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| President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama waves as they walk down Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House during the 57th Presidential Inauguration parade Monday, Jan. 21, 2013, in Washington. |
WASHINGTON
(AP) -- Turning the page on years of war and recession, President Barack
Obama summoned a divided nation Monday to act with "passion and
dedication" to broaden equality and prosperity at home, nurture
democracy around the world and combat global warming as he embarked on a
second term before a vast and cheering crowd that spilled down the
historic National Mall.
"America's
possibilities are limitless, for we possess all the qualities that this
world without boundaries demands," the 44th president declared in a
second inaugural address that broke new ground by assigning gay rights a
prominent place in the wider struggle for equality for all.
In
a unity plea to politicians and the nation at large, he called for
"collective action" to confront challenges and said, "Progress does not
compel us to settle centuries-long debates about the role of government
for all time - but it does require us to act in our time."
Elected
four years ago as America's first black president, Obama spoke from
specially constructed flag-bedecked stands outside the Capitol after
reciting oath of office that all presidents have uttered since the
nation's founding.
The events highlighted a
day replete with all the fanfare that a security-minded capital could
muster - from white-gloved Marine trumpeters who heralded the arrival of
dignitaries on the inaugural stands to the mid-winter orange flowers
that graced the tables at a traditional lunch with lawmakers inside the
Capitol.
The weather was relatively warm, in
the mid-40s, and while the crowd was not as large as on Inauguration Day
four years ago, it was estimated at up to 1 million.
Big enough that he turned around as he was leaving the inaugural stands to savor the view one final time.
"I'm
not going to see this again," said the man whose political career has
been meteoric - from the Illinois Legislature to the U.S. Senate and the
White House before marking his 48th birthday.
On a day of renewal for democracy, everyone seemed to have an opinion, and many seemed eager to share it.
"I'm
just thankful that we've got another four years of democracy that
everyone can grow in," said Wilbur Cole, 52, a postman from suburban
Memphis, Tenn., who spent part of the day visiting the civil rights
museum there at the site where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was
assassinated in 1968.
The inauguration this
year shared the day with King's birthday holiday, and the president used
a Bible that had belonged to the civil rights leader for the
swearing-in, along with a second one that been Abraham Lincoln's. The
president also paused inside the Capitol Rotunda to gaze at a dark
bronze statue of King.
Others watching at a
distance were less upbeat than Cole. Frank Pinto, 62, and an unemployed
construction contractor, took in the inaugural events on television at a
bar in Hartford, Conn. He said because of the president's policies, "My
grandkids will be in debt and their kids will be in debt."
The
tone was less overtly political in the nation's capital, where
bipartisanship was on the menu in the speechmaking and at the
congressional lunch.
"Congratulations and
Godspeed," House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican, said to Obama and
Vice President Joe Biden as he presented them with flags that had flown
atop the Capitol.
Outside, the Inaugural
Parade took shape, a reflection of American musicality and diversity
that featured military units, bands, floats, the Chinese American
Community Center Folk Dance Troupe from Hockessin, Del., and the
Isiserettes Drill & Drum Corps from Des Moines, Iowa.
The
crowds were several rows deep along parts of the route, and security
was intense. More than a dozen vehicles flanked the president's
limousine as it rolled down Pennsylvania Avenue, and several agents
walked alongside on foot.
As recent
predecessors have, the president emerged from his car and walked several
blocks on foot. His wife, Michelle, was with him, and the two held
hands while acknowledging the cheers from well-wishers during two
separate strolls along the route.
A short time
later, accompanied by their children and the vice president and his
family, the first couple settled in to view the parade from a reviewing
stand built in front of the White House.
A pair of nighttime inaugural balls completed the official proceedings, with a guest line running into the tens of thousands.
In
his brief, 18-minute speech, Obama did not dwell on the most pressing
challenges of the past four years. He barely mentioned the struggle to
reduce the federal deficit, a fight that has occupied much of his and
Congress' time and promises the same in months to come.
He
spoke up for the poor - "Our country cannot succeed when a shrinking
few do very well and a growing many barely make it" - and for those on
the next-higher rung - "We believe that America's prosperity must rest
upon the broad shoulders of a rising middle class." The second reference
echoed his calls from the presidential campaign that catapulted him to
re-election
"A decade of war is now ending. An
economic recovery has begun," said the president who presided over the
end to the U.S. combat role in Iraq, set a timetable for doing the same
in Afghanistan and took office when the worst recession in decades was
still deepening.
"We will support democracy
from Asia to Africa, from the Americas to the Middle East, because our
interests and our conscience compel us to act on behalf of those who
long for freedom," he said in a relatively brief reference to foreign
policy.
The former community organizer made it
clear he views government as an engine of progress. While that was far
from surprising for a Democrat, his emphasis on the need to combat
global climate change was unexpected, as was his firm new declaration of
support for full gay rights.
In a jab at
climate-change doubters, he said, "Some may still deny the overwhelming
judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging
fires and crippling drought and more powerful storms." He said America
must lead in the transition to sustainable energy resources.
He likened the struggle for gay rights to earlier crusades for women's suffrage and racial equality.
"Our
journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated
like anyone else under the law - for if we are truly created equal, then
surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well," said
the president, who waited until his campaign for re-election last year
to announce his support for gay marriage.
His speech hinted only barely at issues likely to spark opposition from Republicans who hold power in the House.
He
defended Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security as programs that "do
not make us a nation of takers; they free is to take the risks that made
this country great."
He referred briefly to
making "the hard choices to reduce the cost of health care and the size
of our deficit," a rhetorical bow to a looming debate in which
Republicans are seeking spending cuts in health care programs to slow
the rise in a $16.4 trillion national debt.
He
also cited a need for legislation to ease access to voting, an issue of
particular concern to minority groups, and to immigration reform and
gun-control legislation that he is expected to go into at length in his
State of the Union speech on Feb. 12.
But his speech was less a list of legislative proposals than a plea for tackling challenges.
"We must act, knowing that our work will be imperfect," he said, and today's "victories will only be partial."
There was some official business conducted during the day.
Moments
after being sworn in, the president signed nomination papers for four
new appointees to his Cabinet, Sen. John Kerry for secretary of state,
White House chief of staff Jacob Lew to be treasury secretary, former
Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel for defense secretary and White House adviser
John Brennan to head the CIA.
