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| President Barack Obama stains a bookshelf at Burrville Elementary School in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013, as the first family participated in a community service project for the National Day of Service, part of the 57th Presidential Inauguration. |
WASHINGTON (AP) -- On the brink of a second term, President Barack Obama invoked Martin Luther King Jr.'s commitment to service Saturday as inauguration-goers flocked to the capital city for a distinctly American celebration including an oath-taking as old as the republic, a splashy parade and partying enough to last four years.
"I
think we're on the cusp of some really great things," Vice President
Joe Biden predicted for a country still recovering from a deep
recession.
Freshly built inaugural stands at
the Capitol gleamed white in the sun, and hundreds of chairs for special
guests were set out on the lawn that spills down toward the National
Mall as the president and vice president began their inauguration
weekend.
Julius Cherry, in town from
Sacramento, Calif., brought his family to the foot of the Capitol to see
the area where their official tickets will let them watch the public
ceremonies on Monday.
"There were people who
said they'd never vote for an African-American president," the
58-year-old lawyer said. "Now they've voted for him twice, and he won
the popular vote and the electoral vote. That says something about his
policies and his team."
"And the country," added Cherry's wife, Donna.
Said Erika Goergen, from the Midwest and attending college locally: "It's amazing to be here right now."
Officials
estimated that as many as 800,000 people will attend Monday's public
ceremonies. That's more than live in the city, if far fewer than the 1.8
million who were at Obama's first inauguration in 2009.
The
president made only a glancing reference to race as he spoke at an
elementary school not far from the White House after he and first lady
Michelle Obama stained a bookcase as part of a national service event
organized by the inaugural committee.
"We
think about not so much the inauguration, but we think about this is Dr.
King's birthday we're going to be celebrating this weekend," the
president said.
"He said everybody wants to be
first, everybody wants to be a drum major. But if you're going to be a
drum major, be a drum major for service, be a drum major for justice, be
a drum major for looking out for other people," Obama said of the civil
rights leader whose birthday is celebrated as a national holiday on
Monday.
Because the date for inauguration set
in the Constitution, Jan. 20, falls on a Sunday this year, Obama and
Biden were to be sworn in for second terms in separate, private
ceremonies on Sunday.
The public ceremonies
are set for Monday, when Obama will take the oath of office at noon,
then deliver an inaugural address before a large crowd and a national
television audience in the millions.
The
traditional lunch with lawmakers in the Capitol follows, and the
inaugural parade down Pennsylvania Avenue toward the White House. There,
a reviewing stand was adorned with the presidential seal and equipped
with seats enough for Obama and other dignitaries to watch in relative
comfort as military units, marching bands, floats and thousands of
participants go past. A pair of inauguration balls will cap the day,
including one with a guest list that runs to 40,000 names.
A
select few - those who donated as much as $1 million to defray
inauguration expenses - received special access to public as well as
invitation-only receptions and parties.
The second term begins in circumstances different in many ways from the first, but familiar in others.
The
economy, then in the grip of a fierce and deepening recession, is now
recovering slowly as unemployment recedes and stocks flirt with
five-year highs. The health care legislation that Obama urged Congress
to enact in his first inaugural address is the law of the land, courtesy
of a split ruling by the Supreme Court.
Al-Qaida
leader Osama bin Laden is dead at the hands of U.S. special operations
forces. But the organization he inspired is far from moribund, as
demonstrated by the just-ended kidnapping episode Saturday at an
Algerian natural gas complex that, according to the Algerian government,
left at least 23 hostages dead. The U.S. on Friday acknowledged one
American death.
When Obama took office in 2009, his Democratic allies held control of Congress.
Now,
divided government rules, and Republicans who control the House lead
the way in insisting the
administration agree to spending cuts that will
reduce soaring federal deficits. Obama has said he is ready to
compromise on that.
At the outset of a second
term, he also wants Congress to overhaul the nation's immigration laws
and take steps to reduce gun violence in the wake of the shooting last
month in Newtown., Conn., that left 20 elementary school children dead.
Yet for once, politics seemed to edge ever so slightly into the background in the most political of cities.
Former
first daughter Chelsea Clinton headlined a National Day of Service
gathering under a tent on the National Mall, where she said she had been
inspired by her grandmother, as well as her famous parents. She urged
her audience to become part of a "chain of service" by helping the less
fortunate.
Biden and his wife, Jill, spent
time at an armory pitching in as volunteers packed 100,000 care kits for
deployed members of the military, wounded warriors, veterans and first
responders.
Biden credited former President
George H. W. Bush, a Republican, for starting the "Points of Light"
program, which was a sponsor of the event. He said service was an
antidote to "the coarsening of our culture. We've got to get back to
reaching out to people."
In the evening, Mrs.
Obama and Mrs. Biden were hosting the Kids' Inaugural Concert, an event
paying special tribute to military spouses and children.
