The United States of America will reach a political milestone on Tuesday, when Barack Obama, standing on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, is sworn in as the country’s first black president.
With his right hand in the air and his left hand resting on Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural Bible, Obama will take the oath of office at noon ET.
As many as four million people, the largest crowd in inaugural history, are expected to throng to the National Mall, where giant telescreens have been scattered throughout the area, so spectators can watch Obama become the 44th president of the United States.
Even before the sun rose Tuesday, crowds of people had begun working their way to the Mall, a grassy expanse of parkland linking the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial.
The 47-year-old former Illinois senator will be sworn in by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. Michelle Obama, the wife of the president-elect, will carefully hold Lincoln’s Bible, which hasn’t been used since he took the oath of office in 1861.
Inauguration ceremony:
Runs from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ET. Program is as follows:
Call to order and welcoming remarks — Dianne Feinstein.
Invocation — Pastor Rick Warren.
Musical selection — Aretha Franklin.
Oath of office administered to vice-president-elect Joe Biden.
Musical selection — John Williams, featuring Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Gabriela Montero, Anthony McGill.
Oath of office administered to president-elect Barack Obama by Chief Justice John Roberts.
Inaugural address.
Poem — Elizabeth Alexander.
Benediction — Rev. Joseph E. Lowery.
National anthem.
Obama, who enters the Oval Office facing significant domestic and foreign policy challenges, including a deep economic crisis and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, is expected to call for a new "era of responsibility" when he delivers his highly anticipated inaugural speech.
The address, to last about 20 minutes, is expected to ask Americans to reject the philosophy of "me first" and call on individuals, corporations and businesses to take responsibility for their actions, CNN reported.
Obama has been studying the inaugural speeches of Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt to prepare himself
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