asked Obama whether he was ready, Obama quipped, "I am, and we're going to do it very slowly."

According to a statement issued by White House counsel Greg Craig
Greg Craig

Gregory Bestor Craig is a Washington, DC-based lawyer and current White House Counsel to President Barack Obama. He has represented numerous high-profile clients, including John Hinckley, Jr., who was acquitted of the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan by reason of insanity....
, the oath was re-administered out of an abundance of caution. Referring to the oath as administered originally on Inauguration Day, Craig added that "the oath of office was administered effectively and ... the President was sworn in appropriately ... But the oath appears in the Constitution itself."

Inaugural address


A central theme of President Barack Obama's inaugural address was a call to restore responsibility — both in terms of accountability in Washington and the responsibility of ordinary people to get involved. Obama's address did not have memorable sound bite phrases. Instead, he used traditional references to connect his new administration with the nation's history in a speech that was understated deliberately, according to rhetoric expert James Mackin.

Obama concluded the second paragraph of his address by saying, "we the people have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears and true to our founding documents". The speech reinforced words such as "legacy" and "heritage", as well as values such as "honesty", "courage" and "patriotism", which "are old" values. Near the end of the speech, Obama referred to words written by Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine

Thomas Paine was a UK pamphleteer, revolutionary, Radicalism , inventor, and intellectual. He lived and worked in Britain until age 37, when he emigrated to the British American colonies, in time to participate in the American Revolution....
 in The American Crisis
The American Crisis

The American Crisis was a series of pamphlets published from 1776 to 1783 during the American Revolution by eighteenth century Age of Enlightenment Philosopher and author Thomas Paine....
, which were ordered by George Washington
George Washington

George Washington was the leader of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War and served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States of the United States of Americas ....
 to be read to his troops: "Let it be told to the future world ... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive ... that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]". Because Obama's campaign
Barack Obama presidential campaign, 2008

Barack Obama, then United States Senate#Seniority United States United States Senate from Illinois, announced his candidacy for President of the United States in Springfield, Illinois, on February 10, 2007....
 message focused on the need for change, Mackin noted that Obama sought to reassure Americans that he would operate as President within the margins of the nation's traditions.

As part of Obama's call for responsibility, he said "what is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American" and "those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account". Obama also quoted the lyrics of the Jerome Kern
Jerome Kern

Jerome David Kern was an American composer of popular music. He wrote around 700 songs, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A Fine Romance ", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "All the Things You Are", "The Way You Look Tonight", and "Who? ", a 6-week #1 hit for George Olsen & his Orchestra in 1925....
 and Dorothy Fields
Dorothy Fields

Dorothy Fields was an United States libretto and lyrics.She wrote over 400 songs for Broadway theatre musical theaters and films. Along with Ann Ronell, Dana Suesse, Bernice Petkere, and Kay Swift, she was one of the first successful Hollywood and Tin Pan Alley female songwriters....
 song "Pick Yourself Up
Pick Yourself Up

"Pick Yourself Up" is a popular song composed in 1936 by Jerome Kern, with lyrics by Dorothy Fields. It has a verse and chorus, as well as a third section, though the third section is often omitted in recordings....
" from the musical
Musical film

The musical film is a film genre in which several songs sung by the fictional character are interwoven into the narrative. The songs are used to advance the plot or develop the film's characters....
 comedy
Comedy film

Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on Humour. Also, films in this style typically have a happy ending . One of the oldest genres in film, some of the very first silent movies were comedies....
 Swing Time, saying that "starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America". In an article for the The New York Times, columnist and former drama critic Frank Rich
Frank Rich

Frank Rich is a New York Times columnist who focuses on American politics and American popular culture. His column ran on the front page of the Sunday Arts & Leisure section from 2003 to 2005; it now appears in the expanded Sunday Week in Review section....
 noted the link to the lyric in Field's song from the movie, writing that Obama offered in his address "one subtle whiff of the Great Depression
Great Depression

File:International depression.pngThe Great Depression was a worldwide economic Recession starting in most places in 1929 and ending at different times in the 1930s or early 1940s for different countries....
".

Obama's inaugural address received mixed reviews, with some describing the tone of the speech a praiseworthy one of restraint and plain speaking, while others described the speech as low-brow and cliched. Despite his optimism, Obama was critical of former Presidents George W. Bush
George W. Bush

George Walker Bush served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 2001 to 2009. He was the 46th List of Governors of Texas from 1995 to 2000 before being United States presidential inauguration as President on January 20, 2001....
 and Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He was the fifteenth Democrat elected to that office....
. David E. Sanger
David E. Sanger

David E. Sanger is the Chief Washington Correspondent for The New York Times. A 1982 graduate of Harvard College, Sanger has been writing for Times for over 26 years covering foreign policy, gobalization, nuclear proliferation, and the presidency....
 of The New York Times
The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper published in New York City. The largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States, "The Gray Lady"?named for its staid appearance and style?is regarded as a national newspaper of record....
 described the speech as the harshest rebuke of an outgoing President during an inaugural address since Franklin Roosevelt's call for restoration of American values. The Bush administration was upset about the tone of the speech, which they said proceeded directly from that of a ritualistic but respectful thanks to that of a public diatribe. Republican voices viewed the speech as a missed opportunity to seek unity. However, Rahm Emanuel
Rahm Emanuel

Rahm Israel Emanuel is an American politician currently serving as White House Chief of Staff to President of the United States Barack Obama. He served previously as Democratic Party member of the United States House of Representatives, representing from 2003 until his resignation in 2009 to take up his current position in the Obama Admin...
 described the speech as a reflection of the mandate of the people. An ABC News
ABC News

ABC News is a division of United States television and radio network American Broadcasting Company, owned by The Walt Disney Company. Its current president is David Westin....
 reporter described the address as speech as emphasizing the burdens of the moment and the cloudy future whose challenges may be met with the resolve that is part of our American heritage.

Spiritual observances

Obama's selections of Warren and Lowery were controversial. Warren had a history of vocal opposition to gay marriage, and Lowery had a background as a civil rights
Civil rights

Civil and political rights are a class of rights ensuring things such as the protection of peoples' physical integrity; procedural fairness in law; protection from discrimination based on sexism, religious intolerance, Racism, Homophobia, etc; individual freedom of freedom of belief, freedom of speech, freedom of association, and freedom...
 activist. Conservatives, including Rush Limbaugh
Rush Limbaugh

Rush Hudson Limbaugh III is an United States radio personality and Conservatism in the United States political commentator. His radio syndication talk radio, The Rush Limbaugh Show, airs throughout the United States on Premiere Radio Networks....
 decried Lowery's benediction as racist, while democrats disagreed. Neither Obama nor Warren mentioned gays, and Warren’s invocation asked for forgiveness for Americans "when we fight each other" and "civility in our attitudes even when we differ."

Luncheon

Before the luncheon
Luncheon

Luncheon, commonly abbreviated to lunch, is a midday meal.In Anglosphere during the eighteenth century what was originally called "dinner"— a word still sometimes used to mean a noontime meal in the UK, and in parts of Canada and the United States — was moved by stages later in the day and came in the course of the ninetee...
 and in keeping with tradition, President Obama entered the President's Room in the Capitol building, where he signed his first Presidential orders. The first order signed by President Obama was a proclamation "declaring a day of national renewal and reconciliation". During the historic signing, Obama joked about his left-handedness and also quipped, "I was told not to swipe the pen." He also signed orders officially presenting his Cabinet
Presidency of Barack Obama

File:Barack Obama Inauguration.jpgThe Presidency of Barack Obama began at 12:00 PM Eastern Time Zone on January 20, 2009 at his Barack Obama 2009 presidential inauguration as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States....
 and several sub-Cabinet officials to Congress for their approval.

Obama then joined several congressional guests for the inaugural luncheon in National Statuary Hall
National Statuary Hall

National Statuary Hall is a chamber in the United States Capitol devoted to sculptures of prominent United States. The hall, also known as the Old Hall of the House, is a large, two-story, semicircular room with a second story gallery along the curved perimeter....
 at the U.S. Capitol. Guests, who included top Washington lawmakers as well as former Presidents and Vice Presidents, were served duck
Duck

Duck is the common name for a number of species in the Anatidae family of birds. The ducks are divided between several subfamilies listed in full in the Anatidae article; they do not represent a clade but a form taxon, being the Anatidae not considered swans and goose....
 and pheasant
Pheasant

Pheasants are a group of large birds in the order Galliformes.Pheasants are characterised by strong sexual dimorphism, with males being highly ornate with bright colours and adornments such as wattle and long tails....
 with Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir

Pinot noir is a red wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. The name may also refer to wines produced predominantly from Pinot noir grapes....
. The theme of the luncheon was based on Obama's 2009 inaugural theme, "A New Birth of Freedom", which commemorated the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States. He successfully led the country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery....
's birth. The red and white china were copies of those used in the Lincoln White House.

A luncheon at the Capitol has been part of the inaugural program since 1953 (before that, the luncheon was usually held at the White House and hosted by the outgoing President and First Lady). The menu for the inaugural luncheon often featured dishes that were representative of the home states of the new President and Vice President, with the 2009 menu including seafood stew, a pheasant and duck dish and apple cinnamon sponge cake
Sponge cake

File:Sponge cake.jpgSponge cake is a cake based on flour , sugar, and Egg s, sometimes leavened with baking powder, that derives its structure from an egg foam into which the other ingredients are folded....
 with sweet cream glacé for dessert. Since 1985, a painting has been chosen to serve as a backdrop for the head table. In 2009, the featured painting was Thomas Hill's
Thomas Hill (painter)

Thomas Hill was an United States artist of the 19th century. He produced many Fine art of the California landscape, in particular of the Yosemite Valley, as well as the White Mountains ....
 1865 View of the Yosemite Valley, a painting that commemorated Abraham Lincoln's 1864 signing of the Yosemite Grant
Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park is a National Park Service located in the eastern portions of Tuolumne County, California, Mariposa County, California and Madera County, California counties in east central California, United States....
, which was the first time the federal government protected park lands for public use.

During the luncheon, Senator Ted Kennedy
Ted Kennedy

Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy is the Senior Senator United States Senate from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party . In office since November 1962, Kennedy is the list of current United States Senators by seniority member of the Senate, after President pro tempore of the United States Senate Robert Byrd of West Virginia....
 collapsed after he suffered a seizure, and he was transported to a hospital for medical treatment and recovery. Early reports about the medical emergency suggested erroneously that Senator Robert Byrd
Robert Byrd

Robert Carlyle Byrd is the Senior Senator United States United States Senate from West Virginia, and a member and former leader of the Democratic Party ....
 also fell ill during the luncheon. These reports were later denied, and Byrd eventually explained that the Kennedy incident disturbed him and caused him to leave.

Parade


The inaugural parade traveled along Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. from the U.S. Capitol, ending at the north face of the White House
White House

The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., it was built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the late Georgian architecture and has been the executive residence of every U.S....
. During the parade, President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama twice exited their limousine on Pennsylvania Avenue and walked a portion of the parade route to the cheers of the crowds in attendance, and their second walk ended just before the gate to the White House. During the parade, the President and First Lady traveled in the new armored limousine for most of the parade route because of potential security threats.

Vice President Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, also walked the parade route at several points with their children Beau
Beau Biden

Joseph Robinette "Beau" Biden III is an United States politician, soldier, and lawyer from Wilmington, Delaware, Delaware. He currently serves as the Attorney General of Delaware and a Captain in the Delaware Army National Guard....
, Hunter, and Ashley. Beau Biden, Attorney General for the state of Delaware
Delaware Attorney General

The Attorney General of Delaware is a constitutional officer of the U.S. state of Delaware, and is the chief law officer and the head of the State Department of Justice....
 and a JAG officer in the Delaware Army National Guard
Delaware Army National Guard

The Delaware National Guard comprises both Army and Air National Guard components. The Constitution of the United States specifically charges the National Guard with dual federal and state missions....
, received a special furlough from serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom to participate in the ceremonies.

The parade lasted more than two hours during the afternoon and early evening following the inaugural ceremony. Parade participants included 15,000 people, 240 horses, dozens of marching bands, two drum and bugle corps and a mariachi band. President Obama invited the Drum Corps International
Drum Corps International

Drum Corps International , formed in 1972, is the non-profit governing body operating the North American Drum and bugle corps circuit for junior corps, whose members are between the ages of 13 and 21....
, nine-time world champion Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps
The Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps

The Cadets are a Drum Corps International World Class Drum and bugle corps based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. They are sponsored by Youth Education in the Arts ....
 and eight-time finalist Colts Drum and Bugle Corps
Colts Drum and Bugle Corps

The Colts Drum and Bugle Corps are a World Class Drum and bugle corps based in Dubuque, Iowa and founded in 1963, and are a member corps of Drum Corps International....
 from , as well as the VMI
Virginia Military Institute

The Virginia Military Institute , located in Lexington, Virginia, is the oldest State university system military academy and one of six Senior Military College in the United States....
 corps of cadets and the high school marching band from Punahou School
Punahou School

Punahou School, once known as Oahu College, is a private, co-educational, college preparatory school located in Honolulu, Hawaii, City and County of Honolulu in the U.S....
, Obama's high school in Hawaii
Hawaii

File:Pahoehoe and Aa flows at Hawaii.jpgThe State of Hawaii is a U.S. state in the United States, located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia....
, to perform in the inaugural parade.

Vice President Joe Biden also invited several groups from Delaware to march in the parade. The Delaware section was led by the Delaware Volunteer Firemen's Association
Delaware Volunteer Firemen's Association

The Delaware Volunteer Fireman's Association is an organization established to assist the volunteer firefighter of the state of Fire Departments in Delaware....
 of which Biden is an honorary member, followed by the marching band of Biden's alma mater, the University of Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens
University of Delaware

The University of Delaware is the largest university in the U.S. state of Delaware. The main campus is located in Newark, Delaware, with satellite campuses in Dover, Delaware, Wilmington, Delaware, Lewes, Delaware and Georgetown, Delaware....
, known as The Pride of Delaware, and the Delaware State University Hornets
Delaware State University

Delaware State University , is a Historically black colleges and universities, public university located in Dover, Delaware, Delaware with two satellite campus sites in Wilmington, Delaware, Delaware and Georgetown, Delaware, Delaware....
 marching band, known as The Approaching Storm.

Post-inaugural events


Inaugural balls


President Barack Obama and First Lady
First Lady

First Lady is a term used in the United States to describe the wife of an elected male head of state. It originated in 1849, when President of the United States Zachary Taylor called Dolley Madison "First Lady" at her state funeral while reciting a eulogy written by himself....
 Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is the wife of the forty-fourth President of the United States, Barack Obama, and the first African-American First Lady of the United States....
 attended 10 official inaugural balls during the evening of January 20, 2009 and one inaugural ball during the evening of January 21, 2009. For the inaugural balls held on January 20, 2009, Barack Obama wore a new tuxedo
Black tie

Black tie is a dress code for semi-formal evening events, and is worn to many types of social functions. For a man, the major component is a jacket, known as a dinner jacket or tuxedo , which is usually black but is also seen in midnight blue....
, the first one that he purchased in 15 years. The tuxedo was made by Hart Schaffner Marx, a Chicago-based menswear firm that uses union
Trade union

A trade union or labor union is an organization run by and for workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas such as wages, hours, and working conditions....
 labor. During that evening, Michelle Obama wore a white, one-shouldered, sleeveless gown designed by 26-year-old New York designer Jason Wu
Jason Wu

Jason Wu is a Manhattan-based United States fashion designer....
, breaking with tradition set by former first ladies Laura Bush
Laura Bush

Laura Lane Welch Bush is the wife of the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States, George W. Bush, and was the First Lady of the United States from January 20th, 2001 to January 20th, 2009....
 and Hillary Clinton who showcased designers from their hometowns.

The official inaugural balls where President Obama spoke to attending guests to honor the occasion include:

  • The Commander-in-Chief's Ball, held on January 20, 2009 at the National Building Museum
    National Building Museum

    The National Building Museum, in Washington, D.C., in the United States, is a museum of "architecture, design, engineering, construction, and urban planning"....
    . Invited guests included active and reserve duty members of the U.S. military, the families of American service members currently deployed overseas, the families of military personnel killed in action and recipients of the Purple Heart
    Purple Heart

    The Purple Heart is a United States Awards and decorations of the United States military awarded in the name of the President of the United States to those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the Military of the United States....
    .
  • The Eastern Ball, held on January 20, 2009 at Union Station
    Union Station (Washington, D.C.)

    Union Station is the grand ceremonial train station designed to be the entrance to Washington, D.C., when it opened in 1908.It is one of the busiest and best-known places in Washington, D.C., visited by 32 million people each year....
     for guests from the New England states
    New England

    New England is a region of the United States located in the northeastern corner of the country, bounded by the Atlantic Ocean, Canada and New York State, and consisting of the modern U.S....
     of Connecticut
    Connecticut

    Connecticut is a U.S. state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States. The state borders New York to the west and south , Massachusetts to the north, and Rhode Island to the east....
    , Maine
    Maine

    The State of Maine is a U.S. state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, New Hampshire to the southwest, the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast....
    , Massachusetts
    Massachusetts

    The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a U.S. state located in the New England region of the Northeastern United States United States. It borders Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north....
    , New Hampshire
    New Hampshire

    New Hampshire is a U.S. state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States United States of America. The state was named after the southern English Counties of England of Hampshire....
    , Rhode Island
    Rhode Island

    Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a U.S. state in the New England region of the United States....
     and Vermont
    Vermont

    Vermont is a U.S. state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States United States. The state ranks 43rd by land area, , and 45th by total area....
     and the Atlantic territories of Puerto Rico
    Puerto Rico

    Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is a Autonomy Territories of the United States of the United States located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands....
     and the U.S. Virgin Islands
    United States Virgin Islands

    The United States Virgin Islands is a group of islands in the Caribbean that are an insular area of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles....
    . James Taylor
    James Taylor

    James Vernon Taylor is a Grammy Award winning United States singer-songwriter and guitarist born in Boston, Massachusetts, and raised in Carrboro, North Carolina, North Carolina....
     performed for guests attending the ball.
  • The Mid-Atlantic Ball, held on January 20, 2009 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center for guests from the District of Columbia and the Mid-Atlantic states
    Mid-Atlantic States

    The Mid-Atlantic States form one of the nine geographic divisions within the United States that are officially recognized by the United States Census Bureau....
     of Maryland
    Maryland

    Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic States of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia and the Washington, D.C. to the south and west, Pennsylvania to the north, and Delaware to the east....
    , New York
    New York

    The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
    , New Jersey
    New Jersey

    New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north by New York, on the east by the Hudson River and the Atlantic Ocean, on the southwest by Delaware, and on the west by Pennsylvania....
    , Virginia
    Virginia

    The Commonwealth of Virginia is an United States U.S. state on the East Coast of the United States of the Southern United States. The state is known as the "Old Dominion" and sometimes as "Mother of Presidents", because it is the birthplace of Lists of United States Presidents by place of birth#By state....
     and West Virginia
    West Virginia

    West Virginia is a U.S. state in the Appalachian, Upland South, and Mid-Atlantic States regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia on the southeast, Kentucky on the southwest, Ohio on the northwest, and Pennsylvania and Maryland on the northeast....
    .
  • The Midwestern Ball, held on January 20, 2009 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center for guests from the midwestern states
    Midwestern United States

    The Midwestern United States is one of the four geographic regions within the United States of America that are officially recognized by the United States Census Bureau....
     of Indiana
    Indiana

    The State of Indiana was the 19th U.S. state admitted into the union. It is located in the Midwestern United States of the United States of America....
    , Iowa
    Iowa

    The State of Iowa is a U.S. state in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland." It is bordered by Minnesota to the north, Wisconsin and Illinois to the east, Nebraska and South Dakota to the west, and Missouri to the south....
    , Kansas
    Kansas

    The State of Kansas is a Midwestern U.S. state in the Central United States of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the United States "Heartland"....
    , Michigan
    Michigan

    Michigan is a Midwestern United States U.S. state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Anishinaabe language term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
    , Minnesota
    Minnesota

    Minnesota is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States of the United States. The twelfth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with just over five million residents....
    , Missouri
    Missouri

    Missouri is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States of the United States bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska....
    , North Dakota
    North Dakota

    North Dakota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States and Western United States regions of the United States of America. North Dakota is the 19th largest state by area in the US; it is the 48th most populous, with just over 640,000 residents as of 2006....
    , Nebraska
    Nebraska

    Nebraska is a U.S. state located on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States and Western United States.Nebraska probably gets its name from the archaic Chiwere language words ?? Br?sge or the Omaha-Ponca language N? Bth?ska meaning "flat water," after the Platte River that flows through the state....
    , Ohio
    Ohio

    Ohio is a Midwestern United States U.S. state of the United States. As part of the Great Lakes region , Ohio has long been a cultural and geographical crossroads in North America....
    , South Dakota
    South Dakota

    South Dakota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States of the United States of America. It is named after the Lakota people and Sioux Sioux Native Americans in the United States tribes....
     and Wisconsin
    Wisconsin

    Wisconsin is one of the fifty U.S. state in the United States of America, located in the north central part of the United States. It borders two of the five Great Lakes and four U.S....
    .
  • The Neighborhood Inaugural Ball, held on January 20, 2009 at the Walter Washington Convention Center, the first stop of the night for both President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. At the Neighborhood Ball, Michelle Obama revealed her inaugural ball gown for the first time. The Obamas later danced their first song as Beyoncé serenaded them with her rendition of the Etta James
    Etta James

    Etta James is an American blues, soul music, rhythm and blues, rock & roll, gospel and jazz singer and songwriter. James is the winner of four Grammys and seventeen Blues Music Awards....
     classic, At Last
    At Last

    "At Last" is a 1941 song written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren for the musical film Orchestra Wives, starring George Montgomery and Ann Rutherford....
    .
  • The President Obama Home States Ball, held on January 20, 2009 at the Walter Washington Convention Center for guests from Barack Obama's home states of Hawaii
    Hawaii

    File:Pahoehoe and Aa flows at Hawaii.jpgThe State of Hawaii is a U.S. state in the United States, located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia....
     and Illinois
    Illinois

    The State of Illinois is a U.S. state of the United States, the 21st to be admitted to the United States. Illinois is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern United States state and the fifth most populous state in the nation....
    .
  • The Southern Ball, held on January 20, 2009 at the D.C. Armory for guests from the southern states
    Southern United States

    The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive region in the southeastern and south-central United States....
     of Alabama
    Alabama

    Alabama is a state located in the Southern United States of the United States of America. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west....
    , Arkansas
    Arkansas

    Arkansas is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States of the United States. Arkansas shares a border with six states, with its eastern border largely defined by the Mississippi River....
    , Florida
    Florida

    Florida is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the northeast....
    , Georgia
    Georgia (U.S. state)

    Georgia is a U.S. state in the United States and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against United Kingdom rule in the American Revolution....
    , Kentucky
    Kentucky

    The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a U.S. state located in the East Central United States of America. Kentucky is normally included in the group of Southern United States , but it is uncommonly included, geographically and culturally, in the Midwestern United States....
    , Louisiana
    Louisiana

    The State of Louisiana is a U.S. state located in the U.S. Southern States of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans....
    , Mississippi
    Mississippi

    Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Deep South of the United States. Jackson, Mississippi is the state capital and largest city. The state's name comes from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, and takes its name from the Anishinaabe language word misi-ziibi ....
    , North Carolina
    North Carolina

    North Carolina is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north....
    , South Carolina
    South Carolina

    South Carolina is a U.S. state in the Southern United States of the United States. It borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north....
    , Tennessee
    Tennessee

    Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States United States. In 1796, it became the sixteenth state to join the United States....
     and Texas
    Texas

    Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
    .
  • The Vice President Biden Home States Ball, held on January 20, 2009 at the Washington Convention Center for guests from Joe Biden's home states of Delaware
    Delaware

    Delaware is a U.S. state located on the East Coast of the United States in the Mid-Atlantic States region of the United States. The state takes its name from Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, a British nobleman and Virginia's first colonial governor, after whom Cape Henlopen was originally named....
     and Pennsylvania
    Pennsylvania

    The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a U.S. state located in the Northeastern United States and Mid-Atlantic States regions of the United States....
    .
  • The Western Ball, held on January 20, 2009 at the Walter Washington Convention Center for guests from the western states
    Western United States

    The Western United States—commonly referred to as the American West or simply The West—traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost U.S....
     of Alaska
    Alaska

    Alaska is the largest U.S. state of the United States by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait....
    , Arizona
    Arizona

    The State of Arizona is a U.S. state located in the Southwestern United States of the United States. The capital and largest city is Phoenix, Arizona....
    , California
    California

    California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
    , Idaho
    Idaho

    The State of Idaho is a U.S. state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States of America. The state's largest city and Capital is Boise, Idaho....
    , Colorado
    Colorado

    The State of Colorado is a U.S. state located in the Mountain States of the United States of America. Colorado may also be considered to be a part of the Western United States and Southwestern United States regions of the United States....
    , Montana
    Montana

    Montana is a U.S. state in the Western United States. The western third of the state contains numerous mountain ranges; other 'island' ranges are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains....
    , Oklahoma
    Oklahoma

    Oklahoma is a U.S. state and a sovereignty located in the South Central United States and Southern United States of the United States of America ....
    , Oregon
    Oregon

    Oregon is a U.S. state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The area was inhabited by many indigenous tribes before the arrival of traders, explorers and settlers....
    , Nevada
    Nevada

    Nevada is a U.S. state located in the Western United States of the United States of America. The capital is Carson City and the largest city is Las Vegas, Nevada....
    , New Mexico
    New Mexico

    New Mexico is a U. S. State located in the Southwestern United States of the United States. Inhabited by Native Americans in the United States populations for many centuries, it has also has been part of the Spanish Empire viceroyalty of New Spain, part of Mexico, and a U.S....
    , Utah
    Utah

    The State of Utah is a western United States U.S. state of the United States. It was the List of U.S. states by date of statehood admitted to the United States on January 4, 1896....
    , Washington
    Washington

    Washington is a U.S. state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Washington was carved out of the western part of Washington Territory which had been ceded by Britain in 1846 by the Oregon Treaty as settlement of the Oregon Boundary Dispute....
     and Wyoming
    Wyoming

    The State of Wyoming is a sparsely populated U.S. state in the Northwestern United States of the United States. The majority of the state is dominated by the mountain ranges and rangelands of the Rocky Mountains, while the easternmost section of the state is a high altitude prairie region known as the High Plains ....
    , and the Pacific territories of American Samoa
    American Samoa

    American Samoa is an Territories of the United States of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa....
     and Guam
    Guam

    Guam , officially the Territory of Guam, is an island in the western Pacific Ocean and is an organized, unincorporated insular area of the United States....
    .
  • The Youth Ball, held on January 20, 2009 at the Washington Hilton and Towers
    Hilton Washington

    The Hilton Washington is a hotel in Washington, D.C. It is located at 1919 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., roughly at the boundaries of the Kalorama, Washington, D.C., Dupont Circle, and Adams Morgan neighborhoods....
    , was an event specifically for people between the ages of 18 and 35 years old.
  • The Obama for America Staff Ball, held on January 21, 2009 at the D.C. Armory for staff members of President Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. The ball featured speeches by David Plouffe
    David Plouffe

    David Plouffe is an American political strategist best known as the chief campaign manager for Barack Obama's Barack Obama presidential campaign, 2008 in the United States....
    , Joe Biden and Barack Obama, as well as a performance by Jay-Z
    Jay-Z

    Shawn Corey Carter , better known as his stage name, Jay-Z, is an American hip hop artist and businessman. He is the former Chief executive officer of Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records....
    .


Unofficial balls

In addition to the official inaugural balls visited by President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama to celebrate the inauguration, various other notable balls and gatherings were held on January 20, 2009 throughout Washington, D.C. and the surrounding region that featured an array of themes, including:
  • Africa on the Potomac Inaugural Celebration held at Crystal Gateway Marriott in .
  • American Music Inaugural Ball held at the Marriott Wardman Park
    Marriott Wardman Park

    The Marriott Wardman Park Hotel is a Marriott International property in Washington, D.C.. The hotel is located in the Woodley Park neighborhood at 2600 Woodley Road, NW and Connecticut Avenue , NW, adjacent the Woodley Park?Zoo/Adams Morgan station of the Washington Metrorail system....
     Hotel.
  • BET
    Black Entertainment Television

    Black Entertainment Television is an American cable television based in Washington, D.C. and targeted towards young black people and urban audiences in the United States....
     Inaugural Ball
    held at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.
  • Congressional Black Caucus
    Congressional Black Caucus

    File:CBCfoundingmembers.jpgThe Congressional Black Caucus is an organization representing the African American members of the United States Congress....
     Inaugural Ball
    held at the Capitol Hilton.
  • Creative Coalition Inaugural Ball held at the Harman Center for the Arts
    Harman Center for the Arts

    The Harman Center for the Arts is a complex consisting ofthe Lansburgh Theatre at 450 7th Street NW in Washington, D.C. and Sidney Harman Hall at Sixth and F Streets NW....
    .
  • Human Rights Campaign
    Human Rights Campaign

    The Human Rights Campaign is the largest lesbian, gay, bisexuality, and transgender interest group and political action committee in the United States, claiming over 725,000 members and supporters, though this membership count is disputed....
    's Equality Ball
    held at the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel.
  • Impact Film Fund Ball.
  • Inaugural Peace Ball held at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum.
  • Inaugural Purple Ball held at the Fairmont Hotel.
  • Recording Industry Association of America
    Recording Industry Association of America

    The Recording Industry Association of America is the trade group that represents the recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of a large number of private corporate entities such as record labels and distributors, which the RIAA claims "create, manufacture and/or distribute approximately 90% of all legitimate sound recor...
    's Ball for Feeding America
  • Salute to Heroes Inaugural Ball, sponsored by the American Legion
    American Legion

    The American Legion was chartered by the U.S. Congress as a patriotic, mutual-help, wartime veterans list of veterans' organizations of the Military of the United States who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress....
     to recognize recipients of the Medal of Honor
    Medal of Honor

    The Medal of Honor is the highest Awards and decorations of the United States military awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed on a member of the United States armed forces who distinguishes himself "conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action...
    . The ball was started as an inaugural event during President Dwight D. Eisenhower
    Dwight D. Eisenhower

    Dwight David ?Ike? Eisenhower was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 1953 until 1961 and a General of the Army in the United States Army....
    ’s first inauguration in 1953. Obama was unable to attend this ball, making him the first president since Eisenhower to not attend. Biden, however, did attend the ball, and was warmly received by the guests.


Celebration at the White House

After they made their rounds at the inaugural balls, the Obamas hosted an after-midnight gathering at the White House for 70 of their earliest supporters, close friends and family, including Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Gail Winfrey is an United Statesn television presenter, Media proprietor and philanthropist. Her television syndication talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, has earned her multiple Emmy Awards and is the highest-rated talk show in the history of television....
, Valerie Jarrett
Valerie Jarrett

Valerie Bowman Jarrett is a Chicago lawyer, businesswoman, and civic leader. She is best known for her role as an advisor to President Barack Obama....
, David Axelrod
David Axelrod (political consultant)

David Axelrod is an United States consulting based in Chicago, Illinois. He is best known as a top advisor to Barack Obama, first in Obama's United States Senate election in Illinois, 2004 and later as chief strategist for Barack Obama presidential campaign, 2008....
, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley
Richard M. Daley

Richard Michael Daley is a United States politician, member of the national and local Democratic Party and current Mayor of Chicago of Chicago, Illinois....
, Representatives Artur Davis
Artur Davis

Artur Genestre Davis is an United States politician who has been a United States Democratic Party member of the United States House of Representatives since 2003, representing ....
 of the state of Alabama
Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the Southern United States of the United States of America. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west....
 and Neil Abercrombie
Neil Abercrombie

Neil Abercrombie is a Democratic Party member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Hawaii's 1st congressional district since 1991....
 of the state of Hawaii
Hawaii

File:Pahoehoe and Aa flows at Hawaii.jpgThe State of Hawaii is a U.S. state in the United States, located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia....
, in addition to Michelle Obama's brother Craig Robinson
Craig Robinson (basketball coach)

Craig Robinson is the head men's basketball coach at Oregon State University. He previously was head coach at Brown University and as a player was a star forward at Princeton University in the early 1980s....
. Members of the Illinois congressional delegation also attended the after hours White House celebration, including Senator Dick Durbin and Representatives Melissa Bean
Melissa Bean

Melissa Luburic Bean , United States politician,has been a Democratic Party member of the United States House of Representatives since 2004, representing ....
, Jan Schakowsky
Jan Schakowsky

Janice D. "Jan" Schakowsky , United States politician,has been a Democratic Party member of the United States House of Representatives since 1999, representing ....
, Luis Gutierrez
Luis Gutiérrez

Luis Vicente Guti?rrez , United States politician, has been a Democratic Party member of the United States House of Representatives since 1992, representing ....
 and Jerry Costello
Jerry Costello

Jerry Francis Costello , United States politician, has been a Democratic Party member of the United States House of Representatives since 1988, representing , which includes the St....
.

Inaugural prayer service

On January 21, 2009 at 10:00 a.m., President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Biden and Dr. Jill Biden attended an inaugural prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral
Washington National Cathedral

Washington National Cathedral, whose official name is the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, is a cathedral of the Episcopal Church ....
. The Obamas and Bidens were joined by the former President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He was the fifteenth Democrat elected to that office....
 and his wife, Hillary Clinton, in the front pew
Pew

A pew is a long bench furniture bench used for chair seating members of a Church building church's congregation.Churches were not commonly furnished with permanent pews before the coming of the Protestant Reformation....
. The service also was attended by about 3,200 other invited guests, including members of the U.S. Congress, diplomats and other leaders.

The interfaith service featured performances by choirs and an array of scripture readings and prayers by various faiths. The worship service reflected inclusiveness and religious diversity, with a mix of Protestant pastors, female Hindu and Muslim religious leaders, rabbis and Catholic bishops who delivered inspirational scripture readings and prayers throughout the service. Prayers for the interfaith service also drew in part passages from the 1789 inauguration prayer service of George Washington
George Washington

George Washington was the leader of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War and served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States of the United States of Americas ....
 and the 1865 inaugural address of Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States. He successfully led the country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery....
, including phrases such as "with malice toward none, with charity for all".

The featured sermon for the inaugural prayer service was delivered by Rev. Sharon E. Watkins, general minister and president of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

The Christian Church is a Mainline Protestant denomination in North America. It is often referred to as The Christian Church, Disciples of Christ, or more simply as The Disciples....
 and the first woman to deliver the featured sermon for the interfaith inaugural event. In her own sermon, Rev. Watkins integrated passages from a variety of interfaith sources, such as passages summoned from Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Cherokee sources.

Attendance


Guests


Former Presidents Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 1977 to 1981 and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize....
, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He was the fifteenth Democrat elected to that office....
 and George W. Bush
George W. Bush

George Walker Bush served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 2001 to 2009. He was the 46th List of Governors of Texas from 1995 to 2000 before being United States presidential inauguration as President on January 20, 2001....
 and former Vice Presidents Walter Mondale
Walter Mondale

Walter Frederick Mondale is an Politics of the United States and member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. He was the List of Vice Presidents of the United States Vice President of the United States under President of the United States Jimmy Carter, a two-term United States Senate from Minnesota, and the very unsuccessful Democ...
, Dan Quayle
Dan Quayle

James Danforth "Dan" Quayle is an United States politician and was the List of Vice Presidents of the United States Vice President of the United States, serving under George H....
, Al Gore
Al Gore

Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. is an United States environmentalism activist who served as the List of Vice Presidents of the United States Vice President of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President of the United States Bill Clinton....
 and Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney

Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the List of Vice Presidents of the United States Vice President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 in the George W....
, along with their wives, attended the inauguration. Cheney was wheelchair
Wheelchair

A wheelchair is a wheeled mobility device in which the user sits. The device is propelled either manually or via various automated systems. Wheelchairs are used by people for whom walking is difficult or impossible due to illness , injury, or disability....
-bound because of an injury that he suffered while moving boxes. Invitations were also sent to the chiefs of diplomatic missions to the United States and their spouses, but not to any other representatives of foreign countries. As a result, North Korea
North Korea

North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea , is a state in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula....
's offer to send a senior envoy was rejected.

John Lewis, the only living speaker from the historic 1963 rally at the March on Washington, was present on the stage during the inauguration. Obama signed a commemorative photograph for Lewis with the words, “Because of you, John. Barack Obama.” More than 180 of the Tuskegee Airmen
Tuskegee Airmen

The Tuskegee Airmen is the popular name of a group of African American pilots who flew with distinction during World War II as the 332nd Fighter Group of the United States Army Air Forces....
 attended as invited guests for the inauguration. The five-person crew of US Airways Flight 1549
US Airways Flight 1549

US Airways Flight 1549 was a scheduled airline from New York City to Charlotte, North Carolina, that, on January 15, 2009, Water landing#Commercial aircraft in the North River adjacent to Manhattan six minutes after departing from LaGuardia Airport....
, including pilot Chesley Sullenberger
Chesley Sullenberger

Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger III is an American Airline Transport Pilot License, safety expert, and accident investigator from Danville, California, who successfully carried out the emergency water landing of US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River, offshore from Manhattan, New York City, on January 15, 2009, thus preventing any...
, that survived a crash landing five days earlier also was invited to the inaugural ceremony.

Eighty-seven year old Sarah Obama led a group of Obama's Kenya
Kenya

The Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the north, Somalia to the northeast, Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, and Sudan to the northwest, with the Indian Ocean running along the southeast border....
n relatives from his father's home village of Kogelo. Other relatives traveling to Washington from Kenya as guests included Obama's aunt, Maggie Obama, his uncle, Said Obama, as well as his half-brother Malik Obama. The Kenyan relatives were expected to present Barack Obama with traditional Kenyan gifts, including a three-legged stool usually given to Luo
Luo (Kenya and Tanzania)

The Luo are an ethnic group in Kenya, eastern Uganda, and northern Tanzania. They are part of a larger group of ethnolinguistically related Luo who inhabit an area including southern Sudan, northern and eastern Uganda, western Kenya, and northern Tanzania....
 tribal elders, a fly whisk crafted from goat hair and a warrior shield
Shield

A shield is a protective device, meant to intercept attacks. The term often refers to a device that is held in the hand, as opposed to armour or a bullet proof vest....
. Sarah Obama previously attended Obama's swearing-in ceremony as U.S. Senator in 2005.

For the swearing-in ceremony, members of the 111th U.S. Congress
111th United States Congress

The One Hundred Eleventh United States Congress is the List of United States Congresses of the United States Congress, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives....
 also distributed 240,000 color-coded tickets with yellow, orange, blue, purple and silver borders to guests and constituents to view the inaugural ceremony from reserved sections at or near the U.S. Capitol
United States Capitol

The United States Capitol serves as the seat of government for the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States....
. House
United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives, commonly referred to as "the House", is one of the bicameralism of the United States Congress; the other is the United States Senate....
 and Senate
United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism United States Congress, the lower house being the United States House of Representatives....
 congressional members distributed tickets with silver borders to the public by lottery or on a first-come, first served basis because of the overwhelming requests from constituents to attend the inaugural ceremony.

Amid the massive crowds who arrived at the U.S. Capitol to attend the inaugural ceremony, approximately 4,000 ticket holders were unable to gain attendance to their designated areas because the security gates were closed at the start of the ceremony, leaving many of them outside of the U.S. Capitol grounds. Some were stuck in underground tunnels where pedestrian traffic was directed to and from the National Mall
National Mall

The National Mall is an open-area national park in downtown Washington, D.C., the Capital of the United States. Officially termed by the National Park Service the National Mall & Memorial Parks, the term commonly includes the areas that are officially part of West Potomac Park and Constitution Gardens to the west, and often is taken to...
.

Senator Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Feinstein

Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein is the Seniority in the United States Senate United States Senate from California and a member of the Democratic Party ....
, chair of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, launched an investigation to address complaints by the ticket holders who were prevented from gaining entry to view the inaugural ceremony. On January 22, 2009, a spokesperson for the Joint Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies also announced that holders of blue, purple and silver tickets who were unable to enter the U.S. Capitol grounds to view the inaugural ceremony would receive commemorative items. The commemorative items included a copy of the swearing-in invitation and program, photos of President Obama and Vice President Biden and a color print of the inaugural ceremony.

Crowd estimates


No official count was taken of the number of people attending the inauguration ceremony, although multiple sources concluded it was the highest attended event ever held in Washington, D.C. Government agencies and federal officials that coordinated security and traffic management determined the attendance count to be 1.8 million people, based on information collected by several cameras and individuals on the ground. The Washington Post
The Washington Post

The Washington Post is the newspaper with the largest circulation in Washington, D.C., United States and is the city's oldest paper, founded in 1877....
 reported the number and the National Park Service
National Park Service

The National Park Service is the List of United States federal agencies that manages all List of areas in the United States National Park System, many U.S....
 said it did "not contest" the estimate.

Satellite analyst Allison Puccioni of IHS Jane's
Jane's Information Group

Jane's Information Group is a publishing company specialising in transportation and military topics, which was founded by Fred T. Jane in 1898....
 estimated a crowd size of between 1.031 and 1.411 million people, using an image acquired by the GeoEye-1
GeoEye-1

GeoEye-1 is a high-resolution earth observation satellite owned by GeoEye, which was launched in September 2008....
 satellite at 11:19 a.m. EST (16:19 UTC). This estimate did not include an estimated 240,000 people in designated ticket holder areas or in federal buildings open to the public. However, Arizona State University
Arizona State University

Arizona State University is the largest public university research university in the United States under a single administration, with total student enrollment of 67,082 as of fall 2008....
 professor Stephen Doig estimated that 800,000 people attended the inauguration ceremony using the same satellite image. Although the image was taken a little less than 45 minutes before Obama’s swearing-in, Doig adjusted his estimate to include people who were still arriving in the area before the swearing-in ceremony. In spite of his crowd estimate, Doig stated that "if I had to bet, I would say the [Barack] Obama crowd is in fact bigger than those that showed up for [Johnson] or any of the other things" ... "I'm wholly prepared to think it was the largest crowd." Approximately 1.2 million people had attended the Lyndon B. Johnson 1965 presidential inauguration.

Security


The District of Columbia police force temporarily doubled in size with the addition of 8,000 police officers from around the United States. The police force was assisted by 1,000 FBI agents to provide security for the event, and the Secret Service
United States Secret Service

The United States Secret Service is a United States Federal government of the United States law enforcement agency that falls under the United States Department of Homeland Security....
 Countersniper team was assigned to hidden locations throughout the area. Ten thousand National Guard
United States National Guard

The National Guard of the United States is a Military reserve force composed of U.S. state National Guard militia members or units under federally recognized active or inactive Military of the United States service for the United States ....
 troops were also on site, including the 153rd Military Police Company
153rd Military Police Company (United States)

The 153rd Military Police Company is a unit in the Delaware Army National Guard . The 153rd MP Company was formed in 1996, with a home station in Delaware City, Delaware....
 of the Delaware National Guard
Delaware Army National Guard

The Delaware National Guard comprises both Army and Air National Guard components. The Constitution of the United States specifically charges the National Guard with dual federal and state missions....
 with 5,000 troops providing security duty in a ceremonial capacity and 1,300 unarmed troops aiding Park Police
United States Park Police

The United States Park Police is the oldest uniformed federal police agency in the United States. It functions as a full service law enforcement agency with responsibilities and jurisdiction in those National Park Service areas primarily located in the Washington, D.C., San Francisco, California, and New York City areas and certain other go...
 in crowd control at the National Mall. C Company of the 1-175 Infantry
Infantry

Infantry are soldiers who are primarily trained for the role of fighting on foot. A soldier in the infantry is known as an infantryman. Infantry units have more physically demanding training than other branches of armies, and place a greater emphasis on fitness, physical strength and aggression....
 provided security between the first and second public viewing areas of the National Mall at the 7th Street intersection, while the remaining members performed other security functions. The FAA maintained airspace restrictions over Washington, D.C. on January 20, 2009 from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Secretary of Defense
United States Secretary of Defense

File:USSecDefflag.PNGThe United States Secretary of Defense is the head of the United States Department of Defense , concerned with the Military of the United States and Military of the United States....
 Robert Gates
Robert Gates

Robert Michael Gates is currently serving as the 22nd United States Secretary of Defense. He took office on December 18, 2006. Prior to this, Gates served for 26 years in the Central Intelligence Agency and the United States National Security Council, and under President of the United States George H....
 was chosen as the designated survivor
Designated survivor

A designated survivor is a member of the United States Cabinet who stays at a physically distant, secure, and undisclosed location when the President of the United States and the country's other top leaders are gathered at a single location, such as during State of the Union Addresses and Inauguration Days....
 to ensure continuity of government
Continuity of government

Continuity of government is the principle of establishing defined procedures that allow a government to continue its essential operations in case of Nuclear warfare or other catastrophic event....
 in case of catastrophe, and he spent inauguration day at a U.S. military installation outside of the Washington, D.C. area.

No one from the crowds at the inaugural ceremony and parade was arrested as of 6:00 p.m. EST on Inauguration Day, which a federal agent said was unusual for a crowd of that size.

Security concerns were also an issue about extending the closing time beyond the normal 2:00 a.m. weekday and 3:00 a.m. EST Friday and Saturday closing times for bars and restaurants that served alcoholic beverages. In response to the concerns of Senators Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Feinstein

Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein is the Seniority in the United States Senate United States Senate from California and a member of the Democratic Party ....
 and Robert Bennett
Robert Foster Bennett

Robert Foster "Bob" Bennett is the United States Senate from Utah, who is a member of the Republican Party ....
, the D.C. City Council
Council of the District of Columbia

The Council of the District of Columbia is the legislative branch of the local government of Washington, D.C. Because the United States Constitution places the District of Columbia under the sole control of United States Congress, all acts of the council are subject to congressional override, and thus the council has less power than most cit...
 approved legislation signed by D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty that adopted 4:00 a.m. EST as the closing time.

Viewership


Television viewership

Nielson television ratings indicated that 29.2% of televisions in the 56 largest media markets in the United States were tuned to the inauguration, the largest audience since Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California . Born in Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s, where he was an actor, president of the Screen Actors Guild , and a spokesman for General Electric ....
's first inauguration in 1981 and nearly double the viewership of the 2005 inauguration of George W. Bush. The Raleigh-Durham market had the largest TV audience with more than 51% of households tuned in to the day's events, a number that was attributed in part to a snowstorm that kept people inside and in part to the African American population. Of the top 10 media markets in terms of viewership, four were in North Carolina, two were in Virginia and one was in Maryland, with the Washington D.C. market ranking second highest in viewership.

As measured between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. EST, U.S. television viewership for the Obama inaugural events achieved an average of 37.8 million viewers (not including online viewers who watched live streaming video of the events) across the 17 broadcast and cable channels. Television viewership was lower than that of the 1981 Reagan inaugural festivities, however, which averaged 41.8 million viewers.

According to the BBC, 5.1 million British viewers watched the inauguration while 6.5 million watched the highlights on the BBC's 6 p.m. evening news. A program director at German regional broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk
Norddeutscher Rundfunk

Norddeutscher Rundfunk is a public broadcasting, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR transmits for the German states of Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig-Holstein....
, televised an inauguration program for pubcaster ARD
ARD (broadcaster)

ARD , is a joint organization of Germany's regional public-service broadcasters. It was founded in West Germany in 1950 to represent the common interests of the new, decentralized post-war broadcasting services — in particular, the introduction of a joint television network....
 that drew a 24% share, with more than 5 million viewers.

Internet traffic

Obama's inauguration also resulted in a surge of Internet traffic to news and social networking websites and a record number of video streams. The technology company Akamai
Akamai Technologies

Akamai Technologies, Inc. , , is a company that provides a distributed computing platform for global Internet Content Delivery Network, headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts....
 reported that 5,401,250 web users logged on news sites in less than one minute, the fifth highest peak among news websites since the company started tracking data in 2005. During at-peak usage, news websites served seven million simultaneous video streams, which was the highest number of simultaneous video streams in Akamai's history.

The BBC reported downtime during its own live video feed of the inaugural event because of heavy traffic at its website. At one point, the heavy website traffic caused the BBC video feed to cut out for 30 minutes, with web visitors seeing the message "Please come back later" instead of the live video footage. CNN
CNN

Cable News Network, almost always referred to by its initialism CNN, is a major US Cable News Network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first station to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television network in the United States....
 reported that it generated more than 21 million video streams by 3:30 p.m. EST that day — an all-time record, in addition to receiving 136 million page views that day.

International attention

The international community
International community

The international community is a vague term used in international relations to refer to all the countries of the world or to a group of them. The term is used to imply the existence of common duties and obligations between them, frequently in the context of calls for the respect of human rights and for action to be taken against repressive...
 paid unprecedented attention to the inauguration of Barack Obama. Millions of people, including citizens of the respective countries and American expatriate
Expatriate

An expatriate is a person temporarily or permanently Residency in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing or legal residence....
s living in those countries, watched the Obama inauguration live on television and the on Internet. In some countries, the Obama inauguration garnered as much viewership as the opening ceremony
Opening ceremony

An opening ceremony is the official opening of a building or event. The opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup are huge events involving thousands of participants and watched by a massive worldwide audience....
 of the 2008 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics

The 2008 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, People's Republic of China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008....
. BBC World Service
BBC World Service

The BBC World Service is one of the most widely recognised international broadcasting, currently broadcasting in 32 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays....
 released the results of an opinion poll
Opinion poll

An opinion poll is a statistical survey of public opinion from a particular sampling . Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence intervals....
 of more than 17,000 people in 17 countries on the day of the inauguration which showed that 67% anticipated that Obama would strengthen U.S. relations abroad. The most optimistic respondents were Italians and Germans, 80% of whom thought U.S. relations with the rest of the world would improve under Obama.

Africa

, Kenya
Kenya

The Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the north, Somalia to the northeast, Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, and Sudan to the northwest, with the Indian Ocean running along the southeast border....
]]

Moses Wetang'ula, Minister for Foreign Affairs for Kenya
Kenya

The Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the north, Somalia to the northeast, Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, and Sudan to the northwest, with the Indian Ocean running along the southeast border....
, commented that the inauguration marked "a moment of great pride for Kenya". Obama's father, Barack Obama, Sr.
Barack Obama, Sr.

Barack Hussein Obama was a Kenyan senior governmental economist, and father of US President Barack Obama. He is a central subject in his son's memoir, Dreams from My Father....
, was born in Kenya and lived there for all but six years of his life. Obama still has relatives living in the country. Many celebrations occurred across Kenya, and in some areas, streets were even deserted during the inauguration.

Americas


Barbados
Barbados

Barbados , situated just east of the Caribbean Sea, is an independent Continental Island-island nation in the western Atlantic Ocean. Located at roughly 13? North of the equator and 59? West of the prime meridian, it is considered a part of the Lesser Antilles....
 offered free public viewings of the Obama inauguration on large screens in at least three locations throughout the country, including the Kensington Oval
Kensington Oval

The Kensington Oval is located to the west of the capital-city Bridgetown on the island of Barbados. "The Oval" is one of the major sporting facilities on the island and is primarily used for cricket....
 sports stadium, the George Washington House
Garrison Historic Area

St. Ann's Garrison or more commonly today the Garrison Historic Area is a small district located in the country of Barbados. At times just called "The Garrison"....
 and the Bridgetown
Bridgetown

The City of Bridgetown, metropolitan pop 96,578 , is the Capital and largest city of the nation of Barbados. Formerly, the Town of Saint Michael the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the Parishes of Barbados of Saint Michael, Barbados....
 Hilton Hotel. Americans in Antigua Guatemala
Antigua Guatemala

La Antigua Guatemala is a city in the central highlands of Guatemala famous for its well-preserved Spain Mud?jar-influenced Baroque architecture as well as a number of spectacular ruins of colonial churches....
 held a party featuring Obama's favorite music.

In Canada
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
, the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada released a statement: "On behalf of all Canadians, I want to offer my heartfelt congratulations to Barack Obama as he assumes office as President of the United States of America and wish him and his administration well as they begin their new term in office. We also send our warmest wishes to our American neighbours as they celebrate this historic day with their friends around the world. I am delighted that the President has accepted our invitation to make Canada the destination of his first international visit. The United States remains Canada’s most important ally, closest friend and largest trading partner and I look forward to working with President Obama and his administration as we build on this special relationship." Governor General
Governor General of Canada

The Governor General of Canada is the viceroy representative in Canada of the Monarchy of Canada, who is the head of state. Canada is one of sixteen Commonwealth realms, all of which share the same person as their respective sovereign....
 Michaëlle Jean
Michaëlle Jean

Micha?lle Jean is the current Governor General of Canada of Canada. She was appointed as such by Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Monarchy of Canada, on the recommendation of then Prime Minister of Canada Paul Martin, to replace Adrienne Clarkson as viceroy....
 also gave a speech to mark the Obama inauguration during a Youth Dialogue held at Rideau Hall
Rideau Hall

Rideau Hall is, since 1867, the official residence of the Governor General of Canada, as well as that of the Monarchy of Canada when he or she is in the city where the hall is located, Ottawa....
, the governor general's official residence.

Asia


Millions of readers and viewers in the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China

The People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the List of countries by population in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately a fifth of the world's population....
 followed the inauguration, which was broadcast live by state-controlled China Central Television
China Central Television

China Central Television or Chinese Central Television, commonly abbreviated as CCTV is the major state television network in mainland China....
, with simultaneous translation into Mandarin Chinese
Standard Mandarin

Standard Mandarin, or Standard Chinese, is the official modern Spoken Chinese used in People's Republic of China and Republic of China, and is one of the four official languages of Languages of Singapore....
, but with enough of a delay to allow for censoring
Censorship in the People's Republic of China

Censorship in the People's Republic of China is the limiting or suppressing of the publishing, dissemination, and viewing of certain information in the People's Republic of China ....
 by briefly silencing the translation. When President Obama mentioned that "earlier generations faced down fascism
Fascism

Fascism is a Political radicalism, Authoritarianism Nationalism ideology that aims to create a single-party state with a government led by a dictator who seeks national unity and development by requiring individuals to subordinate self-interest to the collective interest of the nation or Race ....
 and communism
Communism

Communism is a socioeconomic structure and political ideology that promotes the establishment of an egalitarianism, classlessness, stateless society based on common ownership and control of the means of production and property in general....
", Chinese state television officials cut away abruptly and switched to a discussion in the studio . Chinese websites also censored President Obama's references to communism and dissent. The Xinhua News Agency
Xinhua News Agency

The Xinhua News Agency is the official press agency of the government of the People's Republic of China and the biggest center for collecting information and press conferences in the PRC....
 website provided the full, uncensored text in the English language, along with a censored translation that lacked the reference to communism, as well as Obama's remarks about "leaders ... who ... blame their society's ills on the West" and "cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent".

Indonesia
Indonesia

The Republic of Indonesia , is a transcontinental country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Comprising Islands of Indonesia, it is the world's largest Archipelago state....
ns and Americans in Jakarta
Jakarta

Jakarta is the Capital and largest city of Indonesia. It also has a List of urban areas by population than any other city in Southeast Asia. It was formerly known as Sunda Kelapa , Jayakarta , Batavia, Dutch East Indies , and Djakarta ....
 watched the inauguration at a free midnight ball, featuring performances by students from State Elementary School Menteng 01
State Elementary School Menteng 01

State Elementary School Menteng 01 , also known as SDN Besuki or the Besuki school, is an Indonesian public school in Menteng, Jakarta....
, which Obama attended as a child.

In Japan, the city of Obama, Fukui
Obama, Fukui

is a cities of Japan located in Fukui Prefecture, Japan....
, celebrated the inauguration with fireworks, bell-ringing and hula-dancing at the Hagaji Temple. The mayor of Obama expressed interest in having President Obama visit the city. Elsewhere in Japan, the Associated Press
Associated Press

The Associated Press is an Media of the United States news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, Radio station and Television station stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staffers....
 reported that Okinawans were hopeful that the new President would take actions on issues associated with U.S. military bases in Okinawa, and several news organizations reported that Japanese citizens were hopeful that Obama might make significant steps towards eliminating nuclear weapons.

Europe

Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoë
Bertrand Delanoë

Bertrand Delano? is a French politician, and has been the Paris mayors of Paris since 2001. He is from the Socialist Party . He is considered to be a potential candidate for President of the French Republic in 2012....
 and United States Ambassador to France
United States Ambassador to France

There has been a United States Ambassador to France since the American Revolution. The United States sent its first envoys to France in 1776, towards the end of that country's 400-year rule under the Bourbon dynasty....
, Craig Roberts Stapleton
Craig Roberts Stapleton

Craig Roberts Stapleton is the current Ambassadors from the United States to France. This is Stapleton's second ambassadorship, as he had been ambassador to the Czech Republic from 2001 to 2004....
, hosted a viewing party for approximately 1,000 people at the landmark Hôtel de Ville
Hôtel de Ville, Paris

The H?tel de Ville in Paris, France, is the building housing the City of Paris's administration. Standing on the place de l'H?tel de Ville in the city's IVe arrondissement, it has been the location of the municipality of Paris since 1357....
.

In Berlin
Berlin

Berlin is the Capital of Germany city and one of sixteen States of Germany of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is the country's largest city....
, Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
, about 1,500 guests attended an inaugural ball held at the Goya
Neues Schauspielhaus

The Neues Schauspielhaus , on Nollendorfplatz in Berlin, was built in 1905 as a theatre in the then-fashionable Art Nouveau style. In 1927, Erwin Piscator opened his "Theater am Nollendorfplatz" in the building, and in 1951 it was renamed "Metropol?....
 club, possibly the largest outside of the United States.

Obama's distant relatives gathered in Moneygall
Moneygall

Moneygall is a small town in County Offaly, Republic of Ireland, on the N7 road route between Dublin and Limerick, on the County Tipperary/Offaly border....
, County Offaly
County Offaly

County Offaly is a county in Leinster, Ireland, bordered by seven other counties: County Galway, County Roscommon, County Westmeath, County Meath, County Kildare, County Laois, and County Tipperary....
 in Ireland
Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
, where some of his ancestors lived during the 1800s. Meanwhile, American Democrats
Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major party contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party . It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world....
  living in Ireland
Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
 threw a party in Dublin
Dublin

Dublin is both the largest city and capital of Republic of Ireland. It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the centre of the Dublin Region....
. Brian Cowen
Brian Cowen

Brian Cowen is the current Taoiseach of Republic of Ireland. He took office on 7 May 2008, heading a coalition government led by his Fianna F?il party that includes the Green Party and the Progressive Democrats, with the support of Independent Teachta D?la....
, head of the government
Taoiseach

The Taoiseach The Taoiseach is appointed by the President of Ireland upon the nomination of D?il ?ireann , and must, while he remains in office, retain the support of a majority in the D?il....
 of Ireland, welcomed "a day of joy and celebration in Washington, across the United States and across the world".

Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI is the List of popes and reigning Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the head of the Roman Catholic Church and, as such, monarch of the Vatican City....
 sent President Obama a telegram for his presidential inauguration day.

British coverage was extensive. BBC One
BBC One

BBC One is the primary television channel of the BBC . It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular public television service with a high level of ....
 broadcast two hours of live coverage of the inauguration; BBC News covered the inaugural parade to the White House, and the current affairs show, Newsnight
Newsnight

Newsnight is a BBC Television Current affairs programme noted for its in-depth analysis and often robust cross-examination of senior politicians....
, presented by Jeremy Paxman
Jeremy Paxman

Jeremy Dixon Paxman is an England journalist, author and television presenter. He has worked for the BBC since 1977. Best known for his abrasive and forthright style of interviewing on the BBC's Newsnight programme, he has been praised as tough and incisive and criticised as aggressive, condescending and irreverent....
, broadcast an extended show live from Washington. The Times
The Times

The Times is a daily national newspaper published in the United Kingdom since 1785 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register.The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of News International....
 hosted a live blog
Blog

A blog is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video....
 with 10,000 participants starting an hour before the Inaugural address. British Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the political leader of the United Kingdom and the head of government Her Majesty's Government....
 Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown

James Gordon Brown UK Member of Parliament is a United Kingdom Labour Party politician and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Brown assumed office in June 2007, after the resignation of Tony Blair and three days after becoming leader of the governing Labour Party....
 heralded the inauguration saying, "The whole world is watching the inauguration of President Obama, witnessing a new chapter in both American history and the world's history. He's not only the first black American president but he sets out with the determination to solve the world's problems." In the United Kingdom, the inauguration was also shown to housemates competing in this years' Celebrity Big Brother
Celebrity Big Brother 2009 (UK)

Celebrity Big Brother 2009 was the sixth series of Big Brother . It began on 2 January 2009 and ran for 22 days until 23 January 2009. It was broadcast on Channel 4....
, breaking the rules of isolation from the outside world. London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
 held an inauguration ball for an estimated 1,300 attendees. Other viewing parties, including a luau
Luau

A luau is a Hawaiian feast. It may feature food, such as Poi , kalua pig, Poke , lomi salmon, opihi, haupia, and beer; and entertainment, such as Hawaiian music and hula....
 in Cambridge
Cambridge

The city status in the United Kingdom of Cambridge is a College town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies about 50 miles north of London....
, were held across the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, which is home to 300,000 Americans.

Oceania

Derek Sikua
Derek Sikua

David Derek Sikua has been the Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands since December 20, 2007....
, the Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands
Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands

The Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands is the Solomon Islands' head of government, consequent on being the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in the National Parliament of the Solomon Islands....
, congratulated Barack Obama after his inauguration on behalf of the government and people of the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands

For the group of islands rather than the nation, see Solomon Islands .The Solomon Islands is a country in Melanesia, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands....
. Sikua noted that Americans originate in all corners of the world, including the Solomon Islands, and noted that Solomon Islanders will pray that God will continue to give Obama strength, wisdom and good people to support him in endeavours for his country and for the world.

See also

  • Presidential transition of Barack Obama
    Presidential transition of Barack Obama

    File:EnvelopeFromBushtoObama.jpgThe presidential transition of Barack Obama began when he won the United States United States presidential election, 2008 on Election Day , and became the President-elect of the United States....
  • First 100 days of Barack Obama's presidency
    First 100 days of Barack Obama's presidency

    The first 100 days of Barack Obama's presidency began with his Barack Obama 2009 presidential inauguration on January 20, 2009 as the 44th President of the United States....
  • Presidency of Barack Obama
    Presidency of Barack Obama

    File:Barack Obama Inauguration.jpgThe Presidency of Barack Obama began at 12:00 PM Eastern Time Zone on January 20, 2009 at his Barack Obama 2009 presidential inauguration as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States....


External links



Speeches