Obama officially begins second term with private swearing-in ceremony
Associated Press
WASHINGTON
Stepping into his second term, President Barack Obama took the oath of office at noon today in an intimate swearing-in ceremony at the White House, the leader of a nation no longer in the throes of the recession he inherited four years ago but still deeply divided.
The president, surrounded by family in the ornate White House Blue Room, was administered the brief oath of office by Chief Justice John Roberts. With Obama’s hand resting on a Bible used for years by Michelle Obama’s family, the president vowed “to support and defend the Constitution of the United States,” echoing the same words spoken by the 43 men who held the office before him.
About a dozen family members were on hand to witness Obama’s swearing in, including the first lady, daughters Malia and Sasha, the president’s sister Maya Soetoro-Ng and her family. Mrs. Obama’s mother Marian Robinson, and the first lady’s brother, Craig Robinson and his family. A few reporters also were in the room.
The president will repeat the swearing in ritual again Monday on the west front of the Capitol, before a jubilant crowd of up to 800,000 people.
Sunday’s smaller ceremony was a function of the calendar and the Constitution, which says presidents automatically begin their new terms at noon on Jan. 20. Because that date fell this year on a Sunday — a day on which inaugural ceremonies historically are not held — organizers scheduled a second, public swearing-in for Monday.
Comments
god help us all
Get over it.
fattynskinny.
Your hopes have been answered. Obama was sworn in again. Even big repub supporters were bashing Romney after the election.
O Lordy fatnskinny, then thar isn gunna take our guns an rek ourn ekonemy. Lord save usn Honey Boo Boo!
the repubs better get with it or their party will be gone and they'll be replaced with the crazed, extreme right wingers and this country will suffer. and just fyi, in 1975 a congressman made $44,000 dollars per year and worked 40-48 hrs. per week. now, a congressman makes $174,000 a year and works 16-20 hrs. per week. people should be outraged!! they are literally stealing from the taxpayers!! in 2014 we have to get these nutjobs out of congress and demand they start working FOR THE PEOPLE!! boehner can't control his own caucas and i have no idea why president obama would even want that job but thank God he's there. i believe, in spite of all the lies from the extreme right and the limbaughs and hannitys', that he's done a good job and will continue to pray for him and support him.
so full of himself.
What ever happened to his promise to work with Congress? Hope and Change? We saw how that went. We can look Forward to 4 more years of arrogance, more government, higher taxes and climbing national debt. No economist will agree to that course as the solution to our high unemployment, stagnant economy and debt crisis.