Obama is sworn in for another 4 years
Source: Agencies |
January 21, 2013, Monday
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BATTERED yet still popular after a bruising first term as US president, Barack Obama raised his right hand yesterday to be sworn in for another four years as the leader of an America that is, perhaps, as divided politically and socially as at any time since the US Civil War more than 150 years ago.
When Obama first took office as the 44th US president, many Americans hoped the symbolism of the first black man in the White House was a turning point in the country's deeply troubled racial history.
Obama vowed to moderate the partisanship that was engulfing the country, but, four years later, the nation is only more divided. While he convincingly won a second term, the jubilation that surrounded him four years ago is subdued this time around.
He faces fights with opposition Republicans over gun control, avoiding a default on the nation's debts, cutting the spiraling federal deficit and preventing Iran from building a nuclear weapon.
Obama began his second term at noon on January 20, the date and time specified by law, and took his oath in a simple White House ceremony.
Today, he will repeat the oath and give his inaugural speech on the steps of the US Capitol before hundreds of thousands of people. He then makes the traditional journey down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House. Fancy dress balls, fewer than in 2009, consume the evening hours.
Joe Biden was sworn in for his second term as vice president shortly after 8am yesterday, taking the oath at his official residence at the US Naval Observatory.
Before taking the oath himself, Obama and his family attended church services at the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church. Earlier, Obama and Biden laid a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery.
Americans increasingly see Obama as a strong leader, someone who stands up for his beliefs and is able to get things done, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. The survey shows him with a 52 percent job approval rating, among the highest rankings since early in his presidency.
His personal favorability, 59 percent, has rebounded from a low of 50 percent during the 2012 campaign.
When Obama first took office as the 44th US president, many Americans hoped the symbolism of the first black man in the White House was a turning point in the country's deeply troubled racial history.
Obama vowed to moderate the partisanship that was engulfing the country, but, four years later, the nation is only more divided. While he convincingly won a second term, the jubilation that surrounded him four years ago is subdued this time around.
He faces fights with opposition Republicans over gun control, avoiding a default on the nation's debts, cutting the spiraling federal deficit and preventing Iran from building a nuclear weapon.
Obama began his second term at noon on January 20, the date and time specified by law, and took his oath in a simple White House ceremony.
Today, he will repeat the oath and give his inaugural speech on the steps of the US Capitol before hundreds of thousands of people. He then makes the traditional journey down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House. Fancy dress balls, fewer than in 2009, consume the evening hours.
Joe Biden was sworn in for his second term as vice president shortly after 8am yesterday, taking the oath at his official residence at the US Naval Observatory.
Before taking the oath himself, Obama and his family attended church services at the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church. Earlier, Obama and Biden laid a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery.
Americans increasingly see Obama as a strong leader, someone who stands up for his beliefs and is able to get things done, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. The survey shows him with a 52 percent job approval rating, among the highest rankings since early in his presidency.
His personal favorability, 59 percent, has rebounded from a low of 50 percent during the 2012 campaign.
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